Beef producers should consider costs and returns for estrus synchronization, artificial insemination and embryo transfer.

March 1, 2015

1 Min Read
Consider real economics of advanced beef breeding systems

Artificial breeding technology definitely has costs, but it also has potential to surpass those costs with additional profits.

Certainly before adopting a new practice, one must consider such things as management intensity, labor costs and production goals for each one. Then compare costs and returns of artificial insemination and embryo transfer versus natural breeding to determine if one or both of these breeding systems can add profits.

"In a herd of cows with unsynchronized estrus, effective male to female ratios vary from 1:10 to 1:60," says Charles Looney with OvaGenix. "Synchronization reduces servicing capacity to recommended ratios of 1:20 to 1:25, because there are more cows to service in a shorter period of time. Using highly fertile bulls and decreasing the number of bulls to cows will decrease cost per pregnancy."

To read more about artificial breeding technologies, click here.

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