artificial insemination process

[jhm47]

As an AI tech, I charge on a sliding scale. Fewer than 25 cows/heifers / visit, $10 each. 25 - 50 / visit, $9 per visit. 50 - 100 / visit, $8. 100+, $7.50. This is all in addition to mileage at .40/mile.

Keeps me very busy in June and early July.

As to keeping semen---It needs to be kept in liquid nitrogen. NOT nitroglycerin. A freezer will not work, no matter how cold you set it. Liquid N is quite dangerous if you are not used to handling it. It will freeze skin on contact, and anything you remove from the stuff is also cold enough to cause serious freezer burns. LN is held at -320 degrees F. A freezer rarely gets below -20 F. I have heard that some uninformed people have tried to keep semen in freezers with total failures in subsequent breedings.

We are holding an AI school on Feb 27 - 28 - and March 1. It will be a comprehensive school, and you will be fully certified to breed for others as AI techs. School will have many hours of classroom, and lots of hands on with actually breeding cows. Cost: $500 per person.

 

[goodolboy]

Not to get off the suject, but I'm using liquid nitrogen this morning to install bronze bushing. Yes very dangerous stuff. I use a semen container to keep it in.

 

[Dean.Collins]

As to keeping semen---It needs to be kept in liquid nitrogen.

Interesting, so how can sperm be shipped if it needs to be kept this cold? I'm assuming this means it is inviable to "store" sperm on a single farm on a costs basis for topping up the nitrogen that evaporates off over the course of the year.

How long "can" you store sperm even if you did have a proper storage vessel and were able to keep topping up the nitrogen. eg is it viable to have a prize bull and be able to use this as your sole sperm source even after its death 5-10 years later using a small portion of your supply each year?

 

[WildRoseBeef]

As to keeping semen---It needs to be kept in liquid nitrogen.

Interesting, so how can sperm be shipped if it needs to be kept this cold? I'm assuming this means it is inviable to "store" sperm on a single farm on a costs basis for topping up the nitrogen that evaporates off over the course of the year.

How long "can" you store sperm even if you did have a proper storage vessel and were able to keep topping up the nitrogen. eg is it viable to have a prize bull and be able to use this as your sole sperm source even after its death 5-10 years later using a small portion of your supply each year?

There's a special tank built especially for this, called a "nitrogen tank" which has been mentioned previously on here. If the tank is kept sealed so that very little liquid nitrogen, if any, escapes from that tank and keeps the semen frozen solid for a long time, yes, long after a prized sire has passed on. Many producers can get frozen semen from prized bulls that have died a number of years ago, and still many producers have their own nitrogen tanks to dip from to get their semen from and store semen that they have purchased from AI companies. Inviable? I think not.

 

[SheepGirl]

In my Large Animal Pre-Vet class in high school, we learned how to A.I. We had an AI tech from Select Sires come in and talk to our class and he brought in cow reproductive tracts (from butchered cows). We never got to practice on the live animal, nor did we got certified, but it was a lot of fun!! (If it can be considered fun, lol.) You have to put your hand up the rectum, hold onto the cervix, put the rod into the vulva, kind of wiggle the rod through the cervix, and then deposit the semen in the uterus.

I think he said semen can keep almost indefinitely in a nitrogen tank, so long as it's always handled properly.

 

[jhm47]

I have some semen imported from Italy (Chianina) that I got in the '70's. Also some German Fleckvieh that I got in the '70's. It will be as good today as it was when I got it. As long as the LN is kept up, the semen is fine. I currently have 6 LN tanks to store semen in, as I need them to store my inventory, and also some for customers who don't have their own tanks.

 

[Dean.Collins]

I have some semen imported from Italy (Chianina) that I got in the '70's.

Good to know. So whats the rough cost of keeping a tank with the liquid nitrogen each year?

 

[jhm47]

Around $120 keeps them charged for a year. Of course, some tanks are bigger than others, and may require more LN than others. Some of the new style tanks are better insulated and last longer than others. LN is cheap---about $1.25 per gallon, or about 1/4 the cost of a gallon of milk. Genex has many trucks on the road all the time that fill LN tanks for various people. LN is rated as a hazardous material, so it requires a special license to haul it.

As to shipping the semen, it is shipped in what we call "dry" shippers via UPS or Fedex. They have LN stored in an absorbent substance that keeps the semen cold for long enough for it to arrive at it's destination. I receive many such shipments each year for my business.

The AI industry is really taking off in this area. The nearly prohibitive cost of bulls has made AI much more affordable. One of my customers maintains 36 bulls, and the average cost of each bull is around $7500.00. Add the cost of feed (each bull will eat twice as much as a cow), death loss, vet costs, depreciation, the fact that many bulls get injured or sick each year and may never breed another cow, and AI looks pretty cheap. Then---you have highly proven genetics at your disposal, and you can accurately predict what the offspring will be like. One of our Angus bulls (the great Final Answer) will produce his 500,000th unit of semen soon. He has 23,000 registered offspring at this time, and likely another 200,000+ that were not registered. Using a great bull like this will ensure that you will know in advance nearly every characteristic of his calves. Another advantage is that the daughters of bulls like this will make you extra $$$$ each year of their lives.

AI also enables ranchers to more effectively utilize crossbreeding without needing to separate their cows into many bunches. Crossbreeding is a tool to maximize the profits of any cowherd. The resulting offspring are far more efficient in many ways. The pregnancy rates and longevity of crossbred cows, and the increased growth rate of their calves make crossbreeding a way to make much more profit each year. The black baldy (Angus X Hereford) cow is very much prized for their ability to produce outstanding calves for less feed cost. Cross a baldy with a Simmental, Charolais, Limousin, or another continental breed, and you will have a sale topping bunch of calves that will make money for anyone who owns them. Add to that the fact that these cows will likely last 1 - 3 years longer, and it's hard to understand why anyone wouldn't use them.

 

[animalfarm]

I don't know about the tanks, but I pay $3.00 month for storing 10 straws at a semen storage facility. When I am ready to use it, I just have to give a few weeks notice and they will transfer it to the local AI tech. for my area.

 

[Dean.Collins]

I don't know about the tanks, but I pay $3.00 month for storing 10 straws at a semen storage facility.

So you would assume it costs more than $36 a year for liquid nitrogen

When they send it to your local AI tech, how are they sent if they have to be kept so cold?