Embryo Research Has Its Problems

Artificial insemination is certainly no new technique to farmers. But there has been some new research on A.I. cattle.

The Department for Medical Science at the University of Arkansas did such a study, trying to determine if calves had a greater chance of being male or female if they were A.I. early or late in the mother’s heat cycle.

Ricky Rory of the UA said those tests were fruitless.

“There had been a report a couple of years ago that said if you artificially inseminated a cow soon after its heat you would have heifers, and if you did it late you would have bull calves,” Rory said. “That didn’t prove to be true. We found there was no significant effect to it.”

However, Tom Hulls, who owns a registered Angus farm in western Washington County, said he and his wife, veterinarian Dr. Diane Balich, have seen significantly more heifers born when the mother was A.I. early.

“I know there has been no scientific data,” Hulls said, “but I can tell you that in the past two years we’ve been breeding early and we’ve experienced 65 percent more heifers. It’s usually about 50-50.”

There have been other technological advances for cattlemen aside from the HeatWatch System (see story, p 1.), such as electronically monitoring systems that light up when a cow is in heat. There have also been techniques developed to control a cow’s ovulation.

And of course, there has been the controversial cloning. But Rory said cloning presents too many problems. With estrosyncronization embryonic cloning, the calves were often too large. And when an embryo was split in two, often only one calf would survive.

Registered U.S. Cattle

BreedtRegistrations

Angus – 260,907

Hereford – 84,989

Limousin – 48,825

Simmental – 43,073

Charolais – 42,738

Red Angus – 39,639

Beefmaster – 32,263

Brangus – 26,898

Gelbvieh – 26,265

Shorthorn – 18,579

Brahman – 18,000

Maine-Anjou – 12,219

Santa Gertrudis – 10,500

Salers – 10,286

Longhorn – 6,300

Chianina – 6,280

Braunvieh – 3,500

Tarentaise – 2,000

Highland – 1,500

Blonde d’Aquitaine – 625

Red Brangus – 550

Belgian Blue – 400

NOTE: Registered cattle represent less than 1 percent of the 99 million beef animals in the United States. However, registered cattle are the genetic base for the industry.

Source: National Pedigreed Livestock Council 2000-2001 Report