Frozen Semen and Embryos

Our ranch is located within 25 miles of several bovine breeding facilities and has enabled us to explore ways to accelerate the genetic potential of our cattle. Many of the cows that were part of our start up herd were not young cows to begin with, and by producing embryos via in-vitro fertilization, IVF, it has enabled us to maximize and preserve genetic potential. 

Our first embryo transfer heifer, Almandine, was born in March of 2022. She is a full sister to Arlene, our milk cow. 

We collect and freeze semen on all of our bulls, and all calves born on our ranch are DNA parentage verified.

Why did we decide to dive into the bottomless pit of IVF and frozen embryos?

Arlene. She's the reason. Her mother, "Grandma," is 16 years old this year, 2023. Her sire, Jack, is 15 years old this year. Arlene has produced two fantastic heifers, Marcy and Paisley, by Fred, and is due to calve again late February 2023. Arlene has proven herself to be a fantastic milk cow and a producer of quality offspring. 

The chances of Grandma producing another good heifer calf, as good as Arlene is, are very slim considering her age and previous udder trauma before I purchased her. But by using modern techniques, she was able to produce multiple fresh embryos which we synchronized for transplant into young recipient cows. The recipient cows are due to calve Fall of 2023. This technique also allows for selection of bulls or heifers by reverse sorting frozen semen into male or female sperm. Embryo calves, even though they have the same sire and dam, will not be identical. They all will have individual differences. Imagine having a group of full sister siblings all born within days of each other, all raised under the same environmental conditions, all experiencing the same forage opportunities, and being able to choose the golden child of the group. Does this guarantee that the "golden child" will ultimately be the best performer? Not by a long shot, but the potential to be able to raise the "best" heifer calf that Grandma and Jack were capable of producing becomes a greater possibility. 

Our goal is not to mass produce American Milking Devons. The goal is to use modern breeding techniques to maximize potential, and drastically shorted the time it takes to reach that goal. Along the way, preserving access to genetics beyond the natural life of the cow or bull. 

Is this process expensive? Yes. 

Am I out of my mind for doing it? Probably.

But I believe the American Milking Devon is a breed that will benefit from the effort. 

 I haven't quite decided if I want to sell any of the frozen embryos yet but if you are interested in them, give me a call and we will talk about it.