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    AI ADVANTAGES:
The advantage of optimal AI practices
    = better productivity + better profits.

InCalf, funded by Dairy Australia, recently reported that using a professional AI technician can improve dairy herd conception rates from five per cent to 15 per cent.

According to the NHIA, joining more heifers to AI increases the production rate and yields faster genetic gains for the herd.

Disease control. The instance of Leptospirosis (Lepto), pesti virus, campylobacteriosis, (previously known as vibriosis), brucellosis, trichomoniasis and vaginitis can all be reduced when using AI.

All licenced semen is routinely tested for common diseases and mixed with preventative antibiotics, therefore the risk to your herd of exposure is dramatically reduced. Some of these diseases also reduce fertility in the herd, so eradicating them from the herd has lasting benefits.

Sire for calving ease. You can access a large selection of sires, of all breeds, that are proven easy-calvers. Knowing you have selected a sire that produces smaller calves with less mortality gives you more peace of mind during calving.

Shorten calving periods.

You can access the latest genetics at fraction of the cost of buying bulls. Bulls can be sourced from anywhere in the world and from any breed. To buy the best bull it may cost you $50,000 or you can access the same semen for only $5,000.

 Advantages of semen collection and testing:
Sample of printing on straws processed by NorthernAB

The best alternative insurance you can get. Compared to the cost of insuring a bull, collecting some semen just makes sense. You may be able to collect insurance on the bull, but you can not get the genetics back, unless you have a store of the semen.
                                                                                                                      

Genetics can keep going long after the bull is gone. The performance of a bull may not be as successful of the previous season, with a semen store you get a predictable outcome for many seasons ahead.
                                                                                                                                                                  

You can use a bull to service 50 cows a year, or use collected semen from the same bull to service literally 100’s per season.
                                                                                                                                                                  

Surveys of sale bulls, by renowned beef cattle consultant Bob Freer, have shown that 10 to 15 per cent of sale bulls are either unsound or showed questionable fertility.
Unfortunately testicular size alone does not indicate fertility and professional semen testing is advised.
                                                                                                                                                                  

Testing your bulls each season before breeding is recommended, as a bull’s performance last season may have no bearing on this one. If you can not afford to miss a season from the bull have it professionally tested and be completely prepared.

Advantages of ultrasound pregnancy testing:

Ultrasound testing can be safely used on
the fetus from as early as 35 days. There are well known inherent risks in manually
pregnancy testing cows, a risk that is dramatically reduced if you use ultrasound. Within the first five to 13 weeks gentle techniques are crucial and nothing is gentler during this phase than the ultrasound
technique.
                                                                                                                                                                  

Ultrasounds can give an accurate diagnosis from 35 days of gestation.
                                                                                                                                                                  

In the first 12 weeks of gestation the ultrasound gives the most accurate guide to development, so the sooner you get the ultrasound done the better.
                                                                                                                                                                  

If you know if the cows are in calf or not it allows you to make timely decisions that can better manage your herd. With better knowledge you can plan better for the rest of the season.