The focus on many dairy farms is starting to shift towards the breeding season, with most farmers making the final selection of bulls they plan on using this year.
For the 2023 breeding season, most farms will be using some sexed semen.
To achieve the best results from sexed semen it needs to be used correctly, and ensuring that is used on the correct cows is a key part of that.
Breeding season
It is important to select the cows that you are planning to use sexed semen on.
For most, you should be targeting the heifer, along with a small number of select cows based on economic breeding index (EBI) and milk recording data.
But once you have selected these cows it is important to then look at their calving records and see if they had any issues around calving this year.
Cows that had a hard calving, retained placenta or milk fever are likely not good candidates for sexed semen. Instead, beef semen or conventional dairy semen should be used.
Any cow that had an issue around calving or those that have not been seen cycling should be checked by a vet or scanned ahead of the breeding season.
To obtain the best results, sexed semen should only be used on cows that are in the correct body condition score (BCS) and have been seen cycling.
For the heifers, the use of programme has a number of benefits and ensures that they are all artificially inseminated (AI’d) at the correct time.
Breeding to dairy AI
Ahead of the breeding season farmers should determine the number of replacement heifers that are required on their farm.
The number of cows bred to dairy semen will depend on the number of replacements that are required and whether sexed or conventional semen, or a combination of both, is being used.
Fertility performance of the herd will also have a impact on the number straws that will be required.
Ahead of the breeding season you should sit down with your breeding advisor and determine how many straws will be required this year and which cows are best suited for generating your replacement heifers.