A recent research paper from Teagasc highlighted that ovaries from beef-breed and dairy-beef cross dams post-slaughter could be collected and used as “an inexpensive and high-throughput source of donor oocytes” for breeding dairy cows.
The research paper titled: ‘Harnessing reproductive technologies to accelerate integration of the dairy and beef sectors’ was presented by Teagasc reproductive physiology research officer Stephen Butler at the recent dairy-beef conference which took place in Co. Wexford last month.
The paper outlined that advances in reproductive technologies “provide a promising avenue for improving both the productivity and sustainability of seasonal-calving dairy systems, which aim to maximise the use of pasture for both milk and beef production”.
Innovations in breeding strategies, such as sex-sorted semen and in-vitro embryo production, “are increasingly being utilised to improve efficiency and meet industry demands, while also addressing welfare issues associated with male dairy calves”, according to the researchers’ paper.
One of the focus areas of the paper was on genetic gain through assisted reproductive technologies (ART’s).
It was noted that ART’s such as multiple ovulation embryo transfer (MOET) and in-vitro embryo production (IVP), “offer significant potential for accelerating genetic progress in both dairy and beef herds”.
Butler suggested that ovaries collected post-slaughter from beef breed and dairy-beef cross dams could be used as an inexpensive and high-throughput source of donor oocytes but explained some of the potential barriers to this system.
He noted that current regulations regarding the use of oocytes and embryos in cattle reproduction in Ireland require veterinarian verification of both the herd-health status during the previous 12 months.
These herds must be free of Bovine Tuberculosis and infectious bovine rhinotracheitis (IBR) and must be absent of clinical signs of disease in the individual donor females on the day of oocyte collection.
Some of the potential barriers to the wider rollout of IVP include the cost of an IVP embryo. Even if mass produced, these will be a multiple of the cost of an Artificial Insemination (AI) straw.
Butler highlighted that embryo transfer requires more training and expertise than conducting AI and is also a slower process, resulting in greater cost to transfer an embryo compared with the cost of conducting AI.
He concluded that: “Collectively, these problems will delay the widespread uptake of commercial beef embryos, but it may be feasible in the future.”