Currently, the amount of suckler farms in Ireland using AI is low; somewhere in the region of 15% of progeny from the suckler herd are bred from AI, while the remaining 85% are served by a stock bull.

Some of the reasons for this can be attributed to part-time farming, poor-handling facilities or land fragmentation.

Each individual farm is different. However, every effort should be made to improve genetics in the suckler herd. Genetic information is available to help farmers identify animals that have superior genetics that can – in turn – increase the profitability of the offspring they are producing.

Firstly, the average size of the suckler herd in Ireland is less than 20 cows. With these small herds, it can be uneconomical to buy a stock bull; farmers can access AI sires – across many breeds – at a relatively low cost.

Health and safety has to come into it. When you don’t have a bull around the farm, farmers are minimising the risk of injury or death. A bull is fine for the breeding season, but he can cause problems for the rest of the year. This also eliminates the risk of bull infertility.

When it comes to the breeding season, the first thing the farmer must think of is the calving season – when will newborn calves on the ground best suit the system in terms of weather, grass growth etc.?

Remember, a cow bred on May 1 will have a calving date of February 8, 2021 – based on a 283-day gestation.

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When choosing AI sires, farmers should chose genetically superior sires and not just use AI for the sake of AI. Decisions should be based on both the Replacement and Terminal Indexes – providing a somewhat matching service on these indexes between cows in the herd and sires used.

Identifying and using a variety of – or a team of bulls – spreads the risk and high-reliability, low-calving difficulty sires should be used on heifers. Suitable bulls can be identified on the Irish Cattle Breeding Federation’s (ICBF’s) Active Beef Bull List.

Also Read: Calving difficulty evaluations: New figures explained

If AI is the method of choice, the success of the system is mainly based on the timing of insemination and that’s where heat detection comes in. The reason why conception rates can be poor is because a lot of the animals presented for AI are not in heat – they are either too early or too late.

The importance of heat detection and the labour involved is one of the main reasons why suckler farmers revert to the old reliable – the stock bull.

However, technology is always improving and there are many heat detection devices which make the identification of both cows and heifers easier and really remove the guesswork and chances of human error.

While these are available, the old reliables in the form of tail paint, vasectomised bulls – equipped with a chinball – scratch cards etc. are all very successful in terms of heat detection for AI. Vasectomised bulls should be purchased prior to the breeding season and are a worthwhile investment.

Also Read: 6 aids to take the ‘guesswork’ out of heat detection

It is also important to have the cows in the correct body condition score (BCS) somewhere in the region of 2.75 and 3.0; this is essential for getting cows back in calf.

While careful observation for heats is necessary (a good time is late in the evening or early in the morning; the recent warm weather has helped cycling), there are other methods to bring on heat such as synchronisation.

This basically involves manipulating the reproductive system by the use of hormones to bring on heat, allowing females to be inseminated. With this system, conception rates to first service tend to vary with farmers normally targeting a conception rate of 65%.

An AI synchronisation programme growing in popularity is fixed-time AI. This allows heifers or cows that were synchronised to be AIed at the same time which has it’s advantages and also reduces the need for heat detection before the first insemination.

Farmers wishing to use synchronisation or fixed-time AI should contact their vet and breeding advisor.

Back to when a heat been identified, farmers should work off the ‘am:pm’ rule – where cows have been seen bulling in the morning, they should be inseminated that evening. Cows identified in the evening time should be inseminated the following morning.

Many will argue that bringing heifers and cows in and out of the yard is too labour intensive. However, this is where good infrastructure plays its part. Once this is in place, animals get used to it and it’s just like moving animals from paddock to paddock.

It may be possible to ‘filter’ bulling females and bring these to the yard for insemination (a good dog can play a pivotal role here!). After first service, observation for heat should recommence with repeats showing at approximately 21 days.

During the breeding season, good record keeping and an easy-to-follow plan can make the season more streamlined.