Survey reports half of herds use a bull

Just last week we reported beef practices from the recently published results of a survey of U.S. dairy producers by the USDA Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS). Results were part of the 2007 National Animal Health Monitoring System (NAHMS).

Another portion of the study surveyed how producers managed reproduction in their herds. Since the first A.I. organization was started in the U.S. during the late 1930s, its use has become seemingly commonplace. Interested in some history of A.I.? The University of Florida has a great website outlining its history.

We’ve shared the dangers of using bulls for breeding on farms for a long time along with many others, but there still is a large number of farms utilizing the practice at least sometimes on their farm. The NAHMS study reports that more than one-half of operations (54.9 percent) had cattle pregnancies conceived through natural service (bull breeding). What kind of farms are these? A high percentage of large operations (71.8 percent) used natural service. Yet, 72.5 percent of all pregnancies in the survey were conceived through the use of A.I.

If you are interested in more of the results from the NAHMS studies, including use of embryo transfer, heat detection and more, visit the USDA APHIS’s website. It’s interesting to see if you are in the majority or minority when it comes to how you get your cows bred.