Serious Longhorn producers are using modern technology.

Mating the best cow with the best bull has always been part of herd improvement.  When the best bull wasn’t available for live cover, artificial insemination became widely popular.  Still, that only provided for one calf from one cow each year, making progress painfully slow.

Then came embryo transfer.  Flushing the donor cow is now relatively common practice, producing multiple calves in one season through placement in surrogate mothers.  The flush requires a series of vaccinations for the donor cow over several days, as well as other preparation before the embryologist arrives on site for the flush.

Another option is in vitro fertilization.  It requires no “set up” of the donor cow, and can be successful when other methods have failed.  The Ovums are extracted from the donor and taken to the lab, where they are fertilized with semen from the bull of choice.  After 7 days “in the dish”, the embryos have developed to the stage where they can be placed into recipient cows or frozen for placement at a later time.

This video shows the process of collecting the ovums.

 

If 40% of the ovums develop into viable embryos it is generally considered a success.  This video shows embryos in petridish ready to freeze or place.

 

The end results can take your herd farther and faster!

If you haven’t tried it yet, and have some questions, give me a call (605) 381-3998.  I’ll be happy to share how it has worked for us and help steer you in the right direction.

You can see some of our Longhorns on our web site

***Gordon Howie is an author and CEO of Life and Liberty Media***

“It’s not about right or left, it’s about Right or Wrong.”

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