This past week I spent my last week at Genus ABS AI company in the UK. Last Monday, I had a very early wake-up call in order to journey down to their main bull stud in Ruthin, Wales.

This is where the elite bulls of all breeds are housed for semen collection. It was fantastic to see the famous AI bulls in the flesh and the older, mature bulls were amazing specimens of their respective breeds – they were absolutely huge.

My main job at the bull stud was to assist the staff with the monthly herd health test of the bulls. This involved taking blood samples from all the bulls and testing it for IBR, Bluetongue.

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After that I helped with the semen collection of the beef bulls. This was a complex process that involved a teaser which the AI bull mounted in order to collect the semen in an artificial vagina.

This process took an hour or two as each bull had to be collected twice. Following this I also saw some of the dairy bulls being collected. I was amazed at how smoothly the process went – the bulls were obviously very comfortable with the routine at this stage.

The stockmen who handled the bulls were equally impressive - they weren’t at all fazed by the power of the bulls and handled them very easily.

I also travelled with the team to Yorkshire where the company has their second stud of AI bulls. Here I also assisted with the monthly herd health check, which took the majority of the day as there is close to 300 bulls present.

These bulls were the younger dairy bulls who had been ‘laid off’ i.e. the bulls were awaiting a first official proof based on the production of their first batch of milking daughters. The highlight of this part of the trip was seeing one of our own homebred bulls, Kilsunny Nautical 7 (YSK) which Genus purchased from us a few years ago. He looked the same as ever – although a lot bigger and I think he may have even recognized me!

The rest of the week was spent in the laboratory where I got to see the full process of analyzing the semen to produce the straws that would be used to inseminate cows during the breeding season.

It was fantastic to see the entire process from collection of the semen to the final product – it really complimented the theory of AI, which I had covered in lectures back in UCD.

I also visited the bull rearing unit in Nantwich which is where all the baby bulls are held. Here I assisted with the collections. However, as they are still new to the process, it took a considerable amount of time for any collections to occur.

On my last day in the UK, I had a chance to go to the local mart in Beeston. I saw a large number of calves being sold, mainly Aberdeen Angus and British Blue calves. Many of the calves were sired by Genus bulls and this really opened my eyes to the scale of a successful AI operation. From sourcing the young bulls, marketing the new bulls, collecting the semen, maintaining the high herd health status, the lab work and the constant performance reviews of all the bulls progeny - it is a remarkable operation.

I had a wonderful experience with Genus ABS and it was great to experience all aspects of the company and work abroad for a short time too. The hospitality and the staff were second to none and all the team really looked after me. I begin the next stage of my student placement this week with Irish Hereford Prime. I’m looking forward to swapping AI straws for a nice Hereford steak!