Could sexed semen work in the suckler herd?

We all have that one cow that we would love to get a heifer calf out of but she continues to have bulls. A good breeder, loads of milk, quiet and has a top-quality calf every year, she’s the perfect fit for a high replacement bull but she keeps breeding calves with testicles.

What if there was a technology available to almost guarantee that cow has a heifer calf every year? What if I then told you that this technology was available to every farmer in the country regardless of your herd size or whether you’re part-time or full-time farming?

Much of the talk around sexed semen has been about its use in the dairy herd and what changes it can bring about in reducing the number of low-value male calves we have coming from the dairy herd on an annual basis.

It also has a role to play in the beef herd. AI usage has been painfully low in the suckler herd over the last 20 years. Part-time farming is a lot of the reason but could sexed semen bring about changes in the way we breed our replacements.

Farmers could pick out their few best cows and artificially inseminate them to sexed female semen, leaving more cows in calf to a top terminal stock bull. It need not be all AI. Even if cows were bred on the first round of heats to sexed semen it would lift the quality of our replacements coming into the herd and also probably increase the value of the remaining terminal calves on the farm.

Yes, it’s more expensive and, yes, you may have reduced conception rates but it’s certainly worth a chance to guarantee a heifer calf out of your best breeding cow. We’ve got the latest active bull lists inside along with an explainer on how to use them.

Figures aren’t everything but they are still an important tool in selecting bulls to use and should be used to their best advantage.

Shanon Kinahan visits the Country Crest farm in north Dublin. The Hoey brothers have built up a huge business over the last two decades centred around top-quality Irish food production.

With all the talk about sucklers in decline and increasing numbers of dairy beef animals being available for slaughter, it’s great to see this business focusing on suckler-bred stock.