Genetically superior calves through IVF

This is real arable country where livestock numbers have been on the decline over the past 30 or 40 years. The family farm itself was more arable focused up until a few years ago when Andrew came into the business.

He sees the farm’s future in livestock and is literally going against the grain by increasing cow numbers again.

The family runs a herd of about 85 cows, of which 25 are pedigree Limousin and one pedigree Charolais operating under the Westpit prefix.

The foundation of the herd comes from the dispersal of the well-known Greenwell Limousin herd in Lanchester, Co Durham, in 2010. While still relatively new to the pedigree Limousin circuit, already Westpit is making a name for itself as one of the top herd names in the UK.

Breakthrough

The first major breakthrough on the bull scene came in February 2012 at Carlisle with Westpit Fendt, sired by Vegabond and out of Greenwell Delight, which sold for £15,500gns.

Another memorable day out for the Gammie family came in October 2016 at Carlisle when Westpit Landlord, the first bull to be offered for sale by their Irish stock bull Jalex Itsallgood, a Swarland Eddie son and out of the Fieldson Alfy daughter Westpit Finella, went on to sell for 17,000gns.

This was followed up with the sale of Westpit Lowry by Ardlasson Highlander, a Fieldson Alfy son, at Carlisle for 18,000gns in February 2017, and then two weeks later Westpit Lampard, another Jalex Itsallgood bull, sold for 7,000gns at the Royal Northern Spring Show in Aberdeen.

The success has continued into 2018 with Westpit MacGregor, the reserve junior champion and reserve overall champion, being sold for £15,000 in Carlisle in February and, most recently, the herd has sold the 2017-born Westpit Nando to the renowned Ronick herd, Stirling, in a five-figure private deal.

Increasing numbers

Andrew is one of six focus farms in the Farmers Journal / ANM Group, Farm Profit Programme, a project similar to the BETTER farm programme in Ireland. The programme is just entering its second year and the Gammies continue to execute their ambitious farm plan relentlessly.

Cow numbers are under rapid expansion – from 40 cows calved in 2016, Andrew will calve just shy of 90 cows in 2018. The overall aim is to get somewhere around the 100 to 120 cow mark in the next few years. The plan is to work a Limousin-cross-Aberdeen Angus and Limousin-Simmental-cross as their commercial cow of choice.

While expansion is being concentrated on the commercial cow side, Andrew is taking the opportunity of bringing heifers into the herd to use in-vitro fertilisation (IVF) to increase productivity from his best pedigree cows.

He feels by concentrating on his best six to eight cows, using IVF he can rapidly increase the number of quality livestock on the farm.

The procedure itself is becoming more popular among pedigree breeders, as it has numerous advantages over embryo transfer (ET) or multiple ovulation embryo transfer (MOET).

The process involves collecting oocytes (unfertilised eggs) from the donor female and fertilising them with semen in a petri dish.

The oocytes are removed using a non-surgical method called trans-vaginal recovery (TVR). This involves giving the animal an epidural and using an ultrasound probe to view the ovaries, a needle is then passed into the ovary to collect the oocytes.

These can be collected for the same cow on a weekly basis compared with every three to four weeks for MOET.

Collections do not require any prior hormonal drugs or treatment programmes and collection can take place at any stage in the donor’s oestrous cycle. Collections can begin just four weeks after calving and even continue into early pregnancy.

Once harvested, the collected oocytes are then returned to the lab to mature and be fertilised in a petri dish. They are then placed in an incubator for seven days.

Some of the fertilised eggs die during the first seven days and therefore are checked by the vet prior to leaving the lab. Viable embryos are then transferred into recipient heifers on Andrew’s farm. These heifers are synced, as would normally be for ET.

Andrew is collecting from his best five or six cows, plus a couple of heifers, on a regular basis, thus giving him a constant supply of viable embryos for implantation or freezing. This dilutes the cost of the procedure across more calves.

Currently, he is using a number of different sires and is able to mix and match semen to each cow as he sees fit. He is using some straws from his own stock bull Jalex Itsallgood, as well as a team of bulls that he has purchased semen from.

The future plan is to calve all the commercial cows in spring in a 12-week period, with some pedigree recipients calving in spring and the bulk in autumn to produce bulls for sale at a suitable age in spring at around 18 months old.

Any recipient heifer that has any issues at calving time will then go to the Angus bull for the commercial herd, with those calving unassisted either submitted for an ET again or put to a Limousin bull in the commercial herd.

Costs

Speaking to Gavin Tate, IVF and cattle veterinary surgeon with AB Europe, he said that there are multiple factors that affect the success of the procedure, such as the fertility of the cow, management, nutrition, time of year, etc.

Therefore, the number of oocytes harvested from each collection can vary significantly – Andrew has seen as many as 40 and as few as just two.

However, across all its customers, AB Europe is currently averaging around three transferable embryos per collection. Gavin said that this can be higher in more fertile cows, but often the cows put forward for IVF treatment are ones that have had fertility problems in the past and IVF is seen as the last chance saloon for these problem breeders.

Again, working on average figures, Gavin says the cost works out around £150 per transferable embryo.

Where significant cost savings can be achieved is on the semen side. Where expensive straws are being used, a single straw can be used to inseminate oocytes from five to seven cows, compared with three straws per donor for ET.

The potential of IVF is massive, as can be clearly seen with Andrew’s best cow on the farm. While she is just five years old, already there are 11 offspring of hers on the ground, with another 10 due to calve this year.

Another heifer that Andrew purchased in Ireland last summer had two embryos implanted from her at just 10 months old.

Andrew plans to put her in calf herself this year to an Angus bull, therefore potentially having three calves on the ground by her second birthday.

This method is a super way to fast-track genetic gain on farm and the system Andrew and Jim have in place works for them perfectly as they rapidly grow cow numbers.