Effect of including genetic progress in milk yield on evaluating the use of sexed semen and other reproduction strategies in a dairy herd

Ettema, Jehan Frans; Østergaard, Søren Dinesen; Sørensen, M.K.

doi:10.1017/s175173111100108x

Cited by 21 publications

(20 citation statements)

References 29 publications

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“…This raises the question as to whether sexed semen is beneficial to farm management. Numerous reports have estimated the economic benefits of sexed semen produced by various strategies in many different countries, including the United States, Denmark, Iran, Ireland, and Japan . In general, the use of sexed semen is expected to have a positive effect on the economics of the farms, maintaining replacement heifers and/or the efficiency of expanding dairy herds, resulting in an improved milk yield.…”

Section: The Economic Benefit Of Sexed Semen In the Cattle Industrymentioning

confidence: 99%

Bovine sperm sex‐selection technology in Japan

Naniwa

Sakamoto

Toda

et al. 2018

Reprod Medicine & Biology

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BackgroundIn Japan, Livestock Improvement Association of Japan started commercially producing sexed bovine semen 10 years ago, and sexed bovine semen is currently used for the artificial insemination (AI) in the farms. In this review, the authors introduce the technology for sperm sexing by flow cytometry, the efforts at commercializing sexed semen in Japan, and recent field data on artificial insemination of the cattle with sexed semen.MethodsIn the procedures of the flow cytometric method, X‐chromosome‐bearing sperm and Y‐chromosome‐bearing sperm were fluorescently stained, separated from each other by analyzing the difference in the DNA content, and cryopreserved. The authors surveyed the conception rates after AI with these sperm and sex ratios of the offspring with the cooperation from livestock associations, AI technicians, and farmers.Main findings (Results)Although AI with sexed semen was associated with lower conception rates in comparison with AI with conventional semen, the accuracy of sex selection using AI with sexed semen was beyond >90%.ConclusionSexed semen produced by flow cytometry has the potential to produce offspring of the preferred sex with high accuracy and reliability. Thus, it is expected that sexed semen is used for AI more frequently in the farms.

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Section: The Economic Benefit Of Sexed Semen In the Cattle Industrymentioning

confidence: 99%

Bovine sperm sex‐selection technology in Japan

Naniwa

Sakamoto

Toda

et al. 2018

Reprod Medicine & Biology

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“…Replacement heifer price is likely to be a key factor for dairy producers when considering the use of sexed semen, yet will also be strongly affected by the widespread use of sexed semen (De Vries et al, 2008). Ettema et al (2011) demonstrated that ignoring genetic progress when modelling reproductive strategies in a herd leads to the underestimation of the profitability of using sexed semen. The use of sexed semen, particularly on virgin heifers, should increase the rate of genetic gain in seasonal, pasture-based dairy herds.…”

Section: Economics Of Sexed Semen Usementioning

confidence: 99%

Applications and cost benefits of sexed semen in pasture-based dairy production systems

Butler

Hutchinson

Cromie

et al. 2014

Animal

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Sexed semen technology is now commercially available in many countries around the world, and is primarily used in dairy cattle breeding. Sperm are sorted by flow cytometry on the basis of a 4% difference in DNA content between sperm containing X and Y chromosomes. Despite reliably producing a 90% gender bias, the fertility of the sexed semen product is compromised compared with conventional semen. The negative implications of the reduced fertility of sexed semen are amplified in seasonal systems of dairy production, as the importance of fertility is greater in these systems compared with year-round calving systems. A review of the literature indicates that conception rates (CR) to 1st service with frozen-thawed sexed semen are~75% to 80% of those achieved with conventional frozen-thawed semen. Preliminary results from a large-scale field trial carried out in Ireland in 2013 suggest that significant improvements in the performance of sexed semen have been made, with CR of 87% of those achieved with conventional semen. The improved fertility of a sexed semen product that delivers a 90% gender bias has considerable implications for the future of breeding management in pasture-based dairy production systems. Sexed semen may facilitate faster, more profitable dairy herd expansion by increasing the number of dairy heifer replacements born. Biosecurity can be improved by maintaining a closed herd during the period of herd expansion. In a non-expansion scenario, sexed semen may be used to increase the value of beef output from the dairy herd. The replacement heifer requirements for a herd could be met by using sexed semen in the 1st 3 weeks of the breeding season, with the remaining animals bred to beef sires, increasing the sale value over that of a dairy bull calf. Alternatively, very short gestation sires could be used to shorten the calving interval. Market prices have a considerable effect on the economics of sexed semen use, and widespread use of sexed semen should be restricted to well managed herds that already achieve acceptable herd fertility performance.

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“…A reproductive surplus generates opportunities for deciding which cows to breed the replacements from, so it is possible to increase the selection intensity. Hence, in combination with selection, use of sexed semen results in reduced genetic lag relative to the sire population (Ettema et al, 2011;Sørensen et al, 2011).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Genomic testing interacts with reproductive surplus in reducing genetic lag and increasing economic net return

Hjortø

Ettema

Kargo

et al. 2015

Journal of Dairy Science

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Until now, genomic information has mainly been used to improve the accuracy of genomic breeding values for breeding animals at a population level. However, we hypothesize that the use of information from genotyped females also opens up the possibility of reducing genetic lag in a dairy herd, especially if genomic tests are used in combination with sexed semen or a high management level for reproductive performance, because both factors provide the opportunity for generating a reproductive surplus in the herd. In this study, sexed semen is used in combination with beef semen to produce high-value crossbred beef calves. Thus, on average there is no surplus of and selection among replacement heifers whether to go into the herd or to be sold. In this situation, the selection opportunities arise when deciding which cows to inseminate with sexed semen, conventional semen, or beef semen. We tested the hypothesis by combining the results of 2 stochastic simulation programs, SimHerd and ADAM. SimHerd estimates the economic effect of different strategies for use of sexed semen and beef semen at 3 levels of reproductive performance in a dairy herd. Besides simulating the operational return, SimHerd also simulates the parity distribution of the dams of heifer calves. The ADAM program estimates genetic merit per year in a herd under different strategies for use of sexed semen and genomic tests. The annual net return per slot was calculated as the sum of operational return and value of genetic lag minus costs of genomic tests divided by the total number of slots. Our results showed that the use of genomic tests for decision making decreases genetic lag by as much as 0.14 genetic standard deviation units of the breeding goal and that genetic lag decreases even more (up to 0.30 genetic standard deviation units) when genomic tests are used in combination with strategies for increasing and using a reproductive surplus. Thus, our hypothesis was supported. We also observed that genomic tests are used most efficiently to decrease genetic lag when the genomic information is used more than once in the lifetime of an animal and when as many selection decisions as possible are based on genomic information. However, all breakeven prices were lower than or equal to €50, which is the current price of low-density chip genotyping in Denmark, Finland, and Sweden, so in the vast majority of cases, it is not profitable to genotype routinely for management purposes under the present price assumptions.

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Effect of including genetic progress in milk yield on evaluating the use of sexed semen and other reproduction strategies in a dairy herd

Cited by 21 publications

References 29 publications

Bovine sperm sex‐selection technology in Japan

Bovine sperm sex‐selection technology in Japan

Applications and cost benefits of sexed semen in pasture-based dairy production systems

Genomic testing interacts with reproductive surplus in reducing genetic lag and increasing economic net return

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