Sexed semen

Economics of a new technology.

Abstract

The advent of commercially available sexed semen raises issues about its proper use and economic value on dairy farms. Use of sexed semen solely to produce more female offspring, without regard to genetic merit, is not likely a profitable strategy under most commercial dairy management conditions. Sexed semen may have some value for reducing the rate of dystocia on a dairy, but the impact is small per unit of semen (one dollar or less). Use of sexed semen in virgin heifers may be most fruitful, reserving its use for heifers with the best genetics. This strategy requires good information on the genetic merit of young heifers, and the optimal extent of use depends on many economic variables. The opportunity for economic gain assumes that genetic merit of bulls used for sexed semen breeding is no worse than bulls used for conventional artificial breeding. Economics of using sexed semen technology are considered in this paper.