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SEMEN AND EMBRYOS(sexed and unsexed)

Genetics for advancement of beef cattle

The judicious use of semen and embryos provide the cattle farmer with cost-effective tools to upgrade his or her herd with leaps and bounds.

 

The best from our herd of Simmentalers have been selected for semen and embryo production. The main focus are on combining fertility and calving ease with performance under extensive grazing conditions.

 

The need to adapt to Climate Change stresses the importance of Feed Efficiency and Fertility of cattle under extreme grazing conditions.

 

Our semen and embryos are prepared by an international accredited veterinary station according to stringent quarantine and testing procedures designed to meet export requirements.

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Semen from two of our bulls are available:

  • Klein Kalant, PJD1565 P, is a polled sired renowned for feed efficiency, superior growth and fertility. Kalant has been selected to be part of a short list of sixteen bulls in Southern Africa for a new AI bull. (See more on Kalant as sire and his pedigree)

  • With Dan, PJD1743, our emphasis is on high fertility under extreme grazing condition. Dan excels in those breeding values which lead to fertility, namely body condition, scrotum size and moderate cow weight. (See more on Dan as sire and his pedigree)

  • The semen is also available as either sexed male or female semen.

  • The semen is collected by Ramsem (Pty) Ltd, a world renown animal reproduction laboratory in Bloemfontein, South Africa. We make also use of their Sexing Technologies Laboratory for sorting semen in either male or femal semen.

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Our embryos are produced from two distinct set of matings:

  • Embryos sired by Kalant should excel in feed efficiency. Not only has Kalant himself an EBV for feed efficiency in the top 5% of the SA 2019 crop (NFI-P= -0.12), but his dams’ sires have also high EBV’s for feed efficiency. More information is available in Table 2.

  • High fertility is the outstanding trait of Dan’s embryos from a set of four dams. These fertility traits are complemented with high calving ease and moderate mature cow weight. The economic selection indexes of the embryos are, therefore, estimated to be in the top 1% tot 5% of the SA 2019 crop. More information is available in Table 3.

  • The embryos are also available as either sexed male or female embryos.

  • The embryos are processed by Absolute Genetics (Pty) Ltd from Bloemfontein.

 

Semen from Kalant and Dan as well as embryos  sired by Kalant  and Dan are now available on order. 

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Embryos from Kalant P

Kalant P x PJD103 produces embryos that should excel in Net Feed Intake.

In addition to Kalant's high Net Feed Intake (in top 5%) the various sires in

PJD103's pedigree have also very high Net Feed Intake EBV's.  

Furthermore, PJD103 hails from a cow family noted for their longevity and

fertility. One example is her dam, PJD051, with 11 calves at an ICP of 403 days. PJD103's embryos should have bended growth curves with their 400days at 20% of the SA 2019 crop, but with their MCW EBV's at 38 (35% of SA). 

The dam, PJD1633 P, has sires in her pedigree that demonstrate high Net

Feed Intake. This, coupled to Kalant's high NFI should produce embryos 

with similar high NFI's. Her dam, PJD0716, was an exceptional fertile cow with 11 calves at an ICP of 364 days. Again PJD1633's curve for growth should be bended from 34 (400days in top 15% of SA) to a lower MCW of 37 (in top 40%). 

PJD1721 P comes from a very fertile cow family, which includes her dam, PJD0719, with 12 calves and an ICP of 367 days. Her great grandmother, PJD9513***, was a three star cow with 8 calves at an ICP of 368 days. Embryos from PJD1721should have growth curves that are bended from a high 400 days (15%) to a lower MCW of 36(in top 40%). 

The dam, PJD1722, has sires in her pedigree that demonstrate high Net Feed Intake. This, coupled to

Kalant's high NFI should produce embryos with similar high NFI's. Her embryos should excel in 

reproduction traits such as a high Calving Ease, moderate Milk, high Scrotum Size and Days to Calving (DC) and a moderate Mature Cow Weight. Growth is also not neglected with 400days growth in the top 15%. PJD1722's bull calf sired by Kalant, namely Thor, PJD1923, is a fine example of what one could expect from

this mating.

Embryos from Dan

The dam, PJD1447 P, is one of the best with economic selection indexes (SBI and SPI) in the top 1% of the SA 2019 crop. Her embryos sired by Dan should maintain this high standard. Dan will most probably improve PJD1447’s EBV’s regarding body condition and fertility (DC to increase from -3.0 to -4.3). The growth curve of her embryos should also be bended from 29 at 400 days (in top 35%) to a low 28 regarding MCW (in the lower 30%).

Mating PJD1456 P to Dan should retain the high EBV’S for calving ease of the dam. Dan, on the other hand, will most probably increase the fertility (DC = -3.5, in top 5%) and the body condition of their embryos. The growth curve of the embryos should also be bended from 25 at 400 days (in lower 45%) to a even lower 27 for their MCW (in the lower 25%). 

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The embryos from the mating of Dan x PJD179 P come from two families with outstanding longevity. Six out of the seven dams in the pedigree of Dan had seven or more calves. In the pedigree of PJD179 P five of the seven dams had eight or more calves. The embryos should also show similar high breeding values for Calving Ease, Days to Calving (DC) and body condition such as EMA and Fat. Although the embryos should demonstrate lower mature cow weight (in the low 25%) their 400day growth should be up in the top 40%. In total their economic selection indexes should be in the top 5%.

The dam, PJD0917, is a three-star cow and one of the main stays of our seedstock operation. She is the mother of Kalant, our senior sire and selected on a short list for the next AI bull in Southern Africa.Four of her heifers turned out into very fertile dams with ICP’s of between 363 and 368 days. Mating with Dan will bring together excellent qualities for reproduction. As can seen in the predicted EBV’s of their embryos, the breeding values should excel in calving ease, fertility and a low mature cow weight. Furthermore, PJD0917 has tremendous stayability being pregnant with her 10th calve at present.

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