The Press and Journal (Aberdeen and Aberdeenshire)
Don’t leave bull fertility to chance
Routine testing of bull fertility is an essential but often overlooked aspect of suckler herd profitability. With funding available, beef specialist Sarah Balfour is urging beef farmers to be on the front foot this season.
Suckler herd performance relies on optimal fertility and managing and improving fertility is one key route to improve cow margins.
This will also reduce the impact of beef production on the environment, says Sarah, who is based at the Elgin office of SAC Consulting, part of Scotland’s Rural College.
“Many farmers have taken advantage of the attractive cull cow price over the past 18 months, opting to cull underperforming animals to improve efficiency,” said Sarah.
“There is significant advantage to testing bulls at the start of the breeding season so you can get maximum returns from that bull.”
Productive herds also have less environmental impact, which helps Scotland’s beef industry meet sustainability goals, according to SAC.
SAC delivers Farming for a Better Climate, an initiative funded by Scottish Government, to support farmers to introduce pragmatic practices on farm to both reduce environmental impact and enhance productivity.
“To achieve industry performance targets for suckler herds, 65% of cows should be calving within the first three weeks of the season starting and 90% within nine weeks,” added Sarah.
“Maintaining a compact calving period makes it easier to manage calves at a similar age and stage.
“With there being no guarantee that a bull will retain fertility from one breeding season to the next, it is vital to identify under-performing and sub fertile bulls.”
Mark Pearson, a vet with Moray Coast Vet Group, says one in five bulls fail a first fertility test.
Mark says: “No-one wants to hear a bull is infertile, but it’s better to know a bull isn’t working, rather than face the repercussions of an infertile one.
“Subfertility may be due to testicular size or sperm quality. Changes to diet can affect semen production and sperm quality.”
Iain Green and his family farm Corskie, an arable and livestock enterprise near Garmouth and believes it is vital to know a bull is working.
“Every one of our 22 stock bulls are vet checked and fertility tested ahead of the breeding season,” said Iain.
“And any bound for the pedigree sale ring at Stirling are also tested before they leave home.”
The Bull Breeding Soundness Examinations help to identify bull problems and there is funding available as part of the Scottish Government’s Preparing for Sustainable Farming programme.