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Breeding Management, Herd Decisions

A.I. vs. Natural Breeding 

 April 3, 2010

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So how do you decide whether to spend the extra money on a top notch herd bull or buy semen on that great looking bull in the magazine?
Calves are being born left and right, and every day we are being bombarded with advertisements for bull sales and the next great A.I. sire.


First off, I am not going to tell you one way is better than the other. That is up to you to decide after looking at both your goals and resources. I will give you the pros and cons of each.

A.I. Breeding

Pros:

  • Gives you the opportunity to use superior genetics from a sire that you could never afford to purchase
  • When breeding season is over, you do not have a bull, or a lot of bulls to feed and keep from tearing down every fence on the property
  • Allows the ability to produce consistency within the calf crop by using a single sire, or a similar genetic line of bulls
  • Calves can be born closer together through synchronization
  • Even the smallest herds can get cows bred within budget, rather than purchasing a bull to breed 2, 3, or even 15 cows

Cons:

  • Requires cow to be handled extra, along with requiring better facilities and extra labor to get the job done
  • Time restrains if you have to hire a technician to do the A.I.ing

Natural Breeding

Pros:

  • Bull does all the work, so not spending hours heat detecting each day
  • No facilities needed, cows can get bred right out in the pasture

Cons:

  • Can not match each bull to each cow, and sometimes multiple bulls need to be used to breed heifers vs. cows
  • If replacement heifers are being retained, a new or different bull is needed to breed the replacement heifers too
  • Bull must be fed and cared for, even when they are not out breeding cows
  • High quality bulls cost a lot of money vs. the cost to purchase semen from a similar A.I. sire

Only you can determine which route to take, and really most operations use a combination of both. And to fairly compare the two, each operator needs to break down all the costs associated with both and divide it by the number of cows either being A.I.ed or by the number of cows the bull will breed. You also need to determine which bull (A.I. or bull purchased at bull sale) will take your herd closer to your goals. You are not saving money if you are going the wrong direction.

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