The popularity of LIC’s short gestation length semen has never been so high, with the most recent season (2022-2023) delivering nearly 2 million extra days in milk across the industry.*
This is significantly up on the four previous seasons, when an average of 1 million extra days-in-milk was delivered per annum.
It’s the big picture that makes for the impressive reading, however.
Since being actively marketed and sold by LIC in 2014 (when fresh SGL Dairy semen hit the market), the cumulative effect of short gestation use by LIC farmers means that 10.4 million extra days-in-milk has been achieved across the industry.*
Factor in today’s¹ Fonterra mid point payout forecast ($7.25), and the value-add revenue across the industry is nearly $141 million (i.e. 10.4 million days in milk results in an additional 15.7 million kilograms of milksolids (@1.87kg milksolids per cow per day).*
The biggest gains in days-in-milk can be achieved through the use of LIC’s SGL Dairy® (Crossbred) semen.
SGL Dairy is the result of a specifically-bred bull team that today reduces average gestation length by up to 12 days on farm (the team itself therefore has a breeding value of negative-24 days).
At an individual farm level, this equates to potentially thousands of dollars in additional farm revenue through extra days-in-milk, but there are additional benefits. With the benefit of having cows calve earlier in the season, there is significantly more time to recover before mating begins.
Research indicates that with more time to recover, cows are more likely to cycle, and get back in calf, within the first six weeks of mating. Farmers that utilise MINDA® reproduction reports will note it’s the herd’s later-calving cows that are typically the hardest group to get back in-calf.
The value of getting the cow in-calf cannot be under-estimated; a pregnant cow is one fewer that needs replacing (which will increase the opportunity for discretionary culling).
In addition, a more-condensed calving spread can make for easier management, and a more even spread of feed allocation for the herd. SGL Dairy is also a solid supplement to, or an outright replacement for, the natural mate bull.
Going all-AB is an increasingly attractive option for any farmer concerned about biosecurity, and the traditional benefits of lowering, or eliminating, the need for the natural mate bull to remain.
The significant risk factors of introducing bulls to the farm is widely acknowledged: Staff safety is paramount, and additional costs can be incurred through broken fences, bull holes, and territorial behaviour.
Many farmers observe that bull management is also a fine art, and if there is not enough bull-power, the ramifications of bull fatigue can mean higher-than-normal empty rates. Ensuring the right number of healthy bulls are delivered to the herd, and stay healthy for the duration, involves a good amount of homework and careful attention.
Bulls must be rotated and rested properly to avoid bull fatigue. The use of SGL semen tightens the calving period, resulting in more days-in-milk and increasing the chances of pregnancy when mating arrives SGL Beef products also available.
Find out more about our SGL offering.
¹ This article was first published on 26 October, 2023
* Includes all LIC SGL products.
