A recent research project conducted through Select Sires’ Program for Fertility Advancement (PFA) found that a new enhancement to thegenderSELECTed semen process has made a significant improvement in conception rates observed in the field.

The sex sorting procedure subjects bull sperm to considerable stress, which does not occur during conventional semen processing, the company says, contributing significantly to sexed semen having lower conception rates than the rate achieved with conventional semen. This was confirmed in a SS research trial in 2005.

Over the years, collaborative research efforts between the company and Sexing Technologies (ST) have focused on improving sperm survival throughout the process of sex sorting, including a new process developed by ST and researched through PFA. The results of nearly 7,000 inseminations on Holstein heifers across 41 PFA herds were analyzed to find a 4.5 percent rise in actual conception rate compared to the previous procedure.

This conception rate increase ranged from 1.4 to 7.9 percent among all sires in the study. This represents one more incremental step on the road toward sexed semen conception rates that are equal to that of conventional semen. The company began using this process early in the spring for all commercially marketedgenderSELECTed semen. PD

—From Select Sires news release