Sexed Beef Semen First For Cogent
UK - Sexed beef semen which has a 90 per cent chance of producing a male calf is now being marketed in the UK.
8 December 2009
2 minute read
The bull which has been sexed is the outstandingly popular Sauvignon, a French-bred Limousin which is owned by Crawford Brothers from Maguiresbridge in County Fermanagh.
The sexing is being undertaken by breeding company Cogent, who have been pioneers in this technology for over 10 years. However, the company has previously only produced sexed female semen to fulfil a huge market from the dairy farming industry.
But having a male calf is known to be economically beneficial for commercial beef producers, as males finish faster, produce better carcase grades and are therefore more profitable than the equivalent heifer.
Sauvignon’s exceptional list of accomplishments is topped by his performance at the SIMA Show in Paris in 2007, where he was crowned the European Limousin Male Champion, the European Limousin Carcase Champion and the European Progeny Champion.
“This is another very exciting development for us and one which we have been working on for some time. Each straw has on average over 90 per cent male sperm and it gives breeders and commercial producers the opportunity to buy world-class semen to improve the profitability of their family business," said Raymond Crawford, co-owner of the bull.
He added: “We are continually working to develop our export markets and have already achieved significant success in selling female sexed semen in Germany, Poland, Australia, America, South Africa, Canada, Denmark, New Zealand, Uruguay, Holland and Hungary. I have recently returned from Brazil and was really encouraged by the interest there in importing genetics to regenerate bloodlines and believe the worldwide potential to be enormous.”
TheCattleSite News Desk
