277 days. This is how long a dairy farmer must wait to find out the outcome of his most important profitability decision: calf gender! Speeding up the clock is not possible, but thanks to biotechnology, speeding up genetic gain is.
The average length of a gestation period for cows is 277 days. With conventional semen, the probability of getting either a male or female calf is 50:50. In other words, prior to the advent of gender-sorting semen, dairy farmers had a 50% chance of getting a male calf from their most valuable cows after waiting 277 days for heifer replacements. Genetic gain was slower, dairy continuity was compromised.
In the hope of the predictable, STgenetics® challenged the status quo of biology by offering gender-sorted semen for the first time in the dairy industry. Three progressively improving gender-sorted semen technologies were launched by STgenetics® since its first product in 2005. Dairy farmers can now predict a 90% chance of getting their most expected dairy replacements with female-sorted semen. Meanwhile, Conception Rates of sorted semen also continued to grow.
While gender-sorted semen technology is relatively new, the tool has become commonplace, with a 75% increase in sorted semen usage globally since 2018. This allows farmers to ensure the most profitable population will be entering their herd with using female-sorted dairy semen on their top performers and maximize their profits by using Beef on Dairy male-sorted semen on their inferior genetics. Genetic gain is much faster, herd inventory is better managed and breeding decisions are more accurate.
Striving to bring the most reliable, innovation-driven solutions to farmers, STgenetics® launched its newest gender-sorted semen technology, Ultraplus™, in April 2022. Backed by 3 years of Research & Development and proven through field data from 72 farms, 52 sires and 15,000 inseminations, Ultraplus™ has the highest Conception Rates ever seen in the industry, adding 3 percentage points higher fertility than the latest technology, 4M™. All STgenetics® sires are available in Ultraplus™, with 90% or higher gender accuracy, to help dairy farmers achieve their profitability and sustainability goals.
Controlling the odds is the best way to predict the future of your dairy.