Economic evaluation of using Sex-sorted semen in embryo transfer program in Holstein dairy cattle

Abstract

Introduction: Sex-sorted semen is an important technology in cattle breeding. Without
the widespread use of sexed semen, the major part of genetic development occurs
through the selection of males in dairy herds. The objective of this research was to
investigate the effect of using sexed semen in embryo transfer program economically.
Materials & Methods: Six strategies were compared based on economic value (EV).
Visual basic 6 and Excel software were applied for calculations. In strategy 1, 5% of
heifers were considered as donors and were inseminated by sexed semen. In strategy 2,
5% of heifers and cows were donors and were inseminated by sexed semen. In strategy
3, the number of heifer and cow donors, was similar to strategy 2 but conventional semen
was used for all donors. The number of heifer and cow donors in strategy 4 was similar
to strategy 2 but sexed semen was used for heifer donors and conventional semen for
cow donors. In strategy 5, 10% of heifers were considered as donors and were
inseminated by sexed semen. Strategy 6 was similar to strategy 5 but conventional
semen was used for all donors.
Results: According to the results, among these strategies, the EVs of strategies 1 and 5
were higher than other strategies. It showed that using sexed sorted semen for
insemination of superovulated heifers would result in higher EV. The lowest EV was
related to the strategy that used sexed semen for all donors, including heifers and cows.
The main reason is the low number of transferable embryos after using sexed semen in
donor cows.
Conclusion: The Results showed that the use of sexed semen in the embryo transfer
technique for heifers is more effective than its use in cows.