Insemination switch

20 March 1998

Insemination switch

A RISE in dairy producers breeding herd replacements may be to blame for a 6.4% drop in beef semen use over the past three months compared with the same period last year.

According to NMR, less than 28% of inseminations between Dec 1997 and this February were to a beef bull, compared with 34% the previous year. The firm says that with 50% of beef still coming from the dairy herd, the fall will have a significant effect on dairy beef calf availability this autumn.