While genetics are at the core of Alta, we know those genetics don’t matter unless you create a pregnancy first. That means the fertility of each straw of semen is of utmost importance.
A recent in-depth analysis on the industry’s sexed semen fertility shows Alta in a position of leadership. The graph below illustrates the five-year trend in fertility of sexed semen used in Holstein heifers across the North American dairy industry.
Three things to know about these sexed semen fertility trends:
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Alta’s high fertility CONCEPT PLUS 511 sexed semen has performed at a similar level to the industry’s 4M sexed semen over the past five years (compare the dark blue line at the top to the solid gray line).
We expect that 4M sexed semen should have higher fertility because there are 4 million semen cells per straw, as compared to 2M sexed semen, which has 2 million cells per straw. All CONCEPT PLUS 511 sexed semen is offered in a 2M format. This similarity in conception rates between Alta’s high fertility sexed semen and the industry’s 4M sexed semen means that the CONCEPT PLUS evaluation is truly identifying which bulls create a higher portion of pregnancies when used as sexed semen.
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Alta’s high fertility CONCEPT PLUS 511 sexed semen has a much higher average conception rate compared to the 2M sexed semen offered by competitors in the industry (compare the dark blue line at the top to the red line at the bottom).
You can see that over the past five years, Alta’s high fertility CONCEPT PLUS 511 sexed semen has achieved average conception rates anywhere from 3%-6% higher than competitor 2M sexed semen at any given time. When you consider the monetary value of more female replacements, fewer days open, and higher average conception rates on your dairy, this highlights the real value of using Alta CONCEPT PLUS 511 high fertility sexed semen as part of your breeding program.
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The average conception rates for Alta’s 2M sexed semen outperform the fertility of 2M sexed semen from other companies (compare the light blue line in the middle with the red line at the bottom).
The light blue line in the middle accounts for all of Alta’s sexed semen that has been used in heifers in North America. That includes high fertility sexed semen, as well as new bulls with fertility that is yet unknown, and even lower fertility sexed semen. With all of that combined, the average fertility of Alta’s sexed semen is higher than the average sexed semen fertility of bulls from other companies.
What data is included in this evaluation?
This evaluation includes more than 3.6 million pregnancy check results in DairyComp, where sexed semen was used in either the first or second service on heifers. Any services beyond that were omitted from the dataset to ensure a more accurate comparison.
In addition, the data only includes bulls that have more than 500 services in at least 5 different herds. And the bulls with the two highest and lowest conception rate results were removed to eliminate bias from extremes.
The bottom line
If you’re looking to create more pregnancies with sexed semen, have confidence that Alta’s high fertility CONCEPT PLUS 511 sexed semen will help you achieve that goal.