Artificial Insemination in Cattle

Key ideas on Artificial Insemination in Cattle

If you have never had an animal artificially inseminated, there are a few things you need to know before you purchase frozen bull semen:

• First you need to identify a veterinarian or other AI professional in your area to do the procedure.  Unless you have received extensive training in artificial insemination (AI) you can NOT do this yourself.
• You also need a place to store your frozen semen. Semen is stored at -300º F in a liquid nitrogen tank (you cannot store frozen semen in your freezer).  These tanks are costly and need routine maintenance to keep them viable.  Most large animal veterinarians have semen storage available and charge a nominal fee for this service, often as little as $60 per year for 100 straws.
• Frozen semen is shipped in small liquid nitrogen tanks that must be returned to the shipper.  The facility we use for storage of most of our frozen semen ships directly from their facility, to wherever you plan to store your bull semen to ensure that it arrives in perfect condition.  When purchasing semen from us, you will contact our storage facility directly to arrange the details of shipment. You can expect shipping to cost about $100 for 1 to 100 straws including the return postage for the tank.  Because of the cost of shipment, it behooves you to purchase as much semen from a particular facility as you think you can use to minimize shipping costs.
• As long as it is properly handled, frozen semen will last almost indefinitely, so don’t worry that what you purchase today won’t be good 5 or even 10 years from now.
• Artificial insemination allows you to choose from many available bulls to maximize your breeding program.  However, always remember that most AI professionals will tell you that any given AI attempt has only about a 60% chance of success.  This means that when you purchase straws, always purchase 2 straws for each breeding you want to perform. 
• Lastly, before purchasing semen from us, please call us to discuss your needs so we can help you have the very best probability of success with your AI program.