Gender-sorted semen continues to be a driving force in dairy breeding strategies. In 2024, sales of gender-sorted units increased by 1.5 million, representing 61% of all dairy semen usage, according to the National Association of Animal Breeders Annual Semen Sales Report.
Kevin Ziemba, STgenetics® Global Applied Genetic Consulting Manager, explains that behind those numbers is a shift in how producers manage their herds. With greater pressure to hit replacement targets and maximize profitability, more herds are leaning on Ultraplus High Purity™ to improve conception efficiency and deliver more return on investment.
Smarter Heifer Inventory Management
Dairy producers are looking to make more calculated breeding decisions, aiming to hit replacement targets while capitalizing on revenue from Beef on Dairy calves.
“We are at a unique point in the industry,” explains Ziemba, “where domestic value for both dairy cross calves and replacement heifers is at an all-time high.” This means each pregnancy – especially the right pregnancies – provide additional value to the producers.
With a 96-97% average female sperm ratio, Ultraplus High Purity™ gender-sorted semen allows dairies to produce the same number of replacements using fewer straws and freeing up more opportunities for Beef on Dairy matings.
Ziemba shares this example, “If a dairy needs 100 female pregnancies a month, they might have been using 250 sexed units of semen. Now with High Purity, they can do that with 220 units.”
But savings on semen is only the beginning of financial benefits in this model. Ziemba explains further, “The same dairy can now go deeper into their female population and make additional cross calves. If they were making 150 beef cross calves, and can now make 10 more each month, that’s around $10,000 in additional revenue per month.” At just a $2-3 premium on High Purity, the return on investment is real.
Advancements That Inspire Confidence
Today’s gender-sorted semen technology has advanced dramatically since it emerged on the market.
“From collection to the point that semen is frozen has been reduced by 50-60%,” says Ziemba, “allowing for peace of mind around conception rate.” He shares that recent dairies he visited were recording 50-55% conception rates with Ultraplus™ gender-sorted semen, indicating that conception rate concerns about gender-sorted semen have faded.
With growing confidence in gender-sorted semen, conventional unit usage has only decreased year after year.
The Sky is the Limit
STgenetics® is the only company making high purity products its standard operating procedure, offering high purity straws on all new bulls, elite genetics and colored breeds.
Looking forward, STgenetics® continues to invest in improving the purity, accuracy and conception of Ultraplus™ gender-sorted semen. With potential opportunities like high purity male-sorted beef semen, Ziemba believes the value chain will continue to grow
“We’re still advancing,” he says, “The sky is the limit.”
To learn more about the evolution of gender-sorted semen, conception rates and ROI’s, listen at the links below:
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