On a mission

[cow pollinater]

I've told myself repeatedly that I'm done buying semen inventory for my own cattle for a few years. Today I had an idea for a mating on one particular heifer that I'm pretty positive would be stellar. I just had to run back to the ranch and verify that I had the bull I needed in the tank.
I have a unique way of cataloging my personal frozen bull battery. If I like the bull enough to buy semen on him, I remember it as well as how much I have left. :lol: I didn't find it today but I KNOW I have three units that were re-racked to a pink topped jersey cane sometime around fall of 2014 and am fairly sure that one of the five straws in the bottom of the tank is from the bull I need for a total of four units. My problem is that I have enough personal inventory to breed every cow I own five or six times and it's all packed into four canisters in my 47/11 with a significant amount re-racked so finding what I need can be time consuming.
Maybe I should just buy ten more units to be on the safe side. :nod:

 

[Boot Jack Bulls]

CP, given your background, I have a semen storage question for you. What do you consider to be optimal neck size on a storage tank? I have been doing a ton of research lately, since we are expanding the semen/AI side of our operation. We just purchased a shipper, and have a group of regular tanks of various brands and sizes (neck and overall capacity). Next purchase will be a large storage tank like the semen distributors have. I like a wider neck for ease of use, but that seems to have a direct correlation to nitrogen loss and decreased life. What neck size do you recommend? Also, any brands/distributors to stay away from or others you can highly recommend?

 

[cow pollinater]

I like MVE. I've never had a bad one. Taylor whartons are ok but they seem to start using nitrogen a little faster after a few years. I've always had free nitrogen and handled thousands of units a month so I've never worried about neck size but it does make some difference. Currently the only tank I keep charged is a 47-11-6 which is around fifteen years old and has a neck around six inches but will still hold for two months at a time during the summer.
I don't feel that the smaller necks are worth the extra holding time. If you dump nitrogen from tank to tank to even things up you'll spill lots with the small necks and if you drop a cane in the bottom you pretty much have to dry the tank out and spend all afternoon trying to get it out in the best case scenario. Worst case is the tank is full of semen and that cane jams up one of the canisters so you can't pull product from any of the other canisters. In a large neck those canes are much easier to fish out or even work around as the big canisters don't jam up as easy.
You can increase holding time on any tank by wrapping it in carpet or spraying it with truck bed liner. I also always ran a breeding tank that I would stock with a few days worth of semen so that I wasn't opening my storage tanks daily and that helps a lot.

 

[Son of Butch]

I've told myself repeatedly that I'm done buying semen inventory for my own cattle for a few years.
I have enough personal inventory to breed every cow I own five or six times ....
Maybe I should just buy ten more units to be on the safe side. :nod:

Sometimes we are too close to see the forest from the trees.
Maybe sticking to your original plan of not buying more and maybe setting a goal to sell 1/3 of your personal inventory wouldn't be the worst idea. I know having it is a nice security blanket, but if you ever actually need to replace the excess of your personal inventory...
Then You will have the joy and excitement of locating and buying it again.
Also You know that a bull or 3 is going to come along in the next few years that you will want to add and having sold
1/3 of your personal inventory will give you the excuse to do so.

Just some friendly unsolicited advice.... but do what you want... I know you will anyway.

 

[Kingfisher]

Never go into the woods without a compass...

 

[cow pollinater]

.Then You will have the joy and excitement of locating and buying it again.

Actually most of it can't be bought again. I tend to buy the last semen on really good bulls after they leave the market. I like high accuracy. This particular bull can still be bought but I'll wait as I'm sure I'll get an email within the next year or two advertising the last inventory on him at clearance prices as he's been gone a while now.

 

[frieghttrain]

I've told myself repeatedly that I'm done buying semen inventory for my own cattle for a few years. Today I had an idea for a mating on one particular heifer that I'm pretty positive would be stellar. I just had to run back to the ranch and verify that I had the bull I needed in the tank.
I have a unique way of cataloging my personal frozen bull battery. If I like the bull enough to buy semen on him, I remember it as well as how much I have left. :lol: I didn't find it today but I KNOW I have three units that were re-racked to a pink topped jersey cane sometime around fall of 2014 and am fairly sure that one of the five straws in the bottom of the tank is from the bull I need for a total of four units. My problem is that I have enough personal inventory to breed every cow I own five or six times and it's all packed into four canisters in my 47/11 with a significant amount re-racked so finding what I need can be time consuming.
Maybe I should just buy ten more units to be on the safe side. :nod:

:lol:

 

[Red Bull Breeder]

In your new endeavor I am sure you will need to buy more semen.

 

[frieghttrain]

In your new endeavor I am sure you will need to buy more semen.

"unfortunately'' :lol: