Shopping List and Tank Inventory

[Josher]

Ive been looking through the different catalogs and narrowing it down which bulls to purchase straws on and I'm curious what bulls are on your shopping list.
My considerations.
- ellingson three rivers
- growth fund
- architect
- hart outlier
- poss tenderloin
- iron horse

And topic number 2
How much inventory do u keep in your tank. I think I'm at 1.5 times what I would use in a year.

 

[simme]

And topic number 2
How much inventory do u keep in your tank. I think I'm at 1.5 times what I would use in a year.

Seems like semen tends to accumulate over the long term. You purchase for current planned use usually in increments of 10 straws. Straws not used within a few years tend to just sit there for many years until you decide to toss it. Bulls may not perform to expectations and there is always what appears to be a better choice available next year. That is what causes inventory to build. Some purchase more tanks. I think many have straws that they will never use.

 

[GoWyo]

I checked my tank in late August. No fog came out of it. Uh oh. Lost two straws of Right Time. The rest I wasn't too heartbroken over, but there was probably $150 worth of current sires I was planning to use in 2022. So clean tank to start 2022. Need to fill it soon with LN to make sure it will hold. Pretty sure it was neglect, not a bad tank.

 

[Named'em Tamed'em]

I checked my tank in late August. No fog came out of it. Uh oh. Lost two straws of Right Time. The rest I wasn't too heartbroken over, but there was probably $150 worth of current sires I was planning to use in 2022. So clean tank to start 2022. Need to fill it soon with LN to make sure it will hold. Pretty sure it was neglect, not a bad tank.

That scares me, I take my tank to the welding shop every 8 months. $75

 

[Till-Hill]

No idea on bulls you listed but semen inventory got out of hand long time ago. Used to custom AI a bunch and people order 30 units and use 17. Thank goodness buddy has 30 Angus cows and just wants to AI them so I can get rid of some! Junk stuff I've already used on dairy cows!

 

[Ebenezer]

If you can identify a good bull of yore, the smart thing is to keep some of that semen in the tank. If you can identify a sorry bull, the smart thing is to chunk the semen out of the tank. I do not believe in the modern marvels of semen catalogs or the tooth fairy. Semen sale outfits use the evolving door theory on unproven bulls. You get the opportunity to pay for the semen and the outcome to prove the bulls for them. That is a poor system.

 

[Named'em Tamed'em]

I did breed a few to Absolute when he came out but typically go for older proven bulls.

 

[Josher]

The bulls I was considering there are my Canadian options from the main semen suppliers. Will likely only buy 2 or 3 of bulls listed but it seems like I can't truly evaluate what I used until 2 or 3 years down the road. So then I've used a number of different bulls before I see if i should go back and use bulls proven in my environment. The yearly struggle here is to not buy more than I need. My New Years resolution was to only buy what I need and not make impulse purchases. So this is the first test to keep my carryover inventory in check.

 

[J+ Cattle]

Ive been looking through the different catalogs and narrowing it down which bulls to purchase straws on and I'm curious what bulls are on your shopping list.
My considerations.
- ellingson three rivers
- growth fund
- architect
- hart outlier
- poss tenderloin
- iron horse

And topic number 2
How much inventory do u keep in your tank. I think I'm at 1.5 times what I would use in a year.

I'm new to the AI scene as this was my first year to have any done. I have no tank, but my AI tech will store some in his tank for me.
I'm just curious as to your sire selections, they all seem to be very high growth but also high input cattle. I'm surprised that they would work well in your area. I need a lower input type of cattle.

 

[GoWyo]

Based on the last couple years of calf crops I think we are going to stay with what we have used before:

Sitz Resilient -- may try his half brother, Sitz Incentive on some smaller framed, less growthy cows if semen is available.
Ox Bow Ozzie -- seem to be good, solid cattle
Basin Safe Deposit -- on heifers - watching his HP EPD, which is terrible for some reason - have some calves coming in March, so have a little time to see if I like them or not. Had the best conception rate last year of the AI sires we used.
Mohnen Substantial -- solid, efficient cattle and the newborns get up and get with it.

May skip AI on half the herd and breed to my herd sires by Leachman Right Time and Gardens Wave. The heifer calves have a good chance of making the replacement pen and the bulls calves have been better than some AI sires we have used. Plus their calves have a very high will to live as newborns -- get some short ears because they get up and nurse way before they are licked off.

 

[J+ Cattle]

May skip AI on half the herd and breed to my herd sires by Leachman Right Time and Gardens Wave.

So, you're partial to EXT cattle, both sires you mention have strong EXT influence.
All the sires that I've used in the last 20 years have EXT or Traveler influence.

 

[GoWyo]

J+ -- I do like having the EXT influence weaved in. The first cows we bought in 2008 were EXT granddaughters on the maternal side. I have a bit of AAR New Trend influence lurking around as well digging way back. A little OCC Emblazon (Traveler) never hurts and I have that through my deceased herd sire, who was a BC Lookout son. At this point, the most reliable way to keep the EXT going is through my two herd sires -- who have quite a few sisters, cousins, nieces and grand nieces in the cow herd. I'm not afraid to line them up a little and see what happens.

 

[J+ Cattle]

At this point, the most reliable way to keep the EXT going is through my two herd sires -- who have quite a few sisters, cousins, nieces and grand nieces in the cow herd. I'm not afraid to line them up a little and see what happens.

Tim Ohlde wasn't afraid to pair up half-brother to half-sister and his turned out pretty well, I see no reason that yours wouldn't turn out nice also.

 

[GoWyo]

My deal is probably a lot more accidental than Tim Ohlde's program and we have a long way to go, but that is a great one to study. If we stay true on selection pressure to get the type and kind of cattle we are after, it should work out in about 20 or 30 years LOL.

I should probably add to the list Circle L Gus as well for cows that could use a little moderation on frame size. Have seen some really attractive heifers by him and he is good on PAP.

 

[J+ Cattle]

@GoWyo I remember getting some good recommendations from you and @WB Angus a while back. I don't recall who gave me which names, but Bruin Torque and Mohnen Substantial were on the list in addition to those you mentioned above. I had to line up an AI tech to use and ended up using Tehama Tahoe because it was available from a company that he reps for and he could get it without paying shipping. I might have paid for my lesson, but we'll see in September.

 

[GoWyo]

Tahoe should make some good cattle for you. I looked at him once or twice, but his PAP EPD scared me off. However, I have used some high PAP EPD bulls before the EPD came out and never had any problems.

 

[Josher]

I'm new to the AI scene as this was my first year to have any done. I have no tank, but my AI tech will store some in his tank for me.
I'm just curious as to your sire selections, they all seem to be very high growth but also high input cattle. I'm surprised that they would work well in your area. I need a lower input type of cattle.

I don't think you'll regret AI some may disagree but we've sure noticed if ur careful which bulls u use u can really up your odds of making replacement quality animals. And yes I have been going on a bit of a hunt for some high growth bulls because I need to add that type to my tank as it's lacking that option. I try to have few different types of bulls to match up with my cows weaknesses. When I started getting some genomic scores I realized that our herd is a little bit behind other herd averages on growth so been going for some extremes to try and correct.

 

[W.B.]

Of the bulls you listed I would say Architect is a true up and comer. I am more than a little familiar with the herd he comes from as my bull battery is mostly Spickler raised.He will be used here this AI season. The cow family behind him is rock solid and really good uddered.

 

[elkwc]

This will be my 2nd year to AI. I have Bloodline, Certified, Double Decker, Stock Fund, Dow Jones. Hope to add Grenade and Ripper.

 

[Stocker Steve]

ended up using Tehama Tahoe because it was available from a company that he reps for and he could get it without paying shipping.

1) Tehama Tahoe

2) Have bought too much on sale semen in the past. Need to chuck some of it or give it to a dairyman. I see no semen supply chain reason to stockpile.

3) Folks who spend a lot of time looking at the cow porn in AI catalogs often use a number of new bulls each year, but you may not have enough cows settled to a bull to get a representative sample. So I usually try one, or at most two, PROVEN new bulls per year based on my AI tech' recommendation.