Ky hills said:
It is not necessarily being a "fool" to question so called facts. I believe some scientific research and developments have been beneficial. On the other hand much of the product research in my opinion can be skewed to favor a desired result. The fine print on a lot of products reads to the effect of results may vary ect.
I have known people that had polio. I also believe that my mother may have still been living if not for some new great drug.
On the subject of AI, Used to utilize it in our registered herd, then tried the TAI stuff years later and our commercial herd got out of whack on calving window worse than ever, still working to get some semblance of that back, by using bulls. I'm not saying that AI bulls are inferior, but just because some one doesn't AI doesn't mean they are buying low end stockyard bulls either. Fact is I do as most others do utilize many modern inventions, and would be lost with out them likely. I just don't believe that every farmer needs to buy into the hype of every latest and greatest animal or gadget that hits the market even if it is backed up by science. Pick and choose what works. If I had money to buy all of it then I doubt I would be trying to farm.
Questioning research and development is a good thing. There are lots of products that don't work the way they did in research trials because life doesn't always play out like a research trial. There comes a point, however, when denying mountains of scientific evidence and real world observation is just foolish.
I'm not criticizing anyone for not implanting calves. If a person said that they'd just rather not mess with it, I could respect that. There are valid reasons for not doing it, but "I don't think they work" or "the drug companies just made up the research" are not.
Same thing with the AI. I grew up on a farm that still uses bulls exclusively, and they aren't particularly high quality. It works fine for my dad, but neither of us would try to claim that his calves are consistently on par with some AI quality stock.
When I was in school, an old vet once told me, "We all have reasons for doing things the way that we do, but don't ever fall into the trap of believing your own b.s." It's human nature to believe that our own way is the best way. When significant evidence suggests you are wrong, consider that you might be wrong, rather than making up some baloney to justify it.