Seedstock producer uses AI to generate superior genetics
By ROWENA PLETT
Staff writer
Mark Harms' father was a Nebraska corn farmer, but he knew at the age of five that he wanted to have a registered herd of cattle.
After graduating from Kansas State University with a degree in animal science, he was ready to pursue his dream.
While taking courses in animal breeding, he had learned how the economic and genetic value of cattle could be enhanced through the use of artificial insemination (AI), so after graduation he took a three-day course offered by the Kansas Artificial Breeders Service Unit, a subsidiary of KSU.
He saw the use of AI as a way to jump-start a business of producing bulls for commercial cattlemen.
"I knew I wanted to breed and register cattle, and learning to use AI seemed the thing to do," he said. "Instead of needing two or three generations to improve genetics, it would take only one."
In 2000, he and his wife, Kim, established Harms Plainview Ranch in rural Lincolnville, purchasing the farm from Kim's parents, Don and Peggy Buethe.
Harms started using AI in 1992, shortly after the couple moved to the ranch, practicing on two cows. Since then, he figures he's done the procedure more than 3,000 times.
"The more you do it, the better you get," he said. "Registered semen is expensive so it's important to perfect the technique. The higher the pregnancy rate, the better the return."
Harms used to provide AI services for other cattlemen, but his own herd has grown to the point where he keeps busy just servicing his own cattle and managing his operation.
The ranch has a mixed herd of almost 400 Red Angus, Black Angus, and Charolais cattle.
AI is used on all cows and heifers, and bulls are used to breed those that don't settle.
Harms obviously knows what he is doing because the average conception rate for the past four years has been 90 percent. He said most AI providers see average results of 60-65 percent.
"Heat detection is the key to success," Harms said. "The best heat detection is learning animal behavior."
An animal "in heat" is ovulating and ready for impregnation.
Shots are available to bring a group of females into heat all at the same time, but Harms said he doesn't use that method. He said letting cows come naturally into heat provides a better AI success rate.
He noted cattle most commonly come into heat during early morning hours from 2 to 5 a.m. In the absence of a bull, they tend to go looking for others also in heat to jump or be jumped. A female in heat will stand firm when jumped.
Other signs Harms looks for are mucus and swollen vulva. Artificial patches or dye-releasing capsules can be placed on the rumps of cattle. Rubbed off or dyed patches indicate the animal is in heat.
During a breeding season of approximately 45 days, Harms brings cows or heifers into a pen, one small group at a time, and writes down tattoo numbers of those which show signs of being in heat.
Animals thought to be in heat are AIed within 12 hours. Those identified in the morning are AIed in the evening. Those identified in the evening are AIed the next morning.
Afternoons are spent delivering bulls to customers.
As groups of cows are settled, they are moved to pastures.
Another breeding season occurs in the fall beginning Nov. 20.
Harms uses the Internet to search for the best genetics for his herd. Sometimes he travels to other ranches using a particular bull to check out his offspring and their dams (mothers).
In a typical year, he uses semen from 15-20 sires.
"Those that prove to be most reliable will continue to be used," he said. "Once I find a mating that works good, I don't change it."
The semen comes in long straws stored in a tank filled with liquid nitrogen. It costs $15-$50 a unit.
Embryo transfer
In order to increase production without increasing herd numbers, Harms enlists cooperative cattlemen to provide cows for embryo transfers.
He has spent as much as $500 for semen to be placed in a donor cow for embryo transfer. He hires a professional to flush the cow and transfer the embryos into host cows.
When the resulting calves are weaned, they are bought back by Harms.
He uses 5-10 donor cows a year and transfers approximately 100 embryos.
Harms also sells semen from some of his bulls to semen companies.
Detailed records are kept on all the calves during the first year of their life. The most proven females join the herd, and the most proven bulls are sold as herd sires from yearlings to 18-months-old. The remainder are sold as feeder cattle or sent to a feedlot.
Despite all the labor and time involved, Harms is sold on the benefit of using artificial insemination as a seedstock producer.
"By using AI, female genetics are quickly improved, and the bulls I sell are one generation away from the best bulls in the breed," he said.
