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Without a shadow of a doubt, I am my own biggest critic. No matter what I am doing, I am always wondering if there is a better way to do it. I suppose that is what keeps me on my toes.
My sons know what I am like and they are often making suggestions for improvement.
In addition, I am in a couple of business development groups, and this should be the ideal place for us farmers to be critical with each other.
It annoys me, as I firmly believe that we all need to be challenged from time to time
Sadly, this does not happen. Every farm we go to is doing everything perfectly, and nothing ever goes wrong.
If you dare to suggest something different, then people become very defensive. It annoys me, as I firmly believe that we all need to be challenged from time to time.
Opportunity
One area where there is always plenty of opportunity to be self-critical is around the use of artificial insemination (AI) in cows and heifers.
I have been breeding my heifers to AI for the last couple of months. Things have not been going as well as I would have liked. There have been a lot of repeats and I am not satisfied.
I was left wondering if it is something to do my AI technique – I always tend to blame myself first.
On closer examination, I may have found another reason.
I have scanned my spring-calvers and I am now in a position to assess the whole situation
There was a new bull that came along this year and he was very impressive looking. He has reasonably good performance figures, although they are not proven.
In general, I do not like using a bull that is unproven, but I thought I would try this one. He was used on most of my heifers and a few cows as well.
I was getting increasingly suspicious that there was a problem with this bull
I have scanned my spring-calvers and I am now in a position to assess the whole situation. Unfortunately, conception to this bull has been disappointing, and has come in below 40%, which is totally unacceptable. Conception to other bulls that I have used this year has been between 70-80%.
I was getting increasingly suspicious that there was a problem with this bull, but the results of the scanning have confirmed my fears. As I am trying to keep a very tight calving pattern, this has been a bit of a disaster.
Company
As soon as I suspected that there was a problem with this bull, I mentioned it to the AI company. I did not try and blame anyone, but just told them exactly what was happening on my farm. They have been very good about the whole situation. They have sent straws away to an independent lab for examination, so I am hopeful that this can be resolved.
If nothing had been proven, then it would have been case closed
Down through the years, I have had other issues with straws from different bulls from other AI companies, but sadly none have ever accepted responsibility. Hopefully, this AI company will be more open about what might have gone wrong.
My problem is that some of my cows and heifers have scanned in-calf to this bull, so the semen is not completely infertile. If nothing had been proven, then it would have been case closed.
Different bulls
Over the years, working as an AI technician, I have seen problems with conception rates for different bulls. Some are really good at getting cows in-calf and others are very poor. I cannot really understand it, as all semen is quality tested and has to reach a certain standard before it can be used.
I know other farmers who have complained about conception rates to particular bulls, but didn’t get far when they raised concerns.
I do not want to get my hopes up, but it would be nice to be able to resolve the current issue to the satisfaction of everyone involved. For now, I will avoid using any more of this semen, just in case.
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