Fresh season

NCBC conduct a fresh season for six weeks annually. This involves the use of chilled semen instead of cryopreserved semen. Advantages of using fresh semen include higher viability than cryopreserved semen, the possibility of using reduced insemination doses, the optimization of high-merit bulls, the lower cost of storage and the practicality for use in artificial insemination.

In Ireland most dairy farmers conduct a management protocol called compact calving. These farmers want over 90% of their herd to calve in a six week period. For most spring calving systems, the breeding season will begin between mid-April and the first week of May. This is why farmers use fresh semen as their are higher rates of conception.

At NCBC we ensure fresh semen samples are of high enough quality to be used in the field and prepare them in accordance with the SOP. About 3000 fresh straws are dispatched every second day from NCBC to both Munster and Progressive. These samples can be used for upto two days in the field. At NCBC samples are QC every day to ensure the quality is not deteriorating rapidly and samples are still of a good quality to be used by AI technicians.