Writer(s):
March 28, 2013
BELLE VALLEY, Ohio – Beef cattle producers who want boost their profit potential by increasing their success with artificial insemination can attend a school on the subject April 30 through May 2, taught by Ohio State University Extension and Ohio Agricultural Research and Development Center experts.
The three-day program covers a broad range of artificial insemination topics including factors that influence reproduction efficiencies, heat synchronization, semen handling and thawing, said Clif Little, OSU Extension educator in agriculture and natural resources.
The techniques taught at the school are important for beef cattle producers because they can influence how effectively a producer will succeed with artificial insemination, Little said.
“One reason we do this school is because it allows small cow-calf producers to bring in superior genetics to improve performance,” he said. “Using this technology for artificial insemination will allow producers to need fewer bulls or no bulls at all on their farms.”
The artificial insemination school is sponsored by OSU Extension and OARDC and is held at the Eastern Agricultural Research Station in Belle Valley, Ohio, just off Interstate 77 in Noble County.
Producers will learn the basics of utilizing expected progeny difference, techniques for artificial insemination, semen handling, reproductive anatomy and physiology, and estrous synchronization, Little said.
Participants will also practice artificial insemination on live cows, he said.
The school will be held from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. each day at the Eastern Agricultural Research Station, 16870 Township Road 126, in Belle Valley. Registration is $80 and includes all materials and lunch daily. The deadline to register is April 26 and the class is limited to 20 participants.
To reach the Eastern Agricultural Research Station, take exit 28 off I-77. Turn south on State Route 21. Go east (left) on State Route 215 for about one mile. Then turn right onto Bond Ridge Road (a township road) and look for signs.
The facility is one of 10 OARDC outlying agricultural research stations located around Ohio.
OARDC and OSU Extension are the research and outreach arms, respectively, of Ohio State’s College of Food, Agricultural, and Environmental Sciences.
For more information or to register, contact Little at 740-489-5300 or by email at little.16@osu.edu.
Writer(s):
For more information, contact:
Clif Little
740-489-5300
little.16@osu.edu