Teagasc,Animal and Grassland Research and Innovation Centre,Moorepark,Fermoy,Co. Cork,P61 P302,Ireland.
Animal. 2018 Jun;12(s1):s97-s103. doi: 10.1017/S1751731118000721. Epub 2018 Apr 10.
The use of sexed semen in dairy and beef cattle production provides a number of benefits at both farm and industry levels. There is an increasing demand for dairy and beef products across the globe, which will necessitate a greater focus on improving production efficiency. In dairy farming, there is surplus production of unwanted male calves. Male dairy calves increase the risk of dystocia compared with heifer calves, and as an unwanted by-product of breeding with conventional semen, they have a low economic value. Incorporating sexed semen into the breeding programme can minimise the number of unwanted male dairy calves and reduce dystocia. Sexed semen can be used to generate herd replacements and additional heifers for herd expansion at a faster rate from within the herd, thereby minimising biosecurity risks associated with bringing in animals from different herds. Furthermore, the use of sexed semen can increase herd genetic gain compared with use of non-sorted semen. In dairy herds, a sustainable breeding strategy could combine usage of sexed semen to generate replacements only, and usage of beef semen on all dams that are not suitable for generating replacements. This results in increased genetic gain in dairy herd, increased value of beef output from the dairy herd, and reduced greenhouse gas emissions from beef. It is important to note, however, that even a small decrease in fertility of sexed semen relative to conventional semen can negate much of the economic benefit. A high fertility sexed semen product has the potential to accelerate herd expansion, minimise waste production, improve animal welfare and increase profitability compared with non-sorted conventional semen.
在奶牛和肉牛生产中使用性别鉴定精液在农场和行业层面都有许多好处。全球对奶制品和牛肉产品的需求不断增加，这将需要更加注重提高生产效率。在奶牛养殖中，会产生多余的不受欢迎的雄性小牛。与小母牛相比，雄性奶牛小牛增加了难产的风险，而且作为使用常规精液配种的不必要副产品，它们的经济价值很低。将性别鉴定精液纳入配种计划可以减少不受欢迎的雄性奶牛小牛的数量并减少难产。性别鉴定精液可用于更快地从群体内部生成种畜更换和额外的小母牛，以扩大群体，从而最大程度地降低从不同群体引入动物所带来的生物安全风险。此外，与使用未分类精液相比，使用性别鉴定精液可以增加群体遗传增益。在奶牛群体中，可持续的繁殖策略可以将性别鉴定精液的使用仅限于生成更换，而将所有不适合生成更换的奶牛使用牛肉精液。这将增加奶牛群体的遗传增益，增加奶牛群体的牛肉产量价值，并减少牛肉的温室气体排放。然而，需要注意的是，即使性别鉴定精液的生育力相对于常规精液略有下降，也可能会使大部分经济效益化为泡影。与未经分类的常规精液相比，高生育力的性别鉴定精液产品具有加速群体扩张、减少废物产生、改善动物福利和提高盈利能力的潜力。
