Teagasc warning on stock bull infertility
George Ramsbottom, a Teagasc Specialist based at Oakpark, Co Carlow has alerted farmers to one case study where a stock bull cost €19,000 due to his poor performance on a 70 cow dairy farm. It was found that the stock bull was almost totally infertile, despite being active and appearing to perform normally.
The stock bull had been introduced to the farm "because the farmer was fed up inseminating cows." Unfortunately, he did not monitor the bull's performance, and farm profitability nose dived due to the animal's non-performance.
Farmers welcome the convenience of allowing a stock bull run with the herd, cutting their heat detection workload, and reducing AI bills. However, stock bulls are not cheap; a bull retained on the farm for four years costs €1,000 per annum, according to George Ramsbottom.
But the new findings question the reliability of unproven stock bulls for breeding. Mr Ramsbottom say "approximately 5% of bulls are completely infertile. Another 30% or so are sub fertile; in other words, their fertility is below average.
This group of bulls is a real worry because they will continue to get some cows in calf, and people will blame factors such as late embryo mortality, high protein in the grass, or disease, for the low conception rate."
In the "Todays Farm" magazine issued to the top Teagasc clients, he summarised that about one farm in five has problems with stock bulls and for some the consequences can be very costly.
