Bob Timberman has been farming near Dundee in Yates County for 24 years. He’s currently milking 63 Holsteins, half of them registered. It’s safe to say that Timberman’s successful longevity as a farmer can be attributed in part to his willingness to change. “I usually like to check things out,” he says.

Without his open-mindedness, Timberman probably would never have tried sexed semen on virgin heifers, and being short on heifer calves was extra motivation to adopt this relatively new technology. The percent of heifers born on Bob’s dairy was well below 50% for quite a while.

It’s apparent when talking with Bob that his success with sexed semen is due to careful planning and decision making.

Ag Focus: How long have you been using sexed semen?
Timberman: I started using it as soon as it became available for purchase. I first started buying it from Select Sire Power. (GenderSELECTed) That was at least 1 ½ years ago. Currently, I purchase ABS’s product, Sexation.

AF: Are you using sexed semen on virgin heifers only?
Timberman: Yes. The industry recommendations state “for use in virgin heifers only.” We breed most of our heifers off of visual heat detection because most of them show good signs of standing heat. We have bred a few of off CIDR’s and had good success. However, we might consider trying it on some cows that are in good standing heats. We would not use it on any timed-A.I. breedings.

AF: Who breeds your animals?
Timberman: All breeding is done by my ABS technician, Steve Warner.

AF: Have you seen much of a compromise in conception rate with sexed semen?
Timberman: I don’t have the exact conception rate number yet, but I don’t think there’s much of a compromise in conception rate.

AF: Have you had any bulls born since using sexed semen?
Timberman: Yes, we had two born in the very beginning. I think we had nine heifers and then a bull. They say to expect about 90% heifers with sexed semen though, and we’ve only had two bulls born in 1 ½ years. I know that the technology (for sorting female from male sperm) is better than it was when sexed semen first came out.

AF: Has the improvement in technology and availability helped to drop the price?
Timberman: Yes, it has. A $16 bull used to cost $45 if you wanted GenderSELECTed semen. Now that same bull costs $35 for the sexed product. Instead of only four or five bulls to choose from, there are now a lot more to choose from.

AF: What are your plans for extra heifers you’ll have?
Timberman: Eventually, we’ll sell some heifers. I plan to raise them until they’re springing. I’ll probably have to build another heifer barn, but I’m not going to milk more cows.

AF: What approaches do you use for growing and breeding heifers?
Timberman: Our heifers are confined until breeding age. Then they’re sent to an outdoor lot so we can watch for natural heats. I’ve been breeding them at 22 months. I don’t know if that’s right, but we typically have good-sized heifers by that age.

AF: So, has using sexed semen helped to control your cost of replacement heifers?
Timberman: Oh, definitely. The growth of my herd has more than offset the cost. At the price of heifers these days, I don’t care what the price of semen is. I feel I can’t go wrong with sexed semen (on virgin heifers). If you’re going to bother with A.I., why not go the rest of the way and use the gender-selected stuff?
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