Beef Improvement Federation
Adopting Technology through AI to Make
Genetic and Profit Gains
By Shelby Mettlen
The beef industry’s greatest challenge
and greatest opportunity are actually
one and the same, said the University
of Missouri’s Dave Patterson at the
National Association of Animal Breeders
(NAAB) Symposium hosted May 31
as part of the Beef Improvement
Federation (BIF) Symposium in
Athens, Ga., May 31-June 3.
Patterson, creator of Missouri’s Show-
Me-Select™ replacement heifer
program, said the industry’s greatest
challenge is producer reluctance to
adopt new technology. Its greatest
opportunity? On-the-shelf technology
not being used — that works.
The industry’s greatest challenge
is producer reluctance to adopt
new technology. Its greatest
opportunity? On-the-shelf
technology not being used —
that works.
Take advantage of the technology
Nearly 70 percent of cow-calf
enterprises are reported by producers
as being a secondary income source.
Only 10-15 percent of all beef
cattle enterprises utilize artificial
insemination (AI). That can and
should be improved, Patterson said.
“In many respects, it’s a value-added
program,” Patterson said of the Show-
Me-Select program. AI adds value.
What Patterson called “the technology
problem” is well-intended. As more
research is conducted, more advanced
technology results, leading to greater
complexity and sophistication. Fewer
people understand it, fewer people
trust it, and progress is slowed, he said.
In 1996, Patterson created the Show-
Me-Select program to create an
understanding of the importance
of heifer development based on
reproductive outcomes. Since the
program’s inauguration, nearly 130,000
heifers have been enrolled in the
program. Only 32,381 of those have
been sold — primarily because the
animals are being held as replacements.
The program draws on the
fundamentals that founded Extension
and land-grant systems: It works to
transfer science-based knowledge
that enables participants to make
practical production and management
decisions based on economics.
Two of the most notable outcomes of
the program are the expanded uses
of fixed-time AI (FTAI) and ultrasound
for performing pregnancy checks.
The discussion raises the question:
Can producers make more money by
16 | AUGUST 2017
Dave Patterson,
University of Missouri
adopting these technologies? The
short answer, said Patterson, is “yes.”
Research results from the program
between 2010 and 2016 illustrate that
the use of AI consistently added value
over natural-service breeding, with
premiums surpassing $400 compared
to heifers bred by natural service.
Looking ahead, animal scientists,
including reproductive physiologists
and geneticists, need to work more
closely with veterinarians and the
AI industry, Patterson pointed
out. The industry needs more and
better reproductive data, and “it all
begins with heifers,” he said. I
Note: This article is reprinted with
permission from www.BIFConference.
com, the online coverage site of the 2017
Beef Improvement Federation Research
Symposium and Annual Meeting.