Breeding Soundness Evaluations

mation of cow/calf operations running between 200-500 head reveals an investment of over $2000.00 being made for each breeding cow in land, equipment, facilities and animal unit price.1 When herd bulls are used at 1:25 to 1:40 ratios, this represents an investment of $50,000 to $80,000 which is annually dependent upon the satisfactory reproductive potential of each breeding age bull, regardless of the price paid for the bull. The use of bulls in natural mating programs accounts for over 95 percent of pregnancies each year in the U.S. beef cattle industry.2 To impregnate a cow in a natural mating situation, the bull must produce semen of satisfactory quality and be able to successfully mount and deposit the semen in the reproductive system of the cow. Failure to meet either criteria will result in poor reproductive performance. A recent national survey of cow/calf operations found that 47 percent of the producers semen tested newly purchased, borrowed or leased bulls prior to use.3 Of the bulls held over from the previous breeding season slightly over 18 percent were semen tested. In that same survey, infertility was the most important reason considered when culling a bull. It would appear that many producers are neglecting a valuable management practice only to find at pregnancy examination or during the next year's calving season that a bull's reproductive performance was low. While semen testing alone will indicate if a bull is producing semen of satisfactory quality at the time of the examination, it will not detect if the bull has the desire or physical ability to successfully breed cows. A breeding soundness evaluation (BSE) of a range bull is a method to standardize the evaluation of the major factors which influence the reproductive potential of the bull. The examination process has several components which include: 1) A detailed medical history about the bull 2) A general physical examination 3) A detailed examination of the reproductive system to include a scrotal measurement 4) An evaluation of the semen 5) Optional tests such as serving capacity evaluation, pelvic measurement, testing for trichomoniasis or evaluating semen for seminal protein levels