One problem is that the economic value of the product

One problem is that the economic value of the
product of a beef cow is around 25 percent (or
even less) of that of a dairy cow. Nevertheless,
in populations
in which
AI
is
used, embryo
transfer was found to be useful for obtaining
more bulls from top cows. The females pro-
duced by embryo transfer would be worth mar-
ginally more than females produced conven-
tionally, but the costs and influence of males
could spread over the population through the
use of AI.
The extent of this use of embryo
transfer would be very small; only a few hun-
dred bulls
would be produced per year for very
large populations, and over 99 percent of the
population would reproduce conventionally.
However,
such programs could have consider-
able economic benefit. Care must be taken to
minimize increased inbreeding of the popula-
tion with such a breeding scheme.
Summary.—
●
●
●
AI
could substantially improve economical-
ly important traits in beef herds. However,
because of the diversity of traits consid-
ered important by different breed groups
and the lack of a national beef testing and
recording system comparable to NCDHIP,
economic estimates of its value have not
been developed.
A sexing technology to produce mostly
males (they grow faster than heifers) could
be of enormous potential benefit to the
beef industry. However, no successful
technique yet exists.
Estrus cycle regulation could lead to a sub-
stantial increase in the number of beef cat-
tle in AI
programs. The net benefit of this
technology, coupled with AI, may be as
high as $50 million per year. Similarly, the
availability of reliable progeny records
would add to the beneficial impact of AI in
beef and would probably contribute sig-
nificantly to its use in beef cattle.
OTHER SPECIES
Swine.—Much progress has been made in
improving the overall biological efficiency of
pork production in the United States. Improved

188
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Impacts of Applied Genetics —Micro-Organisms, Plants, and Animals
growth rates, feed efficiencies, carcass merit,
and litter sizes have helped keep pork prices
down and improve its quality in the Nation’s
markets. Pork today is leaner and contains more
high-quality protein calories than it was just a
few decades ago.
AI in swine production could expand, al-
though it will be limited by the relatively poor
ability of swine sperm to withstand freezing
and by the problem of detecting estrus. It will
be encouraged by the strong trend toward con-
finement housing and integration of all phases
of hog production. The industry—especially the
individual, family-farm type units—would bene-
fit by the establishment of a progeny testing
scheme to identify superior boars. Publicly
available information on genetic merit would
decrease dependence on a few corporate breed-
ing organizations.