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World Wide Sires is proud to lead the industry in providing elite genetics and semen fertility. WWS recognizes the importance of creating pregnancies in allowing our customers to realize the value of the genetics, so we make every effort to maximize the fertility of each dose of semen sold.
Sire Conception Rate (SCR)
SCR is the only measure of male fertility that is published by a third party (not an individual AI organization) and that uses data from all the USA Dairy Records Processing Centers. The Council on Dairy Cattle Breeding (CDCB) is the organization that publishes the official dairy cattle evaluations for all traits, including SCR, in the USA. For this reason, WWS supports the use of SCR when selecting bulls for high semen fertility.
SCR is an indicator of the semen fertility of bulls used for Artificial Insemination (AI) based upon conception rate of service sires. SCR takes into consideration the inbreeding percentage of the bull being used (service sire) as well as the percent inbreeding of the offspring resulting from the mating. In addition to reported fertility from usage of the bull’s semen, the age of the bull, the AI organization collecting the semen, and the year the semen was used are also accounted for. Variables relating to the females being bred are removed in order to find the most accurate measure of the bull’s ability to create a pregnancy.
In financial terms, SCR brings real value and increases herd profitability. Each point of SCR equates to a 1% increase in conception rate, so a bull with +2.0 SCR would have a 2% higher conception rate than the average of the population. For every point of SCR, Dr. Chad Dechow estimates a financial impact of $6.50 when mated to cows and $2.50 when mated to heifers. This is based on the average cost of each day open for cows and heifers and the economic benefits of improved fertility.
There are many tools for ranking the semen fertility of bulls. However, as the only measure of male fertility that utilizes data from all of the USA Dairy Records Processing Centers and is published by a third party, WWS supports the use of SCR when selecting bulls for high semen fertility.