A3O-Lancaster Farming, Saturday, December 18, 1999
Dairy Management Column
GEORGE F. W. HAENLEIN
Extension Dairy Specialist
Emeritus
University of Delaware
WHEN IS THE BEST
TIME TO BREED?
When to breed a dairy animal
is a standard question on the
final exams to animal science
students at the University of
Delaware. In preparing students
for this question, I always
explained the many factors
involved I wanted them to
understand there is no single
answer.
A general understanding of
artificial insemination (AI) is
required Really, there is nothing
artificial about AI, but the prac
tice does remove the actual bull,
goat buck or ram, and replaces
him with a person making the
semen deposit
This is where the trouble
starts, because natural insemi
nation service is more than just
semen deposit It involves court
ing, stimulating, chasing, biting,
pawing, smelling, snorting,
bumping, trial mounting, and
more stimulating until the cow,
doe, or ewe stands still and
accepts her suitor, none of which
occurs when a person is doing
AI
First, there is not enough
time for all this, second, igno
rance, and third, people’s physi
ological inability to smell as
keenly as bulls and bucks and
rams do Nor do we understand
or practice the body language
that cows and does and ewes
speak when they begin estrus,
when they are in high estrus, or
when they are out of estrus.
I always asked our students
at least three advantages of AI
and its disadvantages Typically,
they know that AI provides
more powerful genetic progress
than natural service. After some
prodding they also think that AI
is more economical and more
profitable. Rarely do they know
that AI has removed most of the
problems of reproduction dis
eases in cattle, goats and sheep,
and they usually do not recog
nize a beneficial parallel to
human reproductive behavior.
However, when asked disad
vantages of AI, often they have
no idea. So I ask: What does a
bull do when he sees a cow
mounting another cow? He
begins the stimulating game,
starting with smelling, some
thing people do not know how to
do.
So if AI fails to make some
cows, does, and ewes pregnant,
despite skillful training of the
person doing AI, what can farm
ers do short of selling the ani
mal? They get a real bull, buck
or ram, the so-called “catch-up”
sire, in place of the AI because
they concede that an important
element is missing, namely real
estrus detection and stimula
tion.
Acknowledging this draw
back of AI research has shown
the best way (and it is a widely
accepted practice in the dairy
industry) is the so-called “a.m.-
p.m,” rule; Cows observed in
estrus during the a.m. should
best be bred during the p.m.;
cows observed in estrus during
p.m should be bred the next
a.m Thus, for our students the
answer about when to breed
was If you see a cow in the pas
ture riding another cow, do not
get excited and run to the dean
to request that he notify me to
do something for the cow. Do AI
within 12 to 24 hours They
learned firsthand about “observ
ing” the onset of estrus.
Observation of estrus by peo
ple is hit and miss - at least it is
never 100 percent. Therefore it
follows that insemination can
never be completely successful
Obviously, insemination
should be synchronized to the
time of ovulation. Also taken
into account should be how long
sperm will survive after being
deposited into the reproductive
tract, as well as how long ova
will survive after ovulation.
Haines,
gd. MUST D 12/18 Haines
& Holloway Dougle Champions
NEW LONDON (Chester Co.)
There were two double grand
champions when the Triangle
Horse Show Series’ year-end
awards were presented at a pig
roast/hay ride/square dance at
Grazing Acres in New London in
November.
Jennifer Haines of Boothwyn,
won grand champion in both ad
vanced equitation and the pleasure
horse divisions. She rides Side
kick, a chestnut Throughbred/
Quarter Horse mare.
Brooke Holloway of Kennett
Square, riding Wrinkle In Time,
was grand champion of the mini
stirrup division for riders aged 10
and under. She moved up in com
petition and was also the grand
champion of the beginning short
stirrup division.
A total of eight shows were
conducted in the 1999 sales, and
competitors accumulated points
throughout the season. At the
awards presentation, six places
were recognized with large rib
bons and prizes.
Three farms make up the ‘Tri
angle” for this show series. They
are KA Equestrian Center, Coch
ranville, Grazing Acres, and Fox
Meadow in Unionville. Call any
of the participating farms for in
formation and/or to be placed on
the mailing list for the year 2000
series: Grazing Acres: (610)
255-5009; KA Equestrian: (610)
869-0746; or Fox Meadow (610)
444-8805.
Grand champion pleasure pony
went to Desert Fire Belle, an Ara
bian mare ridden by Jenna Di-
Nenno of West Grove. (Pleasure
pony and beginner short stirrup
were usually the largest divisions
at the Triangle shows.)
Cyrano, ridden by Michelle
Hicks of Kennett Square was the
grand champion of the baby green
division.
Low Down Louie, shown by
Sarah Shaffer of West Grove, was
grand champion of the low hunter
division. Reserve grand champion
in the low hunter and open equita
tion divisions was Sara Wilson of
Coatesville, riding her bay Arab
ian, Caserio Tsalturi.
Martial Law, owned and shown
by Alicia DelDuco of Oxford, was
grand champion of the halter divi
sion for horses and ponies aged 3
or under. Reserve grandchampion
was Quarter Moon Princess, own
ed and shown by Audrey Saunders
of Rising Sun, Md.
Leadline grand champion was
Rebecca Marks of West Grove.
Reserve grand champion was Me
gan Thompson of West Grove.
In the mini mini division, for
Research has shown that there
are no precise data, only aver
ages:
• Ovulation occurs 28 to 32
hours after onset of estrus
• Ova are viable between 6
and 12 hours after ovulation.
• Optimal fertility of ova is
between 6 to 12 hours after ovu
lation.
• Semen is viable between 24
and 30 hours
• Estrus lasts from less than
an hour to 36 hours, according to
recent research with
radiotelemetry.
• Estrus detection varies
between 75 and 90 percent,
depending on farmer diligence
and the detection aids used such
as tail patches, pedometer, tail
paint, chin-ball markers and
telemetry.
These data mean that no cow
Halloway Double Champions
riders 8 and under, the grand
champion was Kelsey Sherman of
Kennett Square. Reserve grand
champion was Heather Frank of
Cochranville. Frank moved up in
the competition and was also re
serve grand champion of the mini
stirrup division.
In the western division, the
grand champion was SH Fallon,
owned and shown by Lindsey
Heinzman of Cochranville. Fallon
was also the reserve grand cham
pion of the pleasure pony division.
Reserve grand champion in
western was Country Velvet,
owned and shown by Janet John-
Growers Closer To Managing Cranberry Pests
GENEVA, N.Y. When Cor
ns Ilians hear the word “cranber
ries,” they think of the moist bogs
where cranberries grow, Ocean
Spray’s “Crave the Wave” adver
tising campaign, and the tradition
al Thanksgiving holiday meal of
turkey, dressing, and cranberry
sauce.
What ComeUlans rarely consid
er is the university’s connection to
cranberry research in
Massachusetts.
But, thanks to the work of a
team that includes soil insect eco
logist Paul Robbins, cranberry
growers in Massachusetts are one
step closer to managing pests that
adversely affect the state’s $2OO
million cranberry industry.
“There are about 30,000 species
of beetles in North America of
which 1500 species are scarab bee
tles," said Robbins, who works at
the New York Slate Agricultural
Experiment Station in Geneva,
N.Y. “The larvae of at least five
species of these scarabs feed in the
root systems of cranberry bogs.
These species include the Japanese
beetle (Popillia japonica), the
Oriental beetle (Exomala orienta
lis), the cranberry white grub
(Fhyllophaga anxia), the cranberry
toot grub (Lichnanthe vulpina),
and Hoplia modcsta, a small beetle
species for which there is no com
mon name. The larval feeding
weakens the root system of the
plant, thereby reducing yield.
Equally important, weak toots
reduce vine density which predis
poses the bog to weed invasion.”
This spring the Cornell team
completed the identification of the
sex attractantof the last of the five
scarab species in cranberries,
Hoplia modcsta. The group had
previously identified the sex
attractants of all but the Japanese
beetle, whose pheromone was
already known.
The Cornell
Connection
reacts exactly like the next one
only averages are known
This also holds true for does and
ewes. The data also mean that
“onset of ovulation” is the big
unknown, thus the a.m.-p.m.
rule to be safe.
New research at Cornell and
Virginia shows, however, that
the a.m.-p.m. safety rule is not
good enough. A single mid-morn
ing insemination for all cows
observed in estrus the night
before or the same morning
should give near-maximum con
ception. This means that a
farmer breeder would have a
time advantage over calling an
A.I. technician.
Among 2,500 dairy cow
inseminations, the conception
rates were 43 percent for A.I.
between 0 and 4 hours after
son of Coatesville.
In advanced short stirrup, the
grand champion was Melissa
Donohue of West Chester. Re
serve grand champion was Beth
any Moore of Landenberg.
Moore’s mount, Indian Jane, was
the reserve grand champion of the
pleasure horse division.
Reserve grand champion of be
ginner short stirrup was Kristen
Schmidt of Kennett Square.
Flame, ridden by Jessica Knox
of UnionviUe, was reserve grand
champion of baby green division.
Other top series winners follow.
Low Hunter. 3. Melissa Dono-
Thc Cornell connection to the
cranberry industry began when
Anne Averill, a former post
doctoral associate in the Geneva
lab of entomologist Wendell Roc
lofs, left Cornell to accept a posi
tion as the cranberry entomologist
at the Massachusetts Cranberry
Experiment Station in East Ware
ham near Cape Cod.
An agreement between Averill
and Michael Villani, a soil ecolo
gist at the Experiment Station in
Geneva, led to a cooperative pro
ject that involved Robbins travel
ing to the Cape Cod area to collect
beetle larvae for research and to
observe behavior of adults.
“Digging the beetle larvae, or
grubs as drey are called, out of die
cranberry bog is strenuous,” Rob
bins said. “It’s not like digging
grubs out of turf as our lab often
does in the fall in the Geneva area.
You have to slice through the thick
mat of cranberry vines with a tool
called a turf ax and push hard to
toll it back. The density of grubs is
usually not nearly as great as in
turf, so you have to search a greater
area to get the same number of
larvae.”
Observations of the night flying
June beetles (Phyllophaga anxia)
have taken Robbins to the cranber
ry bogs for nocturnal forays. Using
a light overlaid with a red gel
(insects will not fly to the red light)
attached to a car battery, he has
videotaped the males flying to
traps baited with the synthetic sex
attractant “As I look at the video
today, it resembles what I’ve seen
of the Blair Witch Project because
the beetles were flying into my hair
as I was trying to hold the camera
steady,” said Robbins.
Another link in the Cornell cran
berry connection is Aijun Zhang,
another former post-doctoral asso
ciate from Roclofs’ lab. Zhang was
involved in the identification and
synthesis of all four of the scarab
sex pheromones elucidated by the
Cornell connected group. Zhang
onset of estrus, 51 percent
between 4 and 8 hours, 51 per
cent between 8 and 12 hours,
and from thereon, declining to
14 percent for between 24 and
26 hours after onset of estrus.
The new recommendation
was that highest conception
rates should be achieved for AI
between 4 and 12 hours after
onset of estrus and that the use
of the traditional a.m.-p.m. rule
would reduce conception rates.
It also has been estimated that
the U.S. dairy industry loses
more than $3OO million annual
ly because of failure and/or mis
diagnosis of estrus detection.
Knowing the best time to
breed is an important issue for
dairy farmers with cows, goats,
or sheep to maintain a profitable
operation.
hue.
Halter 3. Jennifer Knox.
Leadline: 3. Anthony DiNenno.
Mini Mini; 3. Jenna DiNenno.
Mini: 3. Jenna DiNenno.
Beginner Short Stirrup: 3. Hea
ther Frank.
Advanced Short Stirrup: 3. An
drea Heinzman.
Pleasure Horse: 3. Sara Wilson.
Open Equitation; 3. Sara Shaf
fer.
Western: 3. Ashley Eckard.
Pleasure Pony; 3. Michele
Hicks.
Baby Green: 3. Brooke Hollo
way.
currently works as a chemist for
the USDA in Beltsville, Md.
Identification of the pheromone
of the cranberry white grub* Phyl- '
lophaga anxia, led Robbins to the
subject of his doctorate thesis, that
of geographical variation in the '
male response to the sex attnetant «
of this species. “Phyllophaga anxia
is perhaps the most common spe
cies of the genus Phyllophaga
throughout its range, although it is
a pest only on cranberries in Wis
consin and Massachusetts,” Rob
bins noted.
The pheromone the team identi
fied consists of a particular blend
of two chemicals, the methyl esters
of valine and isoleucine, both
essential amino acids.
“When we deployed these two
chemicals in test blends ranging
from 100/0 to 0/100 in over 35
locations throughout the U.S., we
found extreme variation in the
male response," said Robbins.
"Sometimes the males fly to 100
percent valine, in another location
to 100 percent isoleucine, in
another to a blend of the two, and,
in another, the response is split
down the middle, with half the
males at a given location flying to
each chemical."
Robbins is ready to test his
hypothesis that it is phennonal
conflict between different species
of Phyllophaga using the same
blends of these chemicals that
pushes this disruptive selection.
According to Robbins, there are
more than 200 species of Fhyllo
phaga in the U.S. and they can only
be taxonomically separated by the
internal male genitalia. Robbins
has examined nearly 20,000 beetle
genitalic structures in the course of
the study to identify the nearly 40
different Phyllophaga species
trapped using these two com
pounds. He likes the idea that an
economic problem was the starting
point for driving a study in basic
biology.