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FROZEN SEMEN-QUALITY COUNTS!

By Amy Cook

 

Widely used and accepted by cattleman world-wide, frozen semen is relatively new to many people in the equine industry. Individual opinions on frozen stallion semen vary widely depending on personal experience. As with fresh and cooled semen, success with frozen semen is greatly dependent on the quality.

 

Vogler Semen Centre in Ashland, Nebraska, is no stranger to the world of frozen semen. The family began freezing bovine semen in 1983, working with personnel from CSU, KSU and the University of Minnesota to perfect the technique. Already involved with horses in their cattle operation and the cutting industry, frozen equine semen was a natural fit to their existing operation. With the equipment to freeze semen already in place, a stall barn and equine collection lab were the only facility additions required to make the transition.

 

Vogler's were well aware that in the world of frozen semen not all semen is equal. Handling from collection on, including processing and buffers used, greatly affects the quality of the end product. With this knowledge, they took time to research and educate themselves on the specifics of processing stallion semen. They purchased a centrifuge to spin off excess fluid, improving viability after the freeze and tested different equine buffers.

 

In addition, to benefit both bovine and equine customers, Vogler's purchased a Hamilton-Thorne Ceros Sperm Analyzer. The cutting edge technology of the Hamilton-Thorne provides an unbiased, consistent post-freeze quality analysis. With this information, knowing whether to keep or dispose of a collection is simple.

 

The hard work and research has paid off. Referrals from past customers, along with people taking advantage of the ability to keep stallions on the show circuit without the distraction of the breeding shed, had created a continually growing market for their equine business.

 

A natural addition, they began offering mare breeding services to their customers. This breeding season was tremendously successful for them. When the totals were in, they achieved a 91% conception rate on customer Rick Plendl's mares using frozen semen they had collected and froze on his stallion Smart Little Comanche.

 

Vogler Semen Centre's goal with equine semen and bovine semen is the sameprovide the customer with the highest quality product possible with the personal touch of a family run business. In the end, conception is king. If you produce high quality frozen semen your customers keep coming back.

 

For more information about Vogler Semen Centre contact us at (402) 944-2584