Illinois dairy cattle breeding practices and costs

Breeding preferences on dairy herds have adapted and changed as milk cow productivity has increased. Farmers have adapted their breeding programs to follow new trends, management practices, and production goals. This paper examines current breeding costs and preferences dairy farmers use in their operations. In our sample of Illinois dairy farmers, respondents are focused on breeding for production, health, and type-oriented goals and focus highly on milk production and milk components. Farmers tend to conduct breeding decisions and actual breeding on-farm rather than hire an outside source. Average prices for non-sexed semen, beef semen, and sexed semen are $24, $12, and $39, respectively. Lastly, there is a positive correlation between average net merit and sexed semen prices and a negative correlation between net merit and non-sexed semen prices. In theory, farmers purchasing higher quality semen (higher net merit) are more willing to add the decision of sexed semen in their purchases to increase their chances of having female offspring. When using non-sexed semen, farmers are less likely to spend more on net merit because of the higher possibility of undesirable gendered offspring.

Name thesis:degree_name

M.S.

Level thesis:degree_level

Thesis

Discipline thesis:degree_discipline

Agricultural & Applied Econ

Grantor

University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

Year dc:date

2023

Author dc:creator

• Lenkaitis, Briley Riann

Contributors dc:contributor

• Hutchins, Jared
• Nolan, Derek
• Goldsmith, Peter

• Genetics
• Traits
• Yield

Statement dc:rights

• Copyright 2023 Briley Lenkaitis

Language dc:language

en, eng

Handle dc:identifier

https://hdl.handle.net/2142/122057

OAI record oai:identifier

https://www.ideals.illinois.edu/oai-pmh?verb=GetRecord&metadataPrefix=etdms&identifier=oai%3Awww.ideals.illinois.edu%3A2142%2F122057