BULL BREEDING SOUNDNESS EXAMS AND BEYOND

The development of routine on-ranch bull testing coincided with technical advances in bull electro-ejaculation (EE) which permitted safe, relatively effective, semen collection of un-handled bulls. Approximately 50 years ago, the Rocky Mountain Society for the Study of Fertility in Bulls (RMSSFB) was formed "to share and disseminate the essentials for evaluation of beef bulls for fertility and to standardize procedures". A landmark report (Carroll et al 1963) on 10,940 bulls examined showed that on-ranch bull "fertility " testing was feasible. The RMSSFB subsequently became the Society for Theriogenology (SFT), which developed a revised breeding soundness evaluation (BSE) system in 1992, as described below. Bull Breeding Soundness The Breeding Soundness Evaluation (BSE) is a relatively quick and economic procedure for screening bulls prior to sale or use. Its objective is to establish a baseline, above which bulls could be regarded as satisfactory potential breeders. As it is intended for wide application with a variety of breeds in different environments, it needs to be simple, repeatable and unambiguous. However, the BSE should not substitute for professiona