Methods of Bovine Reproduction

The beef and dairy cattle industries are of immense economic value in the United States and have made impressive advancements over the past century. Their success depends strongly upon the reproductive efficiency of their breeding programs. This overview discusses the major advancements in bovine reproduction that have been integrated into the beef and dairy cattle industries and also the emerging technologies that are currently being researched. Current practices like artificial insemination and estrus synchronization resulted from the development of a strong understanding of cattle physiology and the endocrinology of the estrous cycle. With these technologies, selection of superior genetic traits has become much easier and milk and beef production is at the highest it has ever been. Developing technologies such as ovum pick-up, cloning, transgenics, sexed sperm, and genomic selection all have the potential to further improve the reproductive efficiency and rate of genetic improvement of cattle. Most of these methods, however, need improvements to decrease cost and improve efficacy before they become integrated into the modern industries