Floyd Cattle Company Proposal Jimmy Harrison Meredith Pharr Nathan Glenn Captain Cody McCabe 2009 Houston Champion Hereford

Introduction Our group has been working with Floyd Cattle Company. Leeann Floyd is our contact in the organization. We began the report process by making an outline of every group member’s responsibility. Each group member was assigned a specific section of the report. The report covers the scientific background of artificial insemination and embryo transferring. Floyd Cattle Company currently outsources these processes. The report covers the benefits of doing these processes in house by building there own facility. For the report itself, Jimmy was responsible for interaction with Leeann. Meredith, Nathan, and I were responsible for doing outside research to provide an outline of the benefits. We all combined our work for the actual report, and did group editing. We decided to format the document as simply as possible. Floyd Cattle Company is a very busy establishment and seem as if they just want the facts with nothing fancy.

Current Situation Travel to San Marcos Limited number of cows to be processed Little control over the process Stress on the cows

Proposed Course of Action Facilities Covered Chute Small Shed for Lab Lab Equipment Large Pens (as stress free as possible) Personnel Jared Floyd

AI and Beef Cows Less that 5% of the national beef cow herd is inseminated artificially Cattle are kept in range environments Requires extensive labor and management skills to detect estrous How do we minimize time and labor?...

Timed Insemination or “Mass Mating” Method used in Estrous Synchronization Eliminates estrus detection from business model More predictable time of service Detection does not affect time of service Cost savings

The Estrous Cycle POLYESTROUS--Female Bovine Experience Estrous cycle throughout the year Day 0  First Stage “The Estrous Stage” Peak estrogen levels Ovulation occurs approximately 10-12 hours after onset of estrous Increased activity

The Estrous Cycle (cont.) Day 2-3  Second Stage “Metestrus Stage” Releases Progesterone - pregnancy maintaining hormone DAY 6-17  Third Stage “Diestrus Stage” Longest stage Results in a fully functional corpus luteum Day 18-21  Last Stage “Proestrus” Declining progesterone levels Start to develop high estrogen levels Initiated the next estrogen cycle.

Estrous Synchronization Manipulation of the Estrous Cycle Induce estrous in order to bring a group of females into estrus at a predetermined time Reduces time and labor spent on heat detection More easily facilitate breeding Essential to an effective AI program

Prostaglandin Prostaglandin naturally occurring hormone Essential to the normal regulation of the animal’s reproductive cycle Intramuscular injection One or Two- Injection system

Prostaglandin (cont.) One-Injection System Two-Injection System Administer injection on day 6 (Diestrus stage) Days 7-11 heat detection & breeding Two-Injection System Separate injections 10-12 days apart All cattle are injected during the proestrus stage Observe over the next five days

Prostaglandin Plus May administer in conjunction with other protocols PROGESTERONE ESTROGEN

Internal Benefits Produce ten or more calves each year from their best cows, instead of one Increase sale of quality genetics Extend productive life of older cows Option to sell unused embryos Ability to oversee entire process

External Benefits Serve other cattle producers in the area Newman Show Cattle- Stanton, TX Chisum Club Calves- Springlake, TX Day Show Cattle- Meadow, TX T Knox Herefords- Stanton, TX *Just a few that currently also outsource their ET and AI to San Marcos.

Conclusion We completed our report well ahead of schedule so we were able to edit very closely. Everyone in the group was very cooperative and we got most of our assigned tasks done in a timely manner. The approach we took to writing this report proved to be effective. Everything ran smoothly in our brainstorming, researching, and writing processes. We wrote our report so that very realistic benefits could result from it. We are very hopeful that this report actually influences Floyd Cattle Company’s decision on building an embryo transfer facility.