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The market is bullish (Charles McQuillan/Getty Images)
As crimes go, it took balls. Just before Christmas, thieves stole 60 containers of bull sperm from a farm in Olfen, a small town near Cologne, Germany. You might wonder what you do with litres of bovine ejaculate. Well, bull semen from premium pedigree bulls can be worth its weight in gold. Literally. Hence its agricultural nickname, “white gold”. Even Jeremy Clarkson, who is worth £70 million and treats farming like a side hobby, complained that bull semen is “phenomenally expensive”. A single “straw” (a 0.25cm3 plastic vial) from a top line bull, sold by a reputable dealer, can cost thousands of pounds. Ten vials from one bull went for US$67,000 at a sale in Australia in 2019.
The bull sperm market is bullish thanks to the widespread practice of artificial insemination. More than 75% of all dairy cattle breeding in the UK is done via this consistent method, which allows cows to be impregnated with the juice of a tried and trusted sire. If you can afford one, these sires are an excellent investment. In February 2019, an Angus bull named SAV America 8018 sold for the record-breaking price of $1.51 million due to “superior genetics”. The buyer was Trump advisor Charles W. Herbster, who took the bull to his Virginia stud, North American Breeders Inc., and turned him into a cash cow. SAV America 8018’s straws went for $80 a pop.
Just do the arithmetic. A stud bull will have its semen extracted twice a day, three or four times a week, and deposit, on average, 5-8ml of semen. One British Charolais bull is on record for producing £800,000 worth of semen a month, but the world record for semen production goes to an American Holstein bull Toystory, who in his 13 years at stud produced 2.4 million units (or 2,700lbs) of semen, and sired an estimated 500,000 offspring.
Who was the lucky benefactor? Toystory was owned by the dystopian-sounding Genex Cooperative Inc, itself a component of URUS, the biggest artificial inseminator in the world. (“We inseminate one cow a second around the globe.”) The URUS group have sold over 3.1 million “straws” between them. Britain’s biggest bovine semen producer is Cogent, which began life on the Duke of Westminster’s Eaton Estate in Cheshire, but is now part of Texas-based STGenetics. With more than 100 bulls at stud, Cogent, like URUS, sells worldwide. Bull semen production is increasingly a multinational enterprise, a cross-borders commerce.
And the price of bull sperm is shooting up, not least because it is increasingly modified in the stud lab. (Cogent’s speciality is sexed semen, which enables dairy farmers to generate 90% female calves.) The likely consequence of the increased cost is that semen heists will also likely rise. Already the theft of bull sperm is a global phenomenon, not an incident isolated to Olfen. Perhaps the greatest heist, in monetary terms, occurred in Minnesota, USA, in 2015, when robbers rustled four pints of bull semen worth US $70,000. Such semen thefts are rarely opportunistic, because the ejaculate needs to be conserved carefully, supercooled with liquid nitrogen at -196°C so it doesn’t spoil.
If you think the money involved in bull semen is eye-watering, wait until you hear how the semen is collected in the first place. In the good old days, the bull mounted the cow, and the semen was extracted with a spoon or syringe. (Been there, done that: I am a traditional farmer.) These days, the methods are increasingly unnatural and cruel. The cow is replaced by a “teaser cow” — usually a castrated male, or a wooden dummy. To stimulate the bull, stud farms often employ techniques, such as a ransrectal massage (TRM), which can be very painful for the creature — but not as painful as electroejaculation (EEJ). This technique, in use since 1936, involves inserting a 75-90mm-wide electrified probe directly into the bull’s anus, and sending pulses of between 8 and 16 volts into it. The bull, meanwhile, is restrained in a metal cage known as a “crush”.
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SubscribeWhat a sad and miserable way for a magnificent animal to spend its life.
What a sad and miserable way for a magnificent animal to spend its life.
Thank you Mr Lewis-Stempel for that, it will come in useful on ‘Judgment Day’, if not before.
Speaking of judgement day, I wonder what happens to the medical doctors who perform the millions of unborn baby killings each year? This bull thing seems like child’s play in comparison.
Stick to the subject at hand would you
Stick to the subject at hand would you
Speaking of judgement day, I wonder what happens to the medical doctors who perform the millions of unborn baby killings each year? This bull thing seems like child’s play in comparison.
Thank you Mr Lewis-Stempel for that, it will come in useful on ‘Judgment Day’, if not before.
The ‘upside’ however is, that it’s a lot safer than keeping bulls (particularly dairy) on the farm. It doesn’t excuse wonton cruelty for, maximising, profit though. Talk about, taking a good idea and milking it for everything it’s got. I’m surprised the author didn’t touch upon the other side though, if only for informing readers, if not because it’s less cruel (I don’t know). The technique, in the same vein as maximising ‘desired’ traits from bulls, flushes (harvests) eggs from ‘good’ cows, inseminates them with ‘desired’ bull semen before they are then inserted into the uteruses of cows with ‘poor’ quality traits. The main benefit, as far as I can tell, is that it vastly increases the speed at which desired traits can be spread around the herd (particularly when selecting for sex, bull calves are a wasted gestation for dairy farms).
Selecting the sex of semen has other animal welfare benefits, too: it reduces the number of male calves born, many of which (because of having extreme milk-producing genetics) will be killed as newborns or be killed as veal.
Let’s not forget that dairy farmers are under unacceptable pressure to produce milk as cheaply as possible, with dire cow welfare effects. We can blame the retail market for that
The economics of milk production are dismal- as someone says above, we expect to pay less for milk than for fizzy water. The result is shockingly cruel practices in the industry, with each cow producing quite insane volumes of milk.
The economics of milk production are dismal- as someone says above, we expect to pay less for milk than for fizzy water. The result is shockingly cruel practices in the industry, with each cow producing quite insane volumes of milk.
Let’s not forget that dairy farmers are under unacceptable pressure to produce milk as cheaply as possible, with dire cow welfare effects. We can blame the retail market for that
Once again, the “men” are rendered disposable.
Selecting the sex of semen has other animal welfare benefits, too: it reduces the number of male calves born, many of which (because of having extreme milk-producing genetics) will be killed as newborns or be killed as veal.
Once again, the “men” are rendered disposable.
The ‘upside’ however is, that it’s a lot safer than keeping bulls (particularly dairy) on the farm. It doesn’t excuse wonton cruelty for, maximising, profit though. Talk about, taking a good idea and milking it for everything it’s got. I’m surprised the author didn’t touch upon the other side though, if only for informing readers, if not because it’s less cruel (I don’t know). The technique, in the same vein as maximising ‘desired’ traits from bulls, flushes (harvests) eggs from ‘good’ cows, inseminates them with ‘desired’ bull semen before they are then inserted into the uteruses of cows with ‘poor’ quality traits. The main benefit, as far as I can tell, is that it vastly increases the speed at which desired traits can be spread around the herd (particularly when selecting for sex, bull calves are a wasted gestation for dairy farms).
“A stud bull will have its semen extracted twice a day, three or four times a week, and deposit, on average, 5-8ml of semen.”
My ears pricked up.
Errol Flynn?
Hard numbers, indeed.
Errol Flynn?
Hard numbers, indeed.
“A stud bull will have its semen extracted twice a day, three or four times a week, and deposit, on average, 5-8ml of semen.”
My ears pricked up.
Too cruel to carry on reading! All the more reason to become vegan . If the author is only worried about the rise of veganism, it’s a sad reflection of his morality, his view of animal farming stems from the rationale that it’s justifiable just because enslaving animals is largely fine. In any case what this article proves is that the money in this business has left no space for morality & conscience in our hearts-none whatsoever, leaving the vacuum to become black like tar. So long as animal farming exists, so will evil practices of all sort.
My neighbour is a farmer, and she used to describe these horrible practices more than 10 yrs ago. She told us of the dirty little secrets of western animal husbandry . Including the life span of a cow has shrunk from 7-10 yrs to 3-5 yrs, all for making bigger and bigger beasts & the commercial life of a cow IS its real life. The young calves are separated from their mother within 2 weeks of being born. On my run, I can often hear the howling of youngsters and mothers in different fields. This anxiety both for the mother and calf could not be healthy, neither for their meat, nor for their milk. The male calves are sent for animal food as they are useless. The youngsters are fed some mixture that makes their poop totally liquid, so not only they are stressed without their mother but also physically debilitated on some gruel like food that their digestive systems are not ready for.
It has also been revealed how tons of milk went literally into the drain during covid because of closed restaurants/ hotels. Besides, there is no money in dairy farming as arla is powerful cooperative that controls the price so viciously, no wonder the consumer is bemused to see milk on shelves for less than £.50 a pint.
I am a retired dairy farmer who was in the business milking cows for 40 years – 1950s to mid 1990s and I do not recognise your assertions. Yes, calves are separted from their mothers after the first colostrum milk and if done so within 24 hours, there is not a problem with mothers and calves. She starts letting down her milk and the calf thrives on milk substitue as do human babies.
My cows averaged 9 lactations (11 years) and it is considerably more profitable to keep cows longer as every lactation gets larger and thereby more profitable against the loss of 2 years with every new heifer getting to first calf. I was producing yields of 8-10000 litres per cow per year with excellent husbandry and cow longevity as are many others. Many bull calves used to go for Bovril from Holsteins except mine were British Friesian and went for beef and up to 20 years ago, 70% of beef cattle came from the dairy herd.
Yes, the housewife wants absurdly cheap milk; less than sparkling water, but most dairy farmers love their cows and good husbandry is a must for high yielding cows where milk yields have been improved by breeding. I do not recognise the methods described for getting semen. We used to collect semen by diverting the bull’s p***s into a rubber tube and into a bottle as he mounted the cow. Semen used to be collected fresh unitl the mid 1960s every morning at articficial insemmination centres and then that was used that day by MMB inseminators in the farm. I was one of the first dairy farmers in UK to do DIY insemmination in 1976 and had various bulls’ semen in a liquid nitrogen flask for storage on the farm.
Our bulls would only perform for good semen twice a week and produce about 250 ampoules of semen per jump.
Thank you for that reply from knowledge of the other side of the issue. In the 1960s my uncle worked on a “bull farm” in Wisconsin and it was explained to us children what its purpose was. I presume the method was the same as that in your description. I don’t doubt that the animals were treated humanely.
Thank you for that reply from knowledge of the other side of the issue. In the 1960s my uncle worked on a “bull farm” in Wisconsin and it was explained to us children what its purpose was. I presume the method was the same as that in your description. I don’t doubt that the animals were treated humanely.
I am a retired dairy farmer who was in the business milking cows for 40 years – 1950s to mid 1990s and I do not recognise your assertions. Yes, calves are separted from their mothers after the first colostrum milk and if done so within 24 hours, there is not a problem with mothers and calves. She starts letting down her milk and the calf thrives on milk substitue as do human babies.
My cows averaged 9 lactations (11 years) and it is considerably more profitable to keep cows longer as every lactation gets larger and thereby more profitable against the loss of 2 years with every new heifer getting to first calf. I was producing yields of 8-10000 litres per cow per year with excellent husbandry and cow longevity as are many others. Many bull calves used to go for Bovril from Holsteins except mine were British Friesian and went for beef and up to 20 years ago, 70% of beef cattle came from the dairy herd.
Yes, the housewife wants absurdly cheap milk; less than sparkling water, but most dairy farmers love their cows and good husbandry is a must for high yielding cows where milk yields have been improved by breeding. I do not recognise the methods described for getting semen. We used to collect semen by diverting the bull’s p***s into a rubber tube and into a bottle as he mounted the cow. Semen used to be collected fresh unitl the mid 1960s every morning at articficial insemmination centres and then that was used that day by MMB inseminators in the farm. I was one of the first dairy farmers in UK to do DIY insemmination in 1976 and had various bulls’ semen in a liquid nitrogen flask for storage on the farm.
Our bulls would only perform for good semen twice a week and produce about 250 ampoules of semen per jump.
Too cruel to carry on reading! All the more reason to become vegan . If the author is only worried about the rise of veganism, it’s a sad reflection of his morality, his view of animal farming stems from the rationale that it’s justifiable just because enslaving animals is largely fine. In any case what this article proves is that the money in this business has left no space for morality & conscience in our hearts-none whatsoever, leaving the vacuum to become black like tar. So long as animal farming exists, so will evil practices of all sort.
My neighbour is a farmer, and she used to describe these horrible practices more than 10 yrs ago. She told us of the dirty little secrets of western animal husbandry . Including the life span of a cow has shrunk from 7-10 yrs to 3-5 yrs, all for making bigger and bigger beasts & the commercial life of a cow IS its real life. The young calves are separated from their mother within 2 weeks of being born. On my run, I can often hear the howling of youngsters and mothers in different fields. This anxiety both for the mother and calf could not be healthy, neither for their meat, nor for their milk. The male calves are sent for animal food as they are useless. The youngsters are fed some mixture that makes their poop totally liquid, so not only they are stressed without their mother but also physically debilitated on some gruel like food that their digestive systems are not ready for.
It has also been revealed how tons of milk went literally into the drain during covid because of closed restaurants/ hotels. Besides, there is no money in dairy farming as arla is powerful cooperative that controls the price so viciously, no wonder the consumer is bemused to see milk on shelves for less than £.50 a pint.
I really appreciated this perspective on artificial insemination. I grew up on a dairy farm and we used artificial insemination for our cows. I had a number of friends (who were all from farms) who had bulls instead. Bulls are dangerous to keep and I remember being very afraid of them at the time. One of my friends was even attacked by the bull on his farm and narrowly avoided serious internal damage. I understand the convenience of artificial insemination, but the increase in demand is obviously leading the practice in the wrong direction.
Yes, well off to pay the gas bill.
Nobody cares, Henry.
Nobody cares, Henry.
Yes, well off to pay the gas bill.
I gave consuming milk and dairy 4 decades ago because of the animal welfare issues. However never knew about this horror. If occasionally given milk in tea or coffee, it tastes horrible to me now. All milk has some pus and cow feaces in it BTW. As long as it does’t reach a certain threshold, then it is allowed to pass.
“Disgusting” bits are not exclusive to dairy. All cereal has mice/rodents’ faeces in it and even drinking water has a threshold for faecal coliforms. We are a lot less clean than we’d like to think.
We also breath in particulates in the air. Hardly a reason to stop breathing.
By the way, if what they do to some bulls is offensive, wait until this practice comes to human “dumb beasts” some day. I won’t even bring up the fact that the practice of “exterminating” unborn human babies by the millions each year seems a lot more deplorable than jerking off some bulls.
“I won’t even bring up the fact…”
But you have. Twice. And if you think this article is about “jerking off some bulls”, you haven’t been paying attention.
“I won’t even bring up the fact…”
But you have. Twice. And if you think this article is about “jerking off some bulls”, you haven’t been paying attention.
We also breath in particulates in the air. Hardly a reason to stop breathing.
By the way, if what they do to some bulls is offensive, wait until this practice comes to human “dumb beasts” some day. I won’t even bring up the fact that the practice of “exterminating” unborn human babies by the millions each year seems a lot more deplorable than jerking off some bulls.
“Disgusting” bits are not exclusive to dairy. All cereal has mice/rodents’ faeces in it and even drinking water has a threshold for faecal coliforms. We are a lot less clean than we’d like to think.
I gave consuming milk and dairy 4 decades ago because of the animal welfare issues. However never knew about this horror. If occasionally given milk in tea or coffee, it tastes horrible to me now. All milk has some pus and cow feaces in it BTW. As long as it does’t reach a certain threshold, then it is allowed to pass.