In the UK, around 80% of insemination in cattle is by artificial means.
Artificial insemination of cattle has become standard practice in nearly all industrial countries and is a highly successful conventional method of propagating the traits of a few of the most precious breeding bulls.
In Nordic and Western European countries, artificial insemination in dairy cattle has been used extensively.
On the technical front, the discovery of cryoprotectants, the freezing of semen using liquid nitrogen as the refrigerant and the introduction of the plastic straw as a semen container have been noteworthy milestone.
The advantages of using artificial inseminations are:
*permit use of superior, performance-tested bulls, in any herd
*Semen from a desired characteristics bulls even though it is hundreds, even tosudnas of kilometers
*Permits easier use of exotic breed bulls
*Improves records for performance testing
*Increases the number of cows that can be bred to superiors bulls
*Coordinates well with estrus synchronization programs
*Semen can be frozen and transported easily as well as be kept for year, often long after the death of the donor bull.
*Reduces the spread of disease
Artificial insemination
