Dexter Cattle For Sale Discussion Board

I understand that these vary depending on where you live. What is everyone paying (who uses AI )
insemination per cow (excluding straw cost)
transfer when purchasing straws from other Genus customers
storage per month

I use genus and they only carry your own semen so they cost of AI for one cow is £37.00 plus vat at there current prices. Storage is £7.95 plus vat per month. Plus what ever the cost of semen works out.

Unfortunately I have quite a lot of old straws in my flask, looking at the prices some straws sold for at Melton it might be worth getting rid of them. If I was starting again I would only buy enough straws to serve each cow plus a couple extra and if any where left over when i was sure my cows had held tell the technician to put the remainder back in the main flask so that you don't have to pay storage on them. If any cows came back over you could always use an easy calving welsh black, shorthorn or angus on any non short cows.

I wish there was some way we could share flask's as this would make it a lot cheaper.

As a point of interest I have had more success with some bulls on AI than others. When i have queried this with genus their suggestion is probably reasonable, which is that because it is so expensive to have semen taken from a privately owned bull, quite often they only do one take and if the sperm count is lower than would be acceptable with a commercial animal it is still used.

I have just received my first invoice and they wanted to charge me £20.50 a cow after quoting £6 to £7 per cow but have now got it down to £9 per cow as my neighbour is being charged £12.50 for a single cow. I have bought some straws in from other breeders and at the Melton auction (no, I did not pay £92 gns or anywhere remotely near that amount). I have no idea what they are going to charge for storage - everything is so vague! I think it is a brilliant idea for a flask share. Would that be at Towcester? I suppose someone would have to act as if they had purchased the lot and then pretend to sell it out as and when required and people would have to pay their own transfer fees. This might suit those who want to hang onto a few straws 'just in case' and everyone shares the cost of the flask. People could buy, sell, swop straws amongst each other without paying additional transfer fees. Central database so that you know who has got what. I think this could work really well just a matter of sorting out an agreement.

As for whether the AI is going to work or not - had them all done to the same bull on 20th Sept so watch this space!

Ann - I would be very interested to know which bulls you have had less success with than others - I am just preparing to invest in buying semen from Elmgrove Millenium and Stargate Sorceror to export to France - this is a considerable cost to me and obviously would like to give my cows the best chance to get in calf. Thank you.

Out of interest we do not pay a storage charge to our AI company in France but we are charged more per insemination !

Kate

Please can I ask what price sarum bullrush semen sold for melton.

From elsewhere on the forum Mark reported a price of 70 guineas.

Mark Bowles wrote:Crazy prices today for dexter semen, following lots were sold in gineas and per straw.
Canwell Buster 45, Canwell Satan 11, Donardgrange Rob 10, Melbury Duster 12, Sarum Bullrush 70, Templeton Irresistable 16, Knotting Saturn 92, Sarum Duster Dale 38.

Thank you I had better not use it.

My three weeks were up on Friday 11th. One returned yesterday (half expected as she was too fat) keeping fingers crossed for the other four. Elmwood Robson used.

AI costs in Holland are:

purchase: about 35 pound a straw (we try to get it lower by buy more with more buyers at the same time)
transfer costs AI-station: 3,60 pound a straw
first insemination costs: 4,60 pound
visit: 8,40 pound

storage of straws is really cheap in Holland!
We pay 1 Euro (0,85pound) a straw for the straws in storage at 1 august each year.

We have a lot of semen stored by our AI-station:
Posh, MacDuff, Robson, Talos, Dannyboy, Morris and a dutch bull called Red Sanny
It's our little genebank very cheap.
If you have to pay almost 8 pound a month = 96 pound a year! that can be true? *** IF SO: YOU HAVE TO BUY A NITROGEN VISSEL SOON! ****
When you pay 96 pound for a year storage: 92 pound for Knotting Saturn would be a lucky purchase!