It’s another Tuesday with Tom! This time we talk artificial insemination in our dairy herd.

I read somewhere that if you’re stressed or trying to prevent stress you should go and talk to people in your community or the people you care about in your life, so let’s go find Tom. 

There’s no better time to chat than when your husband is elbow deep in a cow, right?! Today Tom is artificially inseminating some cows in our herd, so let’s ask him some questions.

How do you know a cow is in heat and ready to be bred? Tom: she just is. But the real answer is that farmers aren’t just breeding animals all willy nilly. We are breeding them at the right time and making sure they are healthy and eligible to be bred. Cows come into heat about every 28 days. Signs they’re in heat include increased activity, mounting other animals, they might have a swollen vulva or some mucus. 

We choose to artificially inseminate our herd because 1) we don’t want to have bulls around the farm – they’re dangerous, and 2) using artificial insemination allows us to select different semen from various bulls. This allows us to select specific genetics for our herd, which ultimately means bettering our herd to create a better cow. 

When the kids go to school full time there will be way more Tuesday’s with Tom!