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Calving season, the most labour-intensive part of a beef producer’s year, could be shortened thanks to a new innovation out of the University of Saskatchewan.
Cetrorelix, a hormone drug commonly used in humans for in vitro fertilization (IVF), may soon reach markets for cattle and beyond, as work done at the university in Saskatoon has found it to be highly useful.
Jaswant Singh, a doctor of veterinary medicine and researcher at the university’s Western College of Veterinary Medicine, made the discovery in an unrelated study eight years ago. He also credits graduate students Dylan Farmer and Carlos Leonardi with the innovation.
“We tried this in 200 cows, and it works so nicely,” Singh said.
“This is the drug that we were always after. So, we are very excited that in the coming years this drug will become available. Right now, this is at a discovery phase of the drug.”
The drug acts as an ovulation synchronization method, meaning it induces cows to become pregnant through IVF in a very small time frame. Because the cattle become pregnant at the same time, they are more likely to give birth at the same time.
It’s far from the first syncing method out there, but it could soon become the best.
“By shortening that calving period, maybe it’s from two months to one month, we can reduce the cost of labour that way, and we can manage the animals in a much better way,” Singh said.
“If the calves are born early on… their weaning weight will be higher.… The farmer would make more money in their pocket, and we always look for that aspect.”
Garner Deobald is a beef rancher and the marketing manager at BoviGen Genetic Services, the largest full-service bovine reproduction centre in Saskatchewan. He says that if Cetrorelix can enhance what they do, he’s on board 100 per cent, both with his cattle at home and with clients at BoviGen.
“If the results are good, it is another tool that we most definitely would be interested in using,” Deobald said. “Anything like this, people will investigate and see how they can incorporate it into what they’re doing. It’s something that, if there is a benefit and value in doing it, they will definitely adopt it quickly.”
As a byproduct of the new drug, artificial insemination could become a more attractive breeding method than conventional. That could mean closer attention to genetics in a herd, as well as more reliable information on calf expectations.
“It’s very intriguing to see how it will provide the benefits that they’re saying,” Deobald said. “Whether it’s a dairy producer or even other species, they would look at it the same way. If there is something there that is beneficial for them, they definitely would be interested and would improve what they’re doing, or maybe entice other people to try it.”
Singh says the university has applied for a patent on the drug and is working with pharmaceutical companies to get it on the market.
“We hope that farmers will pick up this and use more artificial insemination. And then, that would be the case not just for farmers here in Saskatchewan but around the world,” he said.
“It looks very promising. It works in the animals. The cost of the drug will be within reason of what our livestock producers wanted to work with…. I would say that 80 per cent of the regulatory hoops are already crossed for this drug. It’s only the animal part that we need to work with.”
