A couple of weeks ago (September 4^th & 5^th), the Beef Reproduction Task Force had their annual meeting, Applied Reproductive Strategies in beef Cattle (ARSBC) in Athen, GA. The University of Tennessee Institute of Agriculture (UTIA) was well represented by three faculties from the department of Animal Science as conference speakers and three graduate students that presented their research in a poster format.

First, we had Dr. Troy Rowan present about “Genetic selection for cow fertility and longevity”. He highlighted that crossbreeding is likely the most underused technology by our commercial beef producers and crossbreeding can have a great influence in females’ longevity and reproductive efficiency (Picture 1). Followed by Dr. Neal Schrick who talked about “Managing herd fertility while grazing fescue”. From his presentation, it was clear that fescue is an important forage in our region and the key to success is correct management of both males (bulls) and females (cows & heifers) as well as your pasture (Picture 1). Lastly, we had Dr. Saulo Zoca, who presented on “Novel strategies to identify beef bulls with superior fertility”, he provided an overview of the research that has been done and are currently in progress to understand bull subfertility and the development of new fertility markers (Picture 1). The take home message from Dr. Zoca’s presentation was “All bulls should go through a complete breeding soundness exam (BSE) before each breeding season to decrease the chances of subfertile bulls being used in your operation”. Dr. Zoca also had a laboratory section (“Overview of different technologies to analyze semen”) where he demonstrated methods of semen analyses including the use of computer-assisted sperm analyses (CASA) systems, sperm morphology, and flow cytometry (Picture 2). Our graduate student (Picture 3) also did a great job, Adella Lonas (mentor: Dr. Saulo Zoca) and Samantha Roberts (Mentors: Dr. Saulo Zoca & Dr. Sarah Moorey) had posters on male fertility. Cassidy Catrett (mentor: Dr. Troy Rowan; Picture 7) was awarded the Lauderdale Scholar for her work with Simmental association on quantifying phenotypic and genetic variation for cow fertility.

It was a great, well-attended meeting where several factors related to beef cattle reproduction and reproductive management was discussed. More information about ARSBC, the beef reproduction task force, and meeting proceedings can be found at https://beefrepro.org.

Picture 1. UTIA Department of Animal Science faculties presenting at ARSBC in Athens, GA. From left to right, Drs. T Rowan (Assistant Professor, Department of Animal Science), N. Schrick (Professor and Head, department of Animal Science), S. Zoca (Assistant Professor, Department of Animal Science).

Picture 2. Dr. Zoca explaining the importance of sperm morphology in a breeding soundness exam (BSE).

Picture 3. UTIA Department of Animal Science graduate students presenting their research at ARSBC in Athens, GA. From left to right, Adella Lonas, Samantha Roberts, Cassidy Catrett.