Introducing the new DSANA newsletter

As many of you know, Lacaune semen from France was first imported to the U.S. in 2017. The importation was spearheaded by DSANA board member Tom Clark, who reports that the next batch of Lacaune semen will be ordered in 2020. Contact clark@dubinclark.com about a future order or if you would like to purchase semen this year.

Producers who have started to milk their yearlings from the 2017 breeding season are reporting significant increases in milk production. We are therefore starting a series of reports on individual producers' experiences with LAI (laparoscopic artificial insemination) of the Lacaune semen. We start the series with Rebecca King of Monkeyflower Ranch and Garden Variety Cheese in northern California. Below is an excerpt of the interview with her; the full interview will be available on the DSANA website starting in July.

Rebecca King of Monkeyflower Ranch and Garden Variety Cheese in northern California was among the first purchasers of Lacaune semen straws in the U.S. She milks 100 East Friesian/Lacaune crosses just north of Salinas and produces aged and fresh cheeses and yogurt.

Rebecca ordered 20 straws in 2017, intending to artificially breed 20 ewes that fall. She ended up breeding 18 (more on that later). Ten of the 18 ewes held their pregnancy to full-term, and had 19 live lambs. “From what other people say, getting 19 lambs was not a bad percentage,” Rebecca says.

After ordering the straws a number of months in advance, she arranged to have the AI done in September 2017 by technician Martin Dally of Oregon. He is one of a handful of traveling ovine AI technicians working in the U.S. Each technician has their own insemination process and recommendations for ewe management, and their protocols can vary substantially.

Rebecca chose to inseminate mostly older ewes, though a few of her younger ones were bred successfully. “I’ve heard you want to choose ewes that are not older than 5 years,” she says.

She's also heard the recommendation that you want the ewes to be dried off before insemination. Some of her ewes were not dried off because of scheduling challenges, but they were inseminated successfully.

Four weeks prior to Martin’s visit, Rebecca put a “CIDR” into each ewe. Then a day before his visit, she removed the CIDR and gave each ewe a hormone injection, using PMS-G and PG-600. A CIDR had fallen out of one ewe earlier, so she wasn't bred, and another ewe didn’t get a hormone injection because it wasn't possible to get the last of the liquid out of the bottle. (Rebecca recommends ordering a little more hormone liquid than you think you’ll need.)

Those first AI lambs of hers were born between Jan. 28 and Feb. 1. "Your ewes are going to lamb within a very short window, so be prepared for that," she says.

Rebecca was pleased with the results of her AI experience. She calculates that between the straw purchases and Martin's fee, the cost was $135 per ewe. She sold most of the the ram lambs to other farms for $600 each, and kept two. This fall she will be artificially breeding two dozen ewes and yearlings, using the 25 straws she purchased in 2018. (She didn’t use the straws last year because she wasn't able to schedule a visit with Martin, but the frozen straws are still viable.)

“Plan ahead and try to get that date scheduled with your technician,” Rebecca recommends. “It’s useful to get a hold of one way in advance. They’re a rare commodity.”

For details on placing a Lacaune semen order this year or next year, or information about the AI process, contact Tom Clark: clark@dubinclark.com -Interview by Carrie Wasser

New DSANA website coming soon!

One dairy's experience: Lacaune AI at Monkeyflower Ranch