Bull fertility will be the focus of the featured presentation during the North Dakota Stockmen’s Association Seedstock Council Virtual Webinar at 6:30 p.m. Nov. 20. The Seedstock Council hosts a free, educational webinar via Zoom each fall for seedstock producers and their customers.
This year’s webinar will aim to answer the question, “Why do some bulls get cows pregnant more efficiently?” and provide other reports. Dr. Lacey Quail, North Dakota State University livestock management Extension specialist, and Dr. Saulo Zoca, University of Tennessee assistant professor and Extension beef cattle specialist, will tag-team the feature presentation, exploring the key factors driving bull fertility, the role of semen quality and the new tools helping develop fertility markers.
Quail is originally from eastern South Dakota, where she grew up raising sheep and cattle. As a graduate student, her research focused on the role of estradiol in pregnancy maintenance in beef cattle, as well as improving reproductive efficiency and profitability of beef operations through the use of reproductive technologies. In her current role at the North Central Research Extension Center, she develops and delivers livestock management programs across North Dakota while collaborating with Extension specialists and agents, research faculty, livestock organizations and producers.
Zoca’s work focuses on advancing reproductive efficiency in beef cattle by integrating applied and translational research with producer-driven Extension. His work has examined bull fertility from multiple angles, including the identification of sperm proteins and metabolites associated with fertility, the use of proteomics and flow cytometry to predict reproductive outcomes and the impacts of nutrition, management and herd health on pregnancy establishment and loss.
The webinar Zoom link is available on www.ndstockmen.org or by calling (701) 223-2522 or e-mailing ndsa@ndstockmen.org. Pre-registration is required.
ND Stockmen’s press release
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