Single Step: towards a better representation of genetic progress
20 April 2022
Progress in genetics with Abondance embryos
25 January 2023In 2021, France will have 29,270 Tarines, including 14,378 cows and 12,105 heifers. Today, Tarine is found in over 30 départements. Mainly located in Savoie and Haute Savoie, new departments in the Pyrenees and Massif Central regions are turning to this hardy, efficient breed. To meet this growing demand for Tarin animals and to adapt our services to our breeders, the Tarin technical team and members of the genetics committee have been working on new on-farm collection contracts.
The aim of AURIVA-Elevage and its Embryo Transplantation (ET) service is to provide Tarin breeders who are already in business, as well as those who would like to start up, with high-quality genetic material. Having access to TE will enable breeders to multiply interesting strains on the farm, but also to save time by reducing the generation interval between strains: all with the support of a high-performance, high-quality field team!
One of the other big advantages of ET is of course the safeguarding of certain strains that may be affected by sanitary problems, for example. Neosporosis, for example, is transmitted via the foetal tract, while Besnoitiosis is transmitted by flying biting insects (flies, horseflies, mosquitoes): TE is a good way of “saving” genetics and preserving offspring.
Within AURIVA-Elevage, in partnership with CAP TARENTAISE, a working group of Tarins breeders, members of the technical committee, was set up in 2022. The aim of this group was to answer the question: “How can the TE service be deployed for Tarin breeders? This is to meet a variety of needs:
► A s part of the breeding scheme: how can we guarantee progress and genetic variability?
► For breeders: what is the availability of genetic material?
This working group, made up of the technical team, 4 Tarin breeders and 4 Abondance breeders, met several times during the year to define the economic and TE service issues.
They began by working on the various issues raised in the field, and on the outline for the distribution of this service in the Tarine breed, in order to work together to draw up collection contracts adapted to the breed’s challenges and needs in the field.
LUDOVIC PELLICIER
PARTNER IN THE GAEC DU CONSORTAGE AND MEMBER OF THE WORKING GROUP
shares his experience
I’ve been involved with the technical committee for some fifteen years. The GAEC I belong to carried out its first embryo transfers around 1990 and continues to do so every year.
It was a former associate, Claude DUCOGNON, himself involved in the breed for a long time, who passed on to me his passion for the genetics of our beautiful Tarine breed.
The challenge for our working group is to revitalize the TE department and further develop the breed from a genetic point of view. The aim is to encourage more breeders to use this practice, while at the same time increasing our embryo collections.
However, there are still other points of support to be developed:
► work to improve the results of sexed collections in order to guarantee females to breeders
► s end “elite” females to the Denguin station, in the Pyrénées-Atlantiques region, to collect embryos with high genetic value.
Starting with the origin of the embryos (schema or private), we have traced the chain of embryo production and the various forms of financial aid available. This resulted in 3 types of contract, detailed below:
CONTRACT SCHEDULE
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Help in preparing the donor: €100
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Aid for embryo production: €340
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Then either :
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Fresh embryo placement aid: €80/emb.
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Repurchase of the embryo by AURIVA: 150€/emb
As part of the Tarin scheme, AURIVA-Elevage is setting up collection contracts to increase the number of animals of high genetic value while preserving genetic variability.
Females are selected by our Tarin genetic manager.
To encourage production and support the breeder’s commitment, the financial terms and conditions are adapted to each stage of the process:
BANK CONTRACT
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Total responsibility for collection and freezing
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Help with installation in fresh produce: 60€/emb (for non-freezable items)
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Repurchase of the freezable embryo by AURIVA: €20
The BANQUE contract is used to create embryos which are then made available to other breeders. This contract will enable us to procreate embryos and keep our genetics running.
Females are selected by our Tarin genetic manager.
And to encourage production and support the breeder’s commitment, the financial terms and conditions are adapted to each stage of the process:
PRIVATE CONTRACT
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Once approved by the Tarine team, embryos are purchased at €200/embryo.
A final option was to purchase embryos from private collections.
In order to regularly replenish the bank, and if breeders are willing to bank embryos, there is the option of buying back the embryo from the breeder.
To ensure that as many of you as possible have access to this exceptional genetics, the TE department, in conjunction with the breed technicians, works on a daily basis to offer you embryos from the best strains of the breed.
Once these contracts have been drawn up, the working group will continue its work in 2023, drawing up a catalog of embryos and, above all, considering the production of sexed embryos.
As Ludovic PELLICIER pointed out, the DENGUIN biotechnology station is also a very interesting tool for breeders wishing to collect a high-level female in a supervised environment, with optimization of existing tools. This option will also be considered.
In the Tarine breed, since 2019, no fewer than 23 TE-born bulls have been integrated into the La Motte Servolex breeding station, and 12 of them have been included in the genetic offer.
Embryo transplantation is therefore a real genetic selection tool!
Manon RAFFOUR
Tarine Technician
Please do not hesitate to contact your Breed Technician Manon RAFFOUR for further information:
manon.raffour@auriva-elevage.com
+33772231759
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