Finland scores new export hit: high-quality bull semen
More than 40 000 units of bovine sperm exported this year
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Animal handler Terho Pöllänen uses a thick leash to pull a 1,000-kilo Ayrshire bull, Ruokoniemen Orava, towards another one, Asmo Opallo, who is used as a platform for the procedure.
"Taking sperm from Orava always takes a long time. It seems that he likes to enjoy himself before shooting his load," Terho Pöllänen quips, as he stands next to the two enormous animals.
"And he's a little bit shy with you strangers about," Pöllänen adds, holding the leash taut.
The head of the bull barn in Pieksänmaa, Erkki Tenhunen, tells Pöllänen to let Orava wait while they take samples from three other pedigree bulls.
These Finnish Ayrshires are part of a global conquest. Over 40,000 units of semen have been exported already this year by the Pieksänmaa bull station in South Savo.
At least 18 000 more units of high-grade sperm will be sent abroad by the end of the year.
Tenhunen is already prepared to begin the procedure with a warmed-up, artificial vagina in his hand. One bull mounts the other, then there is some some swift but gentle action with the vagina, and success is achieved - a "full load".
Tenhunen pours the contents into a test tube, pastes the bull's info sheet onto its side, and hands the tube to lab worker Eila Janhunen, who is sitting behind a glass window.
She will take the semen to the laboratory for analysis and processing.
"Our sperm business is bringing in hundreds of thousands of euros, but for now our profits have gone into paying off the investment and keeping the price of artificial insemination reasonable in Finland," says Seppo Niskanen of the breeding service.
Sonnihovi, the only facility for pedigree bulls in Finland, began operations in Pieksänmaa last January.
This is not the first time Finnish bull sperm has been sold abroad, but large-scale export has been undermined by high veterinary standards in other countries.
The United States has the toughest regulations.
"The Americans require us to keep the bull alive until an assessment of the offspring is conducted," says Niskanen.
"This has also become the standard procedure in Finland."
New additions to the list of countries where Finnish bull sperm is exported include Lithuania, Switzerland, and Israel.
Half of the exported sperm has gone to the United States, where it is used to cross-breed Ayrshire with Holstein, the most common breed among dairy cattle in the US.
It is hoped that the cross-breeding will enhance the quality of milk and reduce complications with calving.
The head of the production team, Tuula Gargano, views a droplet of Ruokoniemen Orava's sperm sample through a microscope at the laboratory in the Pieksänmaa bull station. "There's a lot of sperm cells swimming about in there, which is good news."
Gargano mixes the sperm with a liquid solution, divides the solution into 15 million sperm cell units with a machine, and puts the long, thin, semen-laden plastic tubes into a deep-freeze container. From there they will be taken to a larger storage facility.
In the container the sperm is cooled down to -196 degrees C. using liquid nitrogen.
The sperm's journey into the world can begin.
Helsingin Sanomat
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| 31.10.2005 - TODAY |
 Finland scores new export hit: high-quality bull semen |
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