Hidden Hill Farm Shorthorns

 

Performance Sires

Native Sires

HHFS Dream Weaver

Click on any image -or- "Underlined Heading" for more details.

HHFS Leah's Legacy

HHFS Shadowfax

Cell ph.#763-772-5180

As for Shorthorn bull semen a century has passed since beef producers embraced the use of artificial insemination (A.I.) as a practical option to improve their herds. As the development of A.I. rapidly progressed in the first half of the 20th century, bull semen from a number of the most outstanding sires was collected and frozen for shipment and long term storage until needed for use in the herd. While the most outstanding bulls were not affordable for many breeders to own for themselves, genetic material and value from them was available to a great many innovative cattlemen in the form of bull semen.

The ability to successfully freeze Shorthorn bull semen and, after long term storage, thaw it so that it is still viable and able to impregnate a cow, has proven to be a great treasure. What was originally intended as a way to spread more widely and more quickly the genetic influence of the most outstanding individuals, has enabled the beef industry to preserve and recapture genetics of bulls long dead, whose practical value could have otherwise been lost as the pendulum swung from one extreme to the other.

Today, Shorthorn bull semen collection is still done on the farm, as an inexpensive way for a breeder to ensure the preservation of specific proven superior genetics for his herd, should anything unexpected happen to a sire, however, if one has a market outside of his own herd, especially a foreign market, it is not only expedient, but necessary to take the sire to a certified bull stud, where he is given a protocol of extensive health tests which, if passed, qualifies semen, thereafter collected, for export to the country for which the protocol applies. Collected and processed bull semen thus qualified, can only be shipped from the certified collection point to another certified bull stud, in order to maintain qualified status. Once removed from qualified storage, the Shorthorn bull semen loses its export qualification.

(we will be producing and collecting semen on "proven" native bulls and posting them here)