A.I. & Agriculture:
From its humble roots, more than 300 years ago, the development of A.I has never reached a peak like it has today. It truly became a research target in America , starting in the early 1920's. The Library of Congress has photo records of research being conducted at Princeton University in the early 20th century. However, research really exploded in the 1970's when many major land grand universities took on reproductive technology research such as ; University of Mississippi, University of Florida, University of Kentucky, Cornell University, Colorado State University and many others. Artificial Insemination mainly stemmed from the cattle industry, although hogs and small ruminants soon followed.
In Modern American Ag
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Today, most animal agricultural industries utilize A.I. in some fashion. The largest of this, without a doubt, would be the cattle industry. Both beef and dairy cattle utilize shipped semen and A.I to breed cows to bulls from all over the country. Entire magazines and stud books are dedicated to the statistical information and advertisement of bulls who provide shipped semen. Poultry and hogs follow almost directly behind, both industries using A.I to improve breeding efficiency. Interestingly enough, many commercial turkey toms are unable to naturally breed hens because of their increased breast size from selectively breeding them to be more efficient meat animals. The horse industry also utilizes A.I. though perhaps to a lesser extent. Horse breeders utilize A.I to improve performance traits in their offspring, or to breed a particular blood line, or to continue on the offspring of a successful performance horse. Another interesting fact, The Jockey Club, which is the Thoroughbred horse registry, will not register or recognize horses bred by A.I.
International A.I.
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A recent statistic from the American Farmers and Ranchers Alliance finds that American agricultural exports hit an all time high in the last 4 years, and although this is extremely impressive, I would argue that one of our most valuable exports is knowledge. Organizations such as HEIFER International partner with major agricultural companies in America and agricultural research and improvement organizations in developing countries to promote the improvement of farming. It is especially important in developing countries to foster a strong agricultural base, and organizations such as these take American technologies and teach them to locals in order to improve efficiency, yield and animal welfare in countries in Africa, South America and Asia.