About the ET Program

Embryo Transfer was used extensively in establishing the foundation of Crouthamel Cattle Company. The older donor cows that are responsible for a lot of the groundwork of our program will continue to have a positive influence throughout many future generations. We have continued to use ET heavily as a means of aiding us in reaching our genetic goals, and also as a way to enable us to produce a larger number of our best genetics at a faster rate.

The criteria to become a donor cow candidate is straightforward: They must breed and raise a calf every year for 5 years; have a combined nursing and yearling ratio over 100 on all five natural-born calves; have good feet, a flawless udder, and hold their flesh; have a desirable phenotype that is relayed to their offspring. To identify the highest-performing cows we use ratios based on actual performance to compare cattle within the herd. The goal is to identify the cows that do it right every time, and simply make more of them. The resulting progeny will simply strengthen any program out there.