COWS

INSEMINATION AND GENETIC SERVICES

Reproduction of ninety percent of the nations cattle is done throughartificial insemination. The semen used is selected from the best malesof the US and Canada. Insemination is done from November to lateFebruary and from early July to August.

FEEDING CONDITIONS

The feeding system is mostly pasture-based, with natural and winterfodder. Thanks to the countrys natural and geographic conditions,livestock can be fed naturally throughout the year.

Lastly,the sanitary conditions that affect the reproductive process ofUruguayan cattle have been an example the for international healthorganizations operating in the continent, specially in the countriesmember of Mercosur.

Three-fourthsof Uruguays borders are framed by large ocean, river and lake basins.The southeastern half of the country is in fact surrounded by theAtlantic Ocean and the Rio de la Plata, and the wind that characterizesthis region prevents various disease-causing flying insects fromsurviving, in particular the blue tongue virus mosquito. In this sense,the European Union has certified Uruguay as bluetongue free, and the USis currently conducting the necessary procedures to grant Uruguay suchcertification.

Theclimate is temperate, with average temperatures of 17?C in spring, 25?Cin summer, 18?C in the fall and 12?C in winter. Exceptionally,temperatures can reach a maximum of 40? in the summer and a minimum of8? in the winter. There is neither snow nor hurricanes in the region.

Theeconomic potential of the 15 million hectares of fertile land is evengreater if we consider the wealth of its natural resources. It hasareas suitable for agriculture, livestock production and forestry. Forseveral decades, Uruguay occupied a privileged position, worldwide, asa supplier of beef, leather and wool, products which accounted for 55%of the countrys exports.

Uruguay has 4.7 hectares offertile land per capita, that is, six times the world average.Eighty-five percent of its land is devoted to natural production, oneof the highest percentages in the world.

Ithas a surface area of 176,215 square kilometers. Uruguay seems small insize compared to its neighbors Argentina and Brazil, but it is in factlarger than Austria, Cuba, Greece, Guatemala, Portugal, Costa Rica,Ireland and Nicaragua. Within its borders it could contain Holland,Belgium, Switzerland and Denmark combined.

The Republic of Uruguay is locatedin the Western Hemisphere, in the area that lies between 30?S and 35?Slatitude and between 53?W and 58?W longitude.

Geographically, Uruguay is situated in the southern subtropical regionof South America, its territory stretching West to the Atlantic coast.Topographically it is located in an area of transition between theBrazilian plateau and Pampas plains.

Morethan 300.000 cows per year are controlled in the Milking Control Progamof the Rural Association of Uruguay. The average of milk production isin the order of 5.100 litters in a closed lactation of 305 days, forcows in a natural pastoral feeding sistem.
All the females who areincluded in this Milking Control Program have to be registred andproperly identified: -SH (Holstein Selection) or Pedigrees. All thesefacts and figures  are included in the Progeny Test Program.

MILKING CONTROL 

TheBreeders Association uses an SH (Holando Selecci

DAIRY LIVESTOCK, HOLSTEIN HEIFERS, OPEN OR PREGNANT, CALVES

BEEF CATTLE, FOR BREADING, OR SLAUGHTER