With spring breeding season quickly approaching, many are already thinking about those upcoming matings. The AGA Online Registry Service provides several tools to aid in producers in making those decisions including the progeny calculator, reports, and extensive search tools. Before purchasing semen or embryos, it’s important to know whether that bull or donor female has met the AGA requirements in order to register progeny. This information and more can be found with one simple click on the AGA Online Registry home screen.

Searching for the right AI sire or embryos for the next breeding season is no easy task. Once a decision has been made, wouldn’t it be nice if you could guarantee that the semen or embryos, you’re purchasing has already met the requirements of the AGA to register progeny. Furthermore, imagine the peace of mind knowing that the sire(s) or donor females you’ve chosen are free of the four conditions tested through the AGA DNA Testing process (AM, DD, OS, NH).

A complete and updated list of all sires and donor females within the AGA Online Registry Service that have met the requirements can be found by visiting Gelbvieh.org and selecting “Registry Login” in the top right corner of your screen.

Once on the registry, on the left side of the screen, below the Login credentials you’ll find two buttons reading “AI Permit Sires” and “ET Donor Cows”. Simply select the option you’d like to review by clicking on it. The opportunity to access either list is available to both active members and customers without needing to login.

The lists provided are quite extensive and may even be a bit overwhelming. Once you’ve narrowed down which bulls or females you’re interested in, you can use a few keyboard shortcuts to be able to find those animals on the list.

Using your keyboard, you can hold down Control “ctrl” and the “F” key. Doing so opens a search box on your screen, typically somewhere in the top left or top right corner. In this box, you can simply enter the animal’s tattoo, registration number or name. Once you’ve typed in the animal’s details you’d like to use to search, click “Enter” on your keyboard. The screen will highlight any animal that meets the criteria you’ve entered in the search bar.

For a full list of genetic conditions, the AGA monitors along with other DNA testing details, visit the DNA Testing page located under the “Genetic Technology” tab found at Gelbvieh.org.

Among the search for AI sires and donor cows, the AGA Online Registry Service offers multiple search options for both members and non-members alike. On the Registry homepage, located at the top of the screen is a list of options “Search Tools – Calendar – Marketplace – Breeder Map- Industry Tools- Gelbvieh.org.”

On the “Search Tools” screen, select the “Animals…” tab at the top. From here, you can narrow your search down by bulls, females or both by selecting the appropriate button under “Animal Search”. Only know the animal’s tattoo? No problem! Simply type the tattoo in the box provided and select the “Tattoo” option before clicking on “Search for Reg Number”. By selecting “EPD Parameters…” users can set their own parameters within a specific EPD and filter results by sex, parent, classification, horn code, and color. 

The AGA continues to collect data on several traits, which allows the association to gain a better understanding of where the Gelbvieh and Balancer breeds stand among other breeds. Additionally, submitting data to the AGA like foot & leg scoring potentially allows for additional research to be completed on these traits. The improvement of foot and leg conformation would allow for a better understanding a predictability for traits such as increased longevity in the cow herd increasing our advantages as a maternally focused breed.

The second most utilized search tool is “Marketplace” located at the top of the registry homepage. The marketplace provides users with a map of the United States with distinct color-coded pins based on the item(s) for sale by AGA members who utilize this resource. A legend of what is associated with each colored pin can be found directly under the map. The same color pin is located beside the farm/ranch name sorted alphabetically below by state.