Quality Matters to Us, Because Performance Matters to You

By: Kari Beth Krieger, Processing Lab Manager, GENEX

Breeding cows with cryopreserved semen is really an act of faith. You can’t see the sperm cells or know they are fertile unless you thaw the straw for evaluation, thus destroying the possibility of using it for insemination. You must have faith in the company that produced the straw and in the semen handling protocols that kept the straw in good condition – from the time it was frozen all the way through shipping, storage and placed in tank inventories – until the straw is selected for breeding.

GENEX has a solid history of fertility and quality, allowing you to place your faith in our product. Let’s take a tour through the GENEX semen processing lab to understand all the ways GENEX ensures we deserve that faith.

We only keep the good stuff
After semen is collected, it arrives in the lab for a thorough evaluation of concentration, motility and percent of abnormal cells. Semen that doesn’t meet our rigorous standards is discarded and does not go any further in the process. We toss up to 25% of raw ejaculates!

A unique product
GENEX uses a milk-based extender made in-house. It takes extra time to make and process semen in milk, in comparison to using a purchased extender, but it gives our

customers several advantages. When combined with our processing methods, semen extended with milk can tolerate a wide range of thawing temperatures with no negative impact on fertility. More importantly, large field trials have indicated that GENEX milk-extended semen has a significant fertility advantage over extenders with an egg yolk base. Furthermore, the milk seems to provide the antioxidants and nutrients sperm cells
need for maximum viability. This 1.5% fertility advantage translates to a major advantage for your bottom line.

We check our work
Every step of our process is connected to the demand for high quality. From the time a sire walks into the collection room to the time his semen straws are packed on a cane for

shipment, we track sire identification and ensure accurate labeling. We test each filler/sealer machine daily to ensure the straws have functional seals, and we confirm correct function of measurement instruments like scales and spectrophotometers. Our staff members are trained to notice deviations or abnormalities and address them immediately. GENEX staff has an extraordinary commitment to producing a top-quality product.

Someone else checks our work
To ensure our protocols are working correctly, approximately 10% of all semen batches produced are sent to an independent reference laboratory for evaluation. At the reference laboratory, advanced technology is used to evaluate semen quality and count the number of cells per straw. Feedback from this analysis allows us to verify our routine quality control evaluations are accurate.

GENEX is dedicated to being your partner by offering top genetics and the most fertile semen in the industry. We follow rigorous semen collection and laboratory protocols so you can rest assured that what you are unable to see is as good as you could expect.