Services for Adding Value

Embryo Transplant, Artificial Insemination, Donor Dam & AI Approval

Registering Artificial Insemination (AI) Calves

To register a calf that results from AI, enter Y in the column marked AI on the Herd Inventory and Application for Registration. If the bull being used is AI approved, the calf will be registered.
Bulls need to meet the following requirements to be AI Approved:

  • The bull must be parentage verified by DNA at a laboratory approved by the Canadian Angus Association in accordance with the Canadian Angus Association’s Parentage Verification Policy.
  • Sires that have a known carrier of any genetic condition, for which there is a DNA test commercially available, within the first two generations of their pedigree are required to be tested prior to registration of calves.
  • The owner of the bull will fill out and sign the Application for AI approval and pay the fee as outlined in the current fee schedule.
  • The owner(s) will designate the sire as an AI approved bull for either Owner’s Approval Only or Public Access. If they choose Public Access then anyone who meets all other registration eligibility will be able to register progeny from him. If designated as Owner’s Approval Only then only listed owners of the bull have the right to register progeny. Owner(s) can designate other breeders who are not listed as an owner authorization to register progeny similar to a Sire Authorization Form on a walking bull.

To be parentage verified by DNA a laboratory that is approved by the Canadian Angus Association must be used, in accordance with the Canadian Angus Association’s Parentage Verification Policy. Verification tests, genetic condition tests, and Angus GS (high density genomic tests) can be ordered below and purchased through the website.

The member needs to enter the animal’s tattoo and the test that they require.

Registering Embryo Transplant Calves

To register calves that result from embryo transplant, submit Embryo Transplant Application for Registration and we will send you a DNA parentage test kit. All calves resulting from embryo transplant require DNA parentage verification before their registration can be completed. Once successful parentage results have been reported to the Association, we will complete the registration.

If a dam is owned in partnership by two or more Canadian Angus Association members at the time of the flush, the partnership owns the embryos. The partnership could apply for a membership and tattoo letters and register the ET calves to the partnership.

If individuals involved in the partnership apply to register calves from the jointly owned dam using their own tattoo letters and ownership, then the Canadian Angus Association will accommodate the registration of the calf by applying a transfer of ownership of the embryo from the partnership ownership to the ownership of the member registering the calf. The Canadian Angus Association will assume that the partners have worked out the requirements of registering progeny from a partnership-owned dam, and that the partners would apply for calf registrations in accordance with their agreement.

Donor dams will be subject to an approval process that will be necessary to register progeny regardless if the owner of the calf owned the dam at the time of the flush or not, streamlining paperwork on calves resulting from embryo transfer and especially those resulting from purchased embryos. Since a donor dam has greater impact on the Herdbook due to the higher number of progeny she produces, it is important to ensure that we have as much information about her as possible. Cows that have a flush recorded at the office have been automatically approved and once approved a cow will remain so. The donor dam must be parent verified in order to be approved.


To be ‘Donor Dam Approved’,
a cow needs to:

  1. All donor dams must be parent verified by DNA to the fullest extent possible at a laboratory approved by the Canadian Angus Association.
  2. Any donor dams that have a known carrier of any genetic condition, for which there is a DNA test commercially available, within the first two (2) generations of their pedigree are required to be tested prior to Donor Dam Approval being granted.