Audley Farms’ challenge: Improve reproductive efficiency and meet internal demands for its cowherd
How Vytelle helped: With monthly on-site collection visits, Vytelle injected consistency and efficiency into Audley Farms’ embryo program — to the point where they now have an embryo surplus.
About Audley Farms:
Audley Farms operates on more than 3,000 acres in northern Virginia. They farm row crops and raise Thoroughbred racehorses — but their main focus is certified Angus cattle. The operation, led by farm manager Matthew Deacon, usually has about 400 mature cattle plus replacement heifers and around 100 bulls per year.
Audley also has a direct-to-consumer retail beef business — so they see the product all the way through, from the field to local farmer’s markets.
The Problem
Audley Farms needed to produce phenotypically appealing animals with strong functionality. Since the farm sold bulls nationwide and ran a successful local beef program, Matthew and his team needed higher reproduction numbers to keep up.
“We knew we had to grow,” Matthew said. “But we only had so many cows.”
Audley Farms needed a more efficient, consistent, and proven way to produce more embryos.
The Solution
Audley Farms started out with once-a-month site visits from Vytelle. The team helped identify the best performing animals, then initiated in vitro fertilization to multiply offspring from those animals and improve efficiency. It wasn’t long before Audley Farms had so much success that they only needed to do a few months in the spring and a few in the fall — then take the summers off. This new schedule helped optimize labor.
The entire process was convenient and accessible, since Audley Farms didn’t have to transport animals anywhere and Vytelle ADVANCE™ technicians came directly to them.
The Results
Audley Farms previously did half its reproductive program via conventional artificial insemination and half using an embryo program. But after success with Vytelle ADVANCE, Audley Farms shifted about 75% of that work to Vytelle. This switch has helped them enjoy:
A new marketing avenue: Before starting with Vytelle, Audley Farms was struggling to get their reproduction numbers where they needed. Now, they have so many embryos that they started selling some of the extra — which has created a new marketing avenue.
“(Before) we weren’t able to meet our own internal demands as far as volume of embryos,” Matthew said. “Now we’ve kind of blown that number out of the water. We’re sitting here saying, ‘What are we going to do with all these embryos?’”
Now they have diversified their business even further and gained another revenue stream from their surplus.
Quick, simple service: Before, Matthew’s team had to do the time-consuming work of administering donor shots. At twice a day for four days in a row for 10 or 15 cows, it was a “chore.” Now, that work has been streamlined and Audley Farms is enjoying big labor savings and their cows are enjoying limited handling.
“My guys that work with me really love it, because they’re like, ‘Vytelle’s coming this morning, which cows need to go to the barn?’” Matthew said. “We run them in, and they’re back out in the field by lunchtime.”
Plus, thanks to Vytelle’s outcome-based pricing, that simplicity is paying off for Audley Farms’ bottom line. They only pay for the quality embryos produced.
Accessible, transparent customer support: It’s been easy for the Audley Farms team to reach Vytelle support. Matthew praised how quickly his team receives responses whenever they have questions. Plus, Vytelle has been transparent and honest about what to expect, which earned respect.
“I’ve talked to other companies and they throw out some spectacular numbers, then you’d never see those results,” Deacon said.
At Vytelle, customers can expect 25-30% of oocytes to turn into embryos.
“We see that, plus a little more. When cows are on a good cycle, we’re seeing closer to 30%,” Deacon adds.
Consistent herd improvement: Cattle IVF is a tough field to find predictability. But with Vytelle ADVANCE, Audley Farms has gotten pretty close. With strong metrics and an improved ability to meet their internal demands, Audley Farms can feel confident the Vytelle ADVANCE program will help them continue to meet their goals.
“Vytelle has been a tremendous group of people to work with,” Matthew said. “Without them, we wouldn’t be where we are. It’s really exploded our embryo program.”
Metrics from Audley Farms-Vytelle ADVANCE partnership:
- Average age of donors: 3.5 – 4 years
- Average 15 – 20 donors per session
- Average 28 oocytes per cow
- Average 7.5 embryos mated from donors
- Conception rates: 60-62% for fresh embryos, 57.5% for frozen
- About 30% rate of oocytes turning into embryos
