January 6, 2012

Alta Genetics Inc. and Conception - Animal Reproduction Technologies are pleased to announce the renewal of the DG29™ partnership agreement. This contract renewal grants Alta continued distributor rights in Western Canada, Ontario and the Maritimes. “Over the last five years, Alta Genetics and Conception built a strong partnership and this was beneficial to both companies,” states Paul Rouillier, President of Conception. “As one of the first adopters of the DG29™ test in the Canadian market, Alta contributed greatly to Conception’s success and credibility.” Canadian Sales Manager, Ron Bird, states “this renewal allows Alta and Conception to continue to work together towards a common goal – improving herd profitability through delivery of high quality reproductive services and technology.”

Conception offers a turn-key solution to dairy and beef producers for pregnancy testing where blood sampling and shipping materials are all included in a kit. The DG29™ bovine pregnancy test requires one simple blood sample taken on day 29 after breeding. Blood samples drawn on farm are forwarded to Conception’s lab for analysis. Through detection of the DG29™ marker, a specific pregnancy protein, pregnancy diagnosis is determined. Results are returned to the producer both quickly and accurately.

Quick turnaround time allows animals to be re-entered into an artificial insemination or synchronization program sooner, which decreases days open and increases profits. The cost of added days open has been estimated to be in the range of $4 to $5 per day. At this rate, a 100 cow dairy that reduces its average calving interval by 10 days can increase revenue between $4000 and $5000 per year. Several thousand dairy producers across Canada already rely on DG29™ to detect early pregnancies in their cows and heifers.

Together, Alta and Conception are proud to offer added value services intended to improve reproductive performance and generate higher returns for dairymen.