The Chilliwack Dairy Herd Improvement Club was formed on April 18, 1944, and changed its name to Chilliwack Artificial Insemination Club on September 5 of that year. The purpose of the club was to provide artificial insemination services to local dairy cattle breeders; in order to improve the four cattle breeds, Holsteins, Ayrshire, Jersey and Guernsey, used by local dairy farmers.
The Club began with an initial membership of 39 farmers, and that number grew quickly with the acceptance of artificial insemination [AI]. Risk of death and injury to farmers, as well as expensive livestock, were constant hazards of the breeding process, and AI offered safety to farmers. AI helped reduce the infection rate for cows, and led to improvements in breeding stock by selectively breeding for higher butterfat and milk production.
The AI Club traces its origins back to 1939, when the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation broadcast a radio program called the Canadian Farm Forum. The East Chilliwack Farm Forum was created in response to information presented in this program, and this East Chilliwack group formed the core of what would became the AI club.
The Chilliwack Progress for May 19, 1943, announced "Artificial Insemination tried here Monday". The article goes on to describe how Lindell Jersey Farms, home farm of A.E. Dumvill, was the scene of the first use of this new technology. The author acknowledged that "It's a step that may lead to one of the largest and most fundamental changes the dairy industry has seen for some time."
The AI Club opened for business on January 19, 1945, with T.G. "Tully" McLean hired as the Manager-Technician. The business started with a Holstein bull obtained through a federal government loan, an Ayshire bull loaned by L.E. Porter, a Guernsey bull loaned by Harold W. German, and a Jersey bull loaned by H. Creber. By 1950, the Club acquired property on MacDonald Road on Fairfield Island, and operated at that location until 1986. Volunteer labour, provided by club members, ensured that barns, pens, yards, a small office, and a lab, were constructed and available for opening day in 1945.
The Chilliwack Progress, September 21, 1945, stated "First test tube calves born here". The first calf born as the result of this new technique, was "Ashley Test Tube", a purebred Guernsey calf owned by Harold W. German. The second calf born was a Jersey calf owned by Russell Creber.
By 1961 the name of the group changed to Chilliwack Artificial Insemination Centre, and by 1970 the unit changed from the production of semen to the purchasing of semen. This switch to working with frozen semen only allowed the Centre to affiliate with breeders throughout Ontario and western Canada.
The impact of AI technology on the dairy industry can be seen in a comparison of milk production and butterfat between 1913 and 1973. In 1913 cow testing revealed an average of 6,670 pounds of milk and 193 pounds of butterfat per cow. By 1973, that average had risen to 13,440 pounds of milk and 503 pounds of butterfat per cow, increase of approximately 101% for volume and 160% for butterfat.
In 1979, Joan Sawchuk became the first woman in British Columbia to obtain a license to inseminate cattle. In 1981, the Chilliwack AI Centre inseminated a record number of 18,397 cows. In the years following 1981 there were fewer dairy herds, higher interest rates, and farmers were acquiring the ability to store semen and impregnate cows. As a result, in 1986 the Chilliwack and Milner (near Abbotsford) Centres amalgamated, and the Chilliwack Centre was closed. (Core information from Down Country Roads, 1993, published by the Chilliwack Museum and Historical Society)
