"We are pleased to provide our farmers with the confirmation and greater peace of mind for the mating season which is underway on farms right now."
A week ago today marked the busiest day of that season for LIC, with 117,000 straws of fresh semen collected, processed and dispatched to AB techs all over the country from its bull farm, collection and laboratory facilities outside of Hamilton.
A total of 4.6 million straws of fresh semen will be dispatched in the four-month lead-up to Christmas.
The PCR (Polymerase Chain Reaction) testing was done on semen samples at the co-op's MPI-accredited laboratory in Hamilton.
Bulls that LIC currently has on its farms and commercially available this season were tested, including the Premier Sires teams, Sire Proving Scheme, SGL and Wagyu.
From a young age, LIC bulls are permanently kept in strict quarantine, under close veterinary supervision. Collection bulls are regularly monitored for any signs of disease to ensure that semen is only processed from healthy bulls.
Dr Spelman said this will continue as part of normal practice.
As a result of the negative test results, he said the extra antibiotic which was being added to the semen diluent is no longer required and will be withdrawn.