OptoEngineering Partners with the Department of Agricultural Sciences at Texas A & M University-Commerce to use LED Technology in Equine Breeding Research A research study at Texas A & M University - Commerce was conducted by a joint partnership between the Department of Agricultural Sciences and OptoEngineering to determine if LED technology was as effective as other previously used lighting technologies to bring mares into estrus outside of their natural breeding season. The research concluded that mares can be brought into early estrus by using LED lighting instead of traditional lighting. Excerpts from the research documentation are as follows: The objectives of this study were to compare a "control" artificial light source (fluorescent) to a LED (light-emitting diode) light source to determine if each light source was equally effective in causing mares to be induced into early estrus for the purposes of breeding mares to foal closer to January 1, the Universal birth date in many breeds of horses. This study was conducted from December 15, 2006 to February 15, 2007 at the Texas A&M University - Commerce Educational Farm located 8 km south of Commerce, TX at approximately 33.24 N and 95.90 W. Twelve mares ranging from age 5 to 22 years were blocked according to age and assigned to one of two treatments: LED lighting treatment or traditional fluorescent lighting treatment. All horses were given a one-week acclimation period to stalls before the first sonogram was performed in order to become accustomed to the new environment. During this acclimation period, horses were dewormed with Ivermectin administered orally at the recommended dosage according to label instructions. Mares were also Body Condition Scored using a scale of 1 to 9 where 1=emaciated, 2=very thin, 3=thin, 4=moderately thin, 5=moderate, 6=moderately fleshy, 7=fleshy, 8=fat, and 9=obese. Scoring was done by two independent appraisers who were experienced horse managers and familiar with the BCS system. The purpose of this study was to bring mares into estrus outside of their natural breeding season using LED and fluorescent lighting sources while testing to see if the LED methods worked as well while being more energy and cost efficient compared to fluorescent lighting. The procedure included six horses being assigned to each treatment (n=12) method blocked by age. Mares were sonogrammed every 2-5 days to detect significant follicle size on the ovaries as well as teased by a stallion to test for signs of standing estrus. The results showed that the LED lighting method did bring horses into early ovulation and estrus equal to mares under fluorescent lighting. Therefore, the LED method was just as efficient on the mares and it used less kWhr, but Lumen levels were lower (15.3 vs 99.8 Lumen for LED and fluorescent, respectively) which equates to a lower electricity bill in this study. In conclusion, mares can be brought into early estrus by using LED lighting instead of traditional lighting. A comparison made between an incandescent 60 watt bulb and a CC vivid 2 watt LED shows that the lifespan for the incandescent is 1,000 hr, and the lifespan for the LED is 60,000 hr. The number of bulbs used for this time period would be 60 incandescent bulbs and 1 LED bulb. This would amount to an electricity usage of 3600 kWh for the incandescent bulbs and 120 kWh for the LED bulb. The total electricity usage costs for the incandescent at $0.10 per kWhr would be $360.00 versus $12.00 for the LED (C.Co., 2007). LEDs have begun to outperform fluorescent bulbs in energy efficiency. A company last year unveiled an LED that can emit about 70 lumens per watt, better than many compact fluorescent bulbs on the market which often emit 60 lumens per watt (Kanellos, 2007). LEDs are energy efficient and consume less amp draw which means up to 90% less power than incandescent bulbs. The LED also has a solid package that can be designed to focus its light. Overall, LEDs have a high stability, long lifetime, and low power consumption (Landgraf, 2004). The amount of electricity for operating LEDs and fluorescent lights were also estimated in this study. All lights stayed on for 16 h per day during the 60 d trial. Each LED bulb was powered at 700 milliamps/h or .7 amps/h. The equation for calculating watts is watts=amps x voltage. The system running the LEDs was 12 V dc. So, 0.7 amps multiplied by 12 V equals 8.4 watts/LED. There were 5 LEDs per fixture or 42 watts per LED fixture. For the six fixtures used in this project stalls (one fixture over each stall) it is estimated to require a total of 252 watts for each 1 hour period the LEDs were on, or an estimated 4032 watts/day or 4.032 Kw/day. Each fluorescent fixture had four bulbs with each fixture using 133 watts/hr. The six fixtures (one over each of the six stalls) would use an estimated 798 watts/hr, and through each 16 hr lighting period would consume 12,768 watts/day or 12.768 Kw/day, or approximately 217% more electricity each day of operation. Based upon the current cost of electricity, the LEDs saved about $82.00 for this 60 day project, and the LEDs saved about $1.37 per day. The LEDs saved 0.091 kW per day for each individual fixture. Therefore, LEDs do offer potential cost savings. Under the conditions of this project, the LEDs proved to be the cheaper method. In summary, the data as analyzed indicated there were no differences (P>.05) between the two lighting treatments and both were successful in bringing mares into early season estrus. These findings indicate LED light is as efficient in bringing mares into early ovulation and estrus with a level of 15 lumens as fluorescent lights were in this study. With breed associations have an official birth date of January 1, horse breeders will try to produce early foals by manipulating the estrous cycle of mares. Because this is usually accomplished with lighting it will be more energy and cost efficient for these horse breeders to use lower light levels, such as LED lighting methods instead of the traditional fluorescent or incandescent lighting methods. LED lighting was shown to result in mares initiating estrus earlier with lower energy consumption and long term results in less bulb replacement costs.