A survey attempted to determine the extent to which cows are being inseminated when not in oestrus. The method used to check the farmers' diagnoses of oestrus was based on peripheral plasma progesterone concentrations analysed by radioimmunoassay. Of 141 cows examined in this way, a total of 30 (21-28 per cent) showed abnormalities of the progesterone levels. The fertility within this group was very poor with only two of the cows being known to have conceived to the service in question.