Artificial beef breeding technicians and semen centres feeling impacts of drought

While some seedstock producers are persevering so not to fall behind in their genetic gains, the biggest impact has been felt on the commercial front.

Bovine Breeders Armidale technician Peter Brown usually artificially inseminates 7000 head of cattle in spring but said he would be flat out doing 2000.

Embryo transfer programs have also slowed dramatically due to the lack of recipient females. Mr Brown said they usually ran 800 recipients but were down to 150 due to the drought.

"The stud seedstock producers are still persevering (with AI) purely because if they don't stay ahead of the game then in three years time their two-year-old bulls that are going on offer for sale are not bred as well," he said.

"A lot of ET work has slowed right up. Normally we would have 40 or 50 donors on the go but a lot of our seedstock blokes have pulled out mostly because they don't have recipients because they don't have the commercial herd."

In one positive twist however, producers enlisting the help of nutritionist and keeping their prime stock well maintained has meant cattle are cycling well for their breeding programs.

"Seedstock blokes have realised they are the breeders of their future so they are fed quite well," Mr Brown said.

"It will be interesting to see how conception rates go relative to what they were fed. Cattle that have been fed high protein high energy diets, if their nitrate levels are a little bit high it can have a negative impact.

"I anticipate it will be fine though because most guys have gone down the road of employing the services of nutritionists so they have got the diets fairly well balanced."

The impact has also been felt by semen collection companies too.

ABS Australia beef product and sales manager Bill Cornell said the impact of drought could reduce their business by one third.

"It's been the most horrendous impact I've ever seen for the artificial breeding industry from an environmental impact," he said.

"It's tearing the heart out of cattle herds.

"I would say some of the areas, like the Upper Hunter and New England, AI programs are somewhere between 10 to 20 per cent of what they would have been two years ago."

For those producers who are able to undertake artificial programs, some of the industry's best bulls are available and being snapped up across the country.

Just over a month since selling for an Angus breed record of $160,000, semen sales for Millah Murrah Paratrooper P15 have topped ABS records during that time with buyers from all states securing the genetics.

Mr Cornell said not since they took on Te Mania Emperor E343, who sold for $91,000 eight years ago, had they seen such a popular Australian bull.

"He arrived at the collection centre 48 hours after he was sold and he has been a really good semen producer so we have been distributing semen straight away," he said.

"The reason why Paratrooper is popular is because he is the record price bull and he is also an outcross breeding of most animals so he has a lot of pedigree appeal and he has a lot of eye appeal.

"On top of that he is really good on his data; can be used on heifers, top two per cent for growth, 400-day weight, good eye muscle area and really good marbling."

This year ABS has found Angus sires to be the most popular among clients, followed by Wagyu and Poll Hereford, attributed largely to the offering of Wirruna Matty M288.

The sire from Ian and Diana Locke, Holbrook, was the first Super Sire in the Hereford True Genetics program which analyses sires on their ability to address an identified purpose and still deliver overall trait balance, desirable phenotypical characteristics and structural longevity.

The most popular bull sought by ABS clients throughout the year was Landfall Keystone K132 who boasted low birth weight and high growth estimated breeding values.

Based on mid October 2019 Angus Breedplan data, Keystone was in the top one per cent for calving ease direct and mature cow weight, top two per cent for 600-day weight, top three per cent for calving ease daughters, gestation length, 400-day weight, and top four per cent for birth weight.

He was by Rennylea Edmund E11 and out of Landfall Archer H807 and was also highly regarded as an ABS High Conception Rate sire.

"We collect a lot of data to see how their conception rates are going in the field for semen and he is one of our graduates so we are finding we get a higher rate of conception on his semen then we do on the average bull," Mr Cornell said.

Baldridge Command C036, by EF Comando 1366 and out of Baldridge Blackbird A030, was also hotly sought after this year particularly due to the auction success of his first sons.

"They have extra thickness, extra muscle and he has got good foot scores and he can be used on heifers easily but he is in the top two and three per cent of the breed for growth rates, top one per cent for eye muscle and top 25 per cent for marbling," Mr Cornell said.