The southern hemisphere’s largest bull sale exemplifies the impact in vitro fertilisation is having on genetic improvement in the beef industry.
Brahman Week is a three day showcase of the best the breed has to offer in Australia, and IVF bred bulls feature heavily in the catalogue yet again this year.
Last year Rockhampton’s Brahman Week turned over just shy of $7 million from the sale of 695 lots, and the event continues to gain momentum even in its 48th year.
This year more than 850 bulls from 191 studs will be offered, and it will all kick off with the Vytelle welcome gathering on Sunday 5th October for vendors, buyers and Brahman enthusiasts.
Vytelle ADVANCE™ has a growing footprint in the Brahman breed, and has improved the perception of IVF amongst breeders significantly since entering the Australian market.
The hormone-free technology offers significant cost and labour benefits from traditional embryo transfer, with breeders having to literally just bring the cow for ovum pick-up.
Vytelle’s Northern Australia account manager Rod Linke said this was appealing to Brahman breeders across Queensland.
“In traditional embryo transfer there are many injections (for the donor) prior to collection, whereas with IVF there are none, so it is a lot healthier and more beneficial for the donor cows,” he said.
Rod says in the 18 months in the role, Vytelle ADVANCE’s outcomes have seen a change in the way IVF is viewed in the industry.
“We are seeing an increase in breeders using IVF technology to produce high grade progeny suitable for the Northern Australia beef industry.”
The donor cow remaining in the normal breeding routine has been a major catalyst for the move towards IVF, Rod added.
“With Vytelle ADVANCE, you can continue your breeding process, collect your cow prior to or while in calf, and she continues to get in calf and have a calf every year and be a normal cow in your herd,” he said.
“Breeders are now recognising their elite cows and it’s a way that they can generate numerous progeny from those elite cows without having to go through a laborious process. IVF is helping generate those numbers a lot quicker than the traditional systems meaning there’s a lot more progeny hitting the ground through IVF now.”
Globally, IVF now accounts for more than 80% of all transferable embryos produced annually.
Brahman IVF boosts northern productivity
Brahman cattle are in particular are well suited to IVF, with bos indicus breeds known for supplying a larger number of Oocytes per ovum pickup, about two and half times the number of bos taurus breeds, according to Rod, with Brahmans in the Vytelle ADVANCE program averaging 13.6 per donor.
This allows producers to use semen more cost effectively and achieve more progeny from expensive or rare sires, with 80 to 100 embryos produced from one straw of semen.
Vytelle ADVANCE’s own direct thaw method and the nine different proprietary media they use for each different stage of the IVF process has resulted in increased confidence in frozen embryo programs.
Direct thaw embryos are allowing Australia’s vast northern cattle industry to better access and benefit from IVF technology.
When it comes to tropically adapted breeds, Brahman’s have long led the way for IVF adoption.
The availability of international genetics in the breed, and the high value of genetic material, meant IVF is well suited to the breed.
IVF-bred animals being available at Brahman Week means both stud and commercial producers purchasing new sires can also increase the speed of their genetic gains.
Vytelle DT technology brings IVF success to Rockley
One of the early adopters of IVF technology in the Brahman breed, Rockley Brahmans has been using the technology for upwards of two decades.
The Central Queensland stud has been breeding red Brahman cattle for more than 70 years, with the third generation of studmasters currently at the helm.
Principal Ashley Kirk says IVF technology, along with data-driven selection and rigorous assessments, are key to delivering high-quality cattle to clients.
Keeping donors in the natural breeding cycle is the most important benefit of IVF, says Ashley, which goes hand-in-hand with the hormone-free Vytelle program.
Working with Vytelle for the first time last year, Ashley says the company’s transparency and professionalism also appealed to him.
Since then, Rockley has undertaken a fresh embryo program and two frozen embryo programs, all of which Ashley describes as “very successful” to date.
The stud had a pregnancy rate of 62% in their fresh program, and 40% in the frozen.
“The frozen embryo technology was something we were looking to explore, and Vytelle brought a new look to that to the industry,” he said.
Vytelle uses a unique Direct Thaw technique for frozen embryos, which removes unnecessary embryo handling, improves transfer efficiency and allows for flexibility in transfer programming.
Of the seven red Brahman bulls Rockley will offer at this year’s Brahman Week in Rockhampton, five have been bred through IVF.
Ashley describes Brahman Week as the “pinnacle” event for the breed, where breeders from all states come together, and at which Rockley has had success dating back to his grandfather’s day.
“The Brahman breed has revolutionised Northern Australia, and we continue to get strong demand for Brahmans, both domestically and internationally…and that will continue and be strengthened with the increase of our polled genetics, balanced with phenotype and genotype,” he said.