DILLON Kvamme and his wife Hillary took off on the long trip from Texas to Rockhampton for the World Brahman Congress, and they said it definitely was worth the travel.
Mr Kvamme is the operations manager of Elgin Breeding Service – a Texan AI company – and he said the motive for the trip was to compare Australian operations with his own, which he has been working in for about 12 years.
“What we do there is run a bull semen collection facility… we collect a lot of bull semen and get a lot of genetics here to Australia,” Mr Kvamme siad.
“(We came) to have a look, and I guess you say to look at a lot of the offspring of the genetics we have sent, that’s been real rewarding for us.
“Also to meet new clients and new customers of course, and just to enjoy the trip really.”
Mr Kvamme said the majority of his operation is based around Brahman genetics.
“We do work a lot with Brahmans, I would say Brahman cattle are probably 60 per cent of our business, so we do work with all breeds but I can say Brahman cattle are probably the most intelligent breeds that we do work with, so it’s been really special to us,” he said.
After visiting local AI businesses early in the week, Mr Kvamme said he was “very impressed”.
“We do operate a little bit different as far as collection processes go but this overall is the same,” he said.
“We’re using more mount animals versus palpation or electroejaculation, so it’s a little bit easier on the animal as far as arguments going into a crush as you call it.
“Every time you put an animal on concrete you’re taking a risk and I think it’s taking the risk out of that.
“Not only that but the animal is giving us a sample naturally, as opposed to us trying to find it on a machine, with more palpations.”
Mr Kvamme said he liked to deal with Brahmans because they were a sturdy breed, but said he underestimated the amount of work the animals do in Australia.
“I think Brahman cattle here are working a lot harder than they are in the States, I think a lot more people are making a living off of cattle here where in the States it’s maybe more of a hobby for some people,” he said.
“I’m very impressed with how the Brahman cattle have held up to various conditions, we’ve gone and seen a little bit of a drought country and then all the way down to coastal where there’s a little bit more grass, I was very, very impressed with how the Brahman holds up on both ends.”
“I think we feed cattle a lot more than they do here, so there’s a lot more land here for them to be turned out.
“And we may be looking at our cattle more than the average rancher here, so I just think they have to perform more here.”
