Greg Fawcett identifies trends and benefits of artificial insemination in cattle

He joined the Queensland Department of Primary Industries in 1978, and not long after was based at Kairi Research Station where he had his first exposure to artificial insemination in cattle.

At the time he was working in dairy research at the station, breeding Australian Friesian Sahiwal, a tropical breed of dairy cattle for export.

He said the uptake of AI in the dairy industry was born out of the need to reduce Vibriosis, a venereal disease caused by natural mating resulting in reproductive performance loss and abortions.

Quickly after the dairy industry took up the technology for genetic improvement to replicate superior genetics across populations, such as milk production, udder attachment, and fertility.

Although the dairy industry was the primary user at the time, the stud industry started coming to the table.

By the 1990s, Mr Fawcett worked at the DPI's Central Queensland Artificial Breeding Centre in Rockhampton to train producers to do their own AI.

He worked in that role until 2007, before taking over management of the semen distribution and storage facility in Rockhampton.

This position also involved running training schools, delivering AI programs for research, and doing commercial AI on properties in large numbers.

In 2021 Mr Fawcett launched his own business, Greg Fawcett A.S. Services, with wife Shelley, and now spends around 10 per cent of his time training, and the other 90pc delivering insemination programs.

In more recent times the beef industry has learnt from the genetic gain in the dairy industry and started to adopt the approach, with all beef breeds now having some degree of genetic performance recording.

"The biggest revolution for the adoption of artificial insemination in the beef industry has been the implementation of fixed time AI, over and above the old labour intensive method of heat detection," he said.

Mr Fawcett's initial exposure to fixed time AI came about after working on a property north of Cloncurry with the late Dr Brian Burns, a veterinarian and geneticist who specialised in beef cattle husbandry.

During the next stage of his career, Mr Fawcett using fixed time AI for research projects at Spyglass Beef Research Facility, Charters Towers, and Brian Pastures Research Facility, Gayndah.

The conventional heat detection method would involve observing colour changes on heat detection aids. A colour change meant a female was in season and would need to be treated a half a day later.

Physical observation could involve behavioural changes where mobs would mill around and mount one another.

Mr Fawcett said the natural process would take three weeks of work, and involve observing morning and night to ensure females are drafted and treated 12 hours after coming in heat.

With fixed time AI however, cattle would be brought in, assessed as not pregnant, inserted with a vaginal implant and given hormones.

Eight days later the implant would be removed and additional hormone injections administered.

Depending on the implant used, roughly two days and four hours or two days and six hours after implant removal, insemination of the mob would commence.

"The numbers you can do in one mob are only limited by how many you can AI in the four hour insemination window at the end of that program," Mr Fawcett said.

He said with the right expertise and facilities as many as 200 to 250 head could be done in four hours.

"You've got to be physically and mentally fit to the purpose of being able to do that number of animals in a short period."

Mr Fawcett said if management and semen quality was right, insemination rates were comparable to what you would see in other types of AI or natural mating.

He said while natural mating could be marginally higher, he always budgeted on 50% per cent, but said it can be higher than that.

Mr Fawcett said AI technology identified and replicated superior animals and lifted the beef breeding industry as a whole.

"If a bull goes into an AI centre, and produces, for example, 250 straws a week for freezing, at a 50 per cent take that's a potential 125 calves in a week he's capable of producing."

He thought the technology had also improved genetic diversity, with bovine semen able to be sent and used around the world.

"That has enabled Australian producers to access all sorts of genetics, depending on what sort of animal they are trying to breed and what their market is," he said.

The ability to freeze semen was also an "insurance policy" for high value bulls, because regardless of what happened to that bull from that day forward, calves could be born by him.

Mr Fawcett said the introduction of IVF technology in cattle had also changed the industry and had put a greater emphasis on replicating female genetics.

"IVF is quite popular, particularly with the Bos indicus and derived breeds in Northern Australia, and it has gained a lot of popularity in recent years, as a way of multiplying your elite females," he said.

Mr Fawcett said he now delivers training programs to three types of clients.

Firstly, people with smaller holdings that do not want to run multiple bulls but still access diverse genetics.

Secondly, producers with intensive management practices who are wanting to learn and retain those skills for on-farm use.

Finally, those who would still get someone highly trained to do insemination on large herds in a short amount of time, but still wanted the skills in case they wanted to follow up with some repeat breeding.