Following the conference, I traveled to various partner recipient herds and observed the first PEAK calves, resulting from embryos sent to GA, as well as toured some breeder herds that have an interest in using PEAK ERS to create locally sourced AI bulls. A huge thank you goes out to Gerard Brislin (Pictured with Michael and calf resulting from PEAK embryos) of the GA team for organizing the farm visits and breeder seminar events. He has been instrumental in organizing the startup of the ET program to take PEAK Grazing breeding to the next level. In total, PEAK has sent nearly 200 embryos to GA over the past 2 years and early results are encouraging with many more calves to be born and tested. Pictured are Michael and a pen with multiple PEAK calves at Jelbart Dairy with their owner and manager, one of the largest implant locations for PEAK embryos.

Furthermore, I met with various distributors to gain insight into the semen industry in Australia.  Most semen is sold through resellers who favor confirmation, A2A2, and specific traits such as polled. These traits are increasingly popular among leading farms. While BPI is the national index in Australia and the index of focus for the PEAK Grazing program, additional considerations are mentioned to create the most marketable genetic product in Australia. 

My trip has strengthened the brand of the PEAK Grazing program, and improved collaboration with the GA team and we are looking forward to leveraging these developments to strengthen our position in the market.