One of Canada’s strangest exports, bovine semen, continues to rise.
In terms of dollar value, total exports of semen for breeding purposes have increased by just over 43 percent, nearly half in the last five years.
Andreas Boecker, a professor of agricultural economics at Guelph University, says that for breeding purposes it is easier and cheaper to ship semen rather than shipping live animals and so it is becoming more common. “You have a higher risk with sending animals long distances, if they get sick” he says, “with semen there is virtually no risk,” because it can be frozen and shipped.
Canada has been able to become one of the world’s top exporters of bovine semen because Canada’s breeds are viewed as superior, but also because of technological developments in the field of bovine genetics.
Lynsay Beavers, of the Canadian Dairy Network, says that technology and programs for testing semen is far more developed in North America than in other parts of the world. “We have a lot of farmers in the country that participate in breed improvement programs,” she says, “these programs really developed good genetics.”
The Canadian Dairy Network is an organization that specializes in genetic research for cows. Beavers says technological developments have not only allowed for higher fertility rates in Canadian semen, but also in what is known as “sexed semen.” Machines can now identify which sperm cells are more likely to produce female as opposed to male calves, and the cells are then simply separated. “It involves no genetic modification,” Beavers says.
Females are typically preferred over males not only in dairy production but also sometimes in beef production. “The males, unless you select them for further breeding, have no market value,” Boecker says.
While the United States is by far the leading destination for Canada’s bovine semen, the product is shipped to several countries across the globe. Some countries are increasing their imports of Canadian semen dramatically. China and Russia, two countries in the top ten for semen destinations, have tripled their imports in the last five years.
Source: Industry Canada
Top Ten Canadian Bovine Semen Export Destinations 2014
Source: Industry Canada
Alberta and Ontario are the two leading provinces in semen export. Combined the two provinces accounted for 99 per cent of the total exports in 2014.
As a testament to the research and development in bovine genetics, Canada has even begun to outdo certain breeds in their place of origin. Holsteins, for example, is a breed that originally came to North America from Germany with European settlers. Boecker says that we now export Holstein semen to Germany. “It became a much more specialized breed in Canada,” he says.
Beavers says that both female and male genetics are sold for breeding purposes, but it is male semen that dominates the international market, while female genetics are typically only sold by small farmers. Female genetics are harder to collect, she says while “semen can be collected every day.”
While semen is generally produced for dairy cows, Boecker says semen for beef production is increasingly becoming profitable. “There is an increasing demand for beef cattle,” he says, which means Canada’s exports are likely to still increase in the coming years.