Cattle fertility consultants and morphology labs are busier than ever this year, with the demand for semen and pregnancy testing increasing around Queensland.
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Artificial breeding consultant Paul Kenny said demand for semen testing has skyrocketed, with plenty of breeders looking into the service for the first time.
"Honestly, it is so, so busy right now," he said.
"We can't take any more business, it's that busy.
"With semen testing and scanning, there's just not enough people doing it.
"I'd probably semen test about 6000 bulls a year, and it just grows and grows, but we are having to say no to some people."
Mr Kenny said he has done a lot of semen testing since the end of May and most of the data has been fairly consistent with previous years.
"I'm doing more bulls this year than I did last year with certain studs," he said.
"There's actually a lot more commercial people semen testing bulls now, and their numbers are pretty high. They haven't dropped whatsoever.
"It's all the same numbers, and some people's are even better because they've concentrated on artificial breeding.
"I've really only been to one farm that was down by about 10 per cent, and that was because of the drought."
QSML laboratory manager and morphologist Kelli Prosser said they have also seen a yearly increase in both stud and commercial operators seeking morphology testing for their bulls.
"We're drowning in samples," she said.
"Demand is high and we're right in the thick of the busiest part of the season.
"I think because the cattle buyers want to see the morphology results before they buy animals, and it's getting more widely known as a good test of fertility."
David McCabe runs reproductive training courses and said he has also had a surge in interest, with more and more people wanting to learn how to preg test their own cattle, and gain training in artificial insemination.
Mr McCabe has had people wanting to do the course from all over Queensland, most other states, and even a group from Vanuatu.
"This year is definitely been the best I've had," he said.
"Every second or third day I get a phone call enquiring about where I'm going next and how long it is before the next course in their area."
Although fertility scores and conception rates appear to be similar to previous years, Mr Kenny said he had noticed a slight decrease in condition scores, which he believes is an effect of above average rainfall around the state.
"The thing that has changed is body score, the bulls that I am scanning this year, their body condition score is down," he said.
"It is to do with the wet weather and possibly the farmers are feeding a lot more roughage.
"So the bulls are a little bit behind this year compared to last year."
It's not just fertility services that are highly requested this year, but also scanning for estimated breeding values.
Bull scanner David Reid said he was booked out almost everyday until the end of October.
Mr Reid said scanning scores were also similar to that of previous seasons, but that some cattle were showing lower condition due to the wet and cold weather.
"It's all very similar, but the wet season has knocked some cattle around," he said.
"They probably have struggled a little bit in the muddy conditions, it's probably been a bit harder on the cattle."
Despite a huge change in conditions over the last two years, Mr Reid said stud breeders seem to be sticking to their regular routines and are offering a similar number of bulls to previous years.
"There hasn't been a dramatic increase in numbers," he said.
"People are just sticking to their regular numbers and timing, doing it as well as they can."
