Australian bull semen exports to China resume after five-year hiatus

Australian bull semen is being sent to China after a five year break as demand for premium beef in the People's Republic grows.

A total of 24,000 straws of bull semen were sent in April and May this year, marking the first exports of Australian cattle genetics to China since 2021.

Genetics company ABS Australia secured a major export agreement with China for Wagyu, Jersey and Holstein semen, with the potential for the inclusion of other breeds in the future.

"[Australia's] got some of the best Wagyu bulls and Angus bulls available around the world," business operations manager Bruce Ronalds said.

"[Breeders in China] are pretty excited to start using them within their herds."

Premium beef for hot pot markets

ABS China commercial director Snow Wu said local farmers want to improve their productivity and efficiency, as well as the quality of the beef they are producing.

Ms Wu said China's dairy herd had increased "from around five million to six million cows" and milk production was up.

She said there was also interest in Australian Wagyu for the breeding of cows with beef bulls.

"On-farm, using Australian Wagyu sires over Chinese dairy cows allows producers to improve beef quality and profitability while maximising existing dairy herds," she said.

"Australia has built a strong reputation for breeding performance and production systems, including environmental benefits and consistency."

Mr Ronalds said the "high marbling" of Wagyu beef was a drawcard.

"The Wagyu product brings that extra marbling on the beef-on-dairy … and the Chinese market are really looking for that in the Wagyu space," he said.

Five-year break ends

China closed the door on Australian cattle genetics in 2021 during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Before that, China was Australia's biggest market for cattle semen and embryos.

The General Administration of Customs China re-accredited the Total Livestock Genetics export facility at Camperdown in south-west Victoria in October last year, paving the way for exports to resume.

"That's where we house and collect all our bulls that we export globally," Mr Ronalds said.

"We do have some withholding periods before the semen can actually leave and that's why it took until April to get the first shipment away."

The export of cattle semen and embryos is big business for Australian cattle producers.

Australian government figures show that last year alone 324,357 units of bovine reproductive material was sent overseas.

The bovine exports sit well ahead of the 22,000 units of sheep genetics sent in 2025.

North Victorian Jersey and Holstein breeder Rohan Sprunt provided some of the genetics from his Kaarmona Jersey bull.

"It's exciting to see Australian-bred genetics heading into a market like China," he said.

"It's not really an accolade for me, it's an accolade for the Australian Jersey breed and the work that's gone into developing efficient, productive cows suited to global production systems."

Semen shipped in liquid nitrogen

The first 10,000 straws of semen left Australia bound for China in April and another 14,000 units departed last week.

They are stored in liquid nitrogen for the trip.

"You've got to have the right equipment," Mr Ronalds said.

"Once the bull's collected, and it's gone through a very strict quality assurance program to make sure that we'll get cows in calf, it's put down into liquid nitrogen.

"The sperm is in a straw so we ship it around the world in these cryogenic tanks that hold liquid nitrogen."

The new agreement with China will double ABS Australia's export sales of bull semen in a very competitive market.

"There's a lot of companies around the world wanting to export genetics," Mr Ronalds said.

"This will actually more than double our actual exports of both beef and dairy with this China market opening up so we're pretty excited."

More shipments of cattle semen are scheduled to head to China in coming months.