Most producers would guess that PTIC females which have been Artificially Inseminated (AI) would return a price premium over those joined to bulls. AuctionsPlus sales results since the start of 2021 certainly backs up this belief, with AI breeders bringing an additional $400/head on average. The use of artificial breeding technologies such as AI has garnered increased attention from both seedstock and commercial producers in recent years, highlighted by the additional numbers being actively marketed through AuctionsPlus.
The data collected through AuctionsPlus’ weekly commercial cattle sales from January 2021 to April 2022 indicate a price premium exists for AI PTIC heifers and cows sold on the platform. Across the 16-month period, 3,077 PTIC to AI heifers and 108,607 station mated PTIC heifers were offered on the platform. In the cows, 597 AI pregnant compared to 64,517 pregnant to the bull were also offered. The premium for AI pregnancies averaged $374 (14%) in the heifers, $489 (19%) in the cows and $400 (15%) overall. However, it must be noted that this does not account for the costs associated with AI, which includes semen and programming as well as increased labour requirements.
There are several contributing factors to this premium including superior genetics, tighter calving periods, more fertile heifers and marketing or branding. Cows and heifers PTIC to AI can be joined to any sire included in a semen catalogue and may be record breaking, very well-known, or some of the leading genetics in the industry. These bulls can be hard or expensive to access for commercial producers. Station mated PTIC cows and heifers on the other hand are usually joined to bulls that could vary in quality from farm to farm and are rarely the same calibre as an AI sire.
The expected calving date for cows and heifers joined by AI is calculated using a breed specific average gestation length (Angus = 283 days). With natural variation in the gestation lengths of the females, this can expand out to a two-week period. Even so, this is the tightest calving window that can be achieved, given that they are all inseminated on the same day. Station mated calving windows are usually much longer in comparison and dependent on the length of the joining period with the bull. This means that the crop of AI calves will be more consistent in age and size when it comes to sale time. It also greatly reduces the labour requirement due to the shorter calving period.
Heifers that are PTIC using AI can also be considered highly fertile as they have fallen pregnant at the very first opportunity. Cows PTIC to AI are proven breeders that have maintained their position early in the joining period and have not fallen back. Station mated PTIC heifers and cows offered on AuctionsPlus tend to be mated later in the joining period and are generally detailed in assessments as “surplus to producers’ requirements”. Producers have an economic incentive to keep their earlier joined females and sell the later joined. However, it is important to note that this is not always the case and station mated PTIC heifers may have also fallen pregnant at their first opportunity.
Lastly, there is a fair amount of marketing usually involved in PTIC heifers and cows to AI. The sale of this category is almost always a deliberate trade that is planned well in advance. A lot of research and planning goes into choosing the AI sire which contributes to the branding and marketing of the PTIC lots on AuctionsPlus.
Angus females make up the majority of PTIC females offered on AuctionsPlus, accounting for 48% of females PTIC by station mating and 66% of females PTIC by AI.
The listing and purchasing of PTIC cows and heifers on AuctionsPlus are predominantly occurring in NSW, with a small number of head sold in each state and territory of Australia.