One bite was all it took for an Australian cattle breeder to become an industry leader in world beef heavyweight Brazil.

Dale Humphries is a fourth-generation farmer at Oberon, 180 kilometres west of Sydney.

Since 2008, Mr Humphries has been solely dedicated to the speckle park breed, and six years ago at a barbecue it sparked a working relationship with the South American industry after his Brazilian-Australian friend bit into his steak.

"It's a great question. We'd been wondering the same thing."

After some introductions from that friend, Mr Humphries first exported embryos as a trial and has since become a founding partner of Speckle Park Brasil and one of the first people in 35 years to introduce a new breed to the country.

It's an impressive feat given Brazil is the largest beef exporter in the world, and second only to the United States in total beef production.

This partnership comes as the Australian government negotiates new market access for Australian cattle breeders to export their cattle's genetics across the world.

New markets

The Australian reproductive material export industry is worth millions, and in the previous financial year more than 428,000 units of semen and embryos were shipped overseas.

It's not just cattle. Genetics from Australian sheep, pigs, goats, horses, dogs, and even zoo animals are exported annually.

In March, the federal government negotiated market access for cattle semen and embryos into Pakistan.

According to the Department of Agriculture, Australia has exported 100,000 doses (multiple straws) of cattle semen to Pakistan since 2020. The trade is valued at $2 million and is expected to grow to $11 million.

While this round of negotiations started in 2022, Ruminant Genetics Trade Advisory Group (RGTAG) chair Penny Welch said initial talks began a couple of decades ago and, until now, the Pakistani government issued permits for individual shipments.

"This will definitely open up the market for a lot of new people and a lot of new breeders and clients," Ms Welch said.

Australia's biggest market for beef genetics is the US, and Ms Welch said a lot was sent to South American and Asian countries too.

Australia lost access to the Chinese and Japanese markets during the COVID-19 pandemic. 

However, there is now a "workable" trade protocol with Japan, and Ms Welch said negotiations were continuing with China.

In-demand genetics

Beef Breeding Services is a central Queensland-based collection facility that exports semen and embryos.

Manager Les Kingston said, internationally, cattle breeders were turning to Australian genetics to improve their herds on animal size, temperament and how much meat each beast could produce.

"They're [importers] looking to get that genetic gain," he said.

"They won't just look for one factor in particular, but they will look at them all."

The bulk of the cattle Mr Kingston has at the facility are bos indicus breeds like brahman that are known for their heat tolerance and resistance to parasites, with the semen being exported to other tropical countries. 

However, Mr Kingston was seeing an increase in demand for Australian wagyu genetics into the US.

"It's marbling and it's that meat quality, that's what they're chasing," he said.

For semen to be exported, the bulls are required to undergo quarantining and rigorous testing at a licensed collection facility to ensure they are disease-free and the semen is viable.

Once collected, the semen is frozen and stored in liquid nitrogen and can be kept indefinitely.

'Have your cake and eat it too'

The speckle park breed was developed in the 1950s in Canada and got its name from its speckled colouring with popularity growing in Australia. 

The breed has a reputation for being highly fertile and adaptable to different climates.

Mr Humphries' bull Hall of Fame is king of his paddock — weighing 1,152 kilograms and taking out the heaviest bull at Beef 2024 in Rockhampton, Queensland.

The bull is the culmination of 16 years of breeding at Wattle Grove Speckle Park.

Mr Humphries sold the genetic rights to Speckle Park Brasil for $48,000, and now hundreds of the bull's offspring are in paddocks in the South American country.

Mr Humphries' Brazilian counterpart Pedro Demartini said, under the deal, 5,000 to 10,000 straws of semen from Hall of Fame will be exported each year.

In a typical artificial insemination breeding program, it was one straw per animal.

"We don't regret having [paid] the high price because we know it's going to yield a lot of benefits," Mr Demartini said.

Mr Humphries retains the walking rights, meaning he can breed with Hall of Fame on his own property.

"It's definitely a have your cake and eat it too situation for us," Mr Humphries said.

Speckle Park Brasil holds the right to redraw so, if they want more semen, Mr Humphries is obliged to put Hall of Fame back into collection.

Mr Demartini said they had sold semen straws from Hall of Fame and other Wattle Grove bulls to more than 450 farmers in Brazil and said demand was outstripping supply.

"Brazilians love their barbecue," he said.

"There is a portion of the population wanting to buy better quality meats."

The company has 2,000 head of cattle on the ground with the plan to expand to 200,000.

"The breed is not as big as it could be," Mr Demartini said.

"That's our aspiration — to be one of one of the largest and best operations globally."