Parkiarrup Merino Stud

Sonja continues to combine her professional riding career with running the family sheep and cattle farm (called Parkiarrup near Albany in WA) where she describes breeding true dual purpose merino sheep as her passion. We will be posting the full story of this endeavour shortly.

 

 

BREEDTECH

It seems that my equine and Ovine life are destined to always interact. Drs Simon and Rebecca Bell of Breedtech in Kojonup own my very exciting new ride Belfast Mojito. They are also the owners and operators of Breedtech.

Breedtech has been doing all our artificial breeding for many years now and I could not be happier with the lambing percentages we achieve.

Not only that they are great people to work with...as you can imagine from someone that names their horse after a cocktail!

BREEDTECH

 

Breedtech is an artificial reproduction business specializing in ovine embryo transfer and artificial insemination.  Drs Simon and Rebecca Bell are both registered veterinarians who graduated from Murdoch University in Perth Western Australia.  They are the Principals of Breedtech and established the business in 2000.  Simon began working in the field of artificial reproduction in 1992 and has developed his skills to an exceptional level.

 

Breedtech is located in Kojonup, a small town in the southwest of Western Australia in an area that is well known for its sheep production.  Breedtech is situated on 500 acres with excellent holding facilities set up to accommodate donor and recipient ewes and rams. 

 

Breedtech is a registered quarantine facility for live sheep export as well as their products such as semen and embryos. Breedtech is licensed by the Australian Quarantine Inspection Service (AQIS) and is the only Western Australian breeding centre registered for export to Chile by the Chilean Agriculture and Livestock Service (SAG).

 

Overseas business is a significant component of Breedtech and in recent years work has been completed in Uruguay, China and New Zealand and for Chile, Argentina, Brazil, Paraguay and Malaysia.  International relations is of great interest to Simon and Rebecca Bell and they would like to further develop their international connections.  They enjoy meeting people of different cultures and learning about their local agriculture as well as helping to improve their genetics.  Rebecca has a keen interest in equine embryo transfer and is improving her skills in the area however this service is not currently available to our clients.

 

 

OUR SERVICES

 

20 years experience

 

Embryo transfer

• Fresh
• Chilled
• Frozen

 

Semen

• Collection
• Freezing
• Ram training

 

Laparoscopic Artificial insemination (LapAI)

 

Licensed Export and Quarantine Facility

 

Agency for International Export Services

 

Genetic Advice and Sourcing

Embryo transfer

• Fresh
• Chilled
• Frozen

 

Each year Breedtech

• Flushes 500-2000 ewes
• Transfers 5000-20000 embryos
• Recovers a consistent average of 10 embryos/ewe
• Pregnancy rates 60-90%

 

Licensed Export and Quarantine Facility

Breedtech is licensed with Australian Quarantine Inspection Services (AQIS) as an Artificial Breeding Centre License Number: AB-21-WA for the Collection and Processing of Small Ruminant Semen and Embryos.  Breedtech is registered as a Veterinary Clinic with the Veterinary Surgeons Board of Western Australia.  The Export guidelines that Breedtech adheres to are written by the World Organisation for Animal Health (OIE).

 

Agency for International Export Services

Breedtech has had experience in the exportation of semen, embryos and live sheep internationally.  The procedure involved in exportation is complex and time consuming.  The importing countries requirements are often very detailed and rigorous.  Breedtech will look at the current importation requirements, organize Zoo Sanitary Certificates, Notice of Intention to Export, will facilitate the issue of Health Permits from the Australian Quarantine Inspection Service (AQIS) and liase with the officials of the importing country.

 

Genetic Advice and Sourcing

Breedtech is happy to advise clients on appropriate genetics for their artificial breeding programmes.

 

A great deal of importance should be placed on the genetics used in artificial breeding programmes.  A significant financial investment is made on an embryo transfer programme and it is important that considerable time and research is undertaken to decide upon genetics.  There is a vast range in quality and type of sheep within breeds and it is well worth the research to develop a breeding programme designed to produce the type of sheep desired.

 

Over the years, Breedtech has been involved with many breeds of sheep.  Some of the sheep breeds worked with include: Merino, Poll Dorset, Texel, Awassi, Dorper, White Dorper, Damara, I’l de France, Finn, Kelso, White Suffolk, Wiltshire Poll, Romney, Corriedale, Coopworth and Border Leicester.  We have dealt directly with stud breeders, clients purchasing semen, embryos and live sheep, commercial farmers and overseas investors. 

 

Breedtech endorses the use of breeding systems such as Lambplan and Merinoselect to enable producers to accurately select animals of high genetic merit.