Kiamichilink Angus Ranch Seeks China Market For Embryos
JOHN M. LAROSE &
BETTY VALLE-GEGG NAEGER
MidAmerica Farmer Grower
SHENYANG, CHINA
Josh Walker, manager of the reproductive lab for Kiamichilink Angus Ranch in Finley, Okla., is shown in front of a large dairy operation in China on his first trip to that country.
Visiting a large dairy operation on his first trip to China, is Josh Walker,
manager of the reproductive lab for Kiamichilink Angus Ranch in Finley, Okla.
Photo by John LaRose
Raised on a farm in a small town of about 120 people in southwest Arkansas, Walker, who has a Ph.D. in reproductive physiology from Colorado State University, was among the group on the Trade Mission to China seeking a market there to export embryos from the farm’s embryo transfer program.
“We do a lot of in vetro fertilization and have a large embryo flushing and transfer program,” he said. “I'm in charge of the nutrition, breeding program, the actual laboratory itself and herd health and basic general ranching operations. We collect in the neighborhood of 600 to 800 embryos a year, we can freeze those and we do sell internationally already. We're just trying to see if there are some opportunities in China to export embryos because we produce a lot every year, so we could potentially move some of those Angus genetics into China.”
Kiamichilink sells embryos domestically and internationally to farmers and groups that are in the market. The majority of the embryo sales go to domestic ranches that want five to 10 embryos to potentially upgrade their herd with some better genetics. The ranch holds a bull sale every March, selling about 100 to 120 head of Angus bulls, then sells about 150 females in the fall.”
The ranch does some print advertising and sends out flyers, but also has a website: klrangus.com. ∆