Becoming a Trans Ova satellite herd last July has had a huge impact in its first year with a Cherrylock home trial showing pregnancy rates increasing to 62 per cent with Trans Ova IVF compared to 48 per cent with their previous company.
Based at Tallygaroopna in northern Victoria, Cherrylock Cattle Co might be best known for showing and marketing cattle but in reality, the main business is based around managing cattle and reproduction.
Brad and Jessica Gavenlock formed Cherrylock in 2016, building on their life-long interest in genetics, pedigrees and cattle.
The bulk of their business centres on managing cattle and reproduction through a pregnancy recipient program.
“Showing and marketing cattle and having sales have been a big part of our business and we enjoy it and most people think that’s 90 per cent of what we do, but it’s actually the other way around,” Brad said.
They have been making embryos as a business venture for themselves and other people for 10 years, initially with conventional MOET embryo work but more recently with two other IVF companies.
“The switch to Trans Ova was something we always wanted to do,” Brad said.
“We already had a lot of confidence in what they were doing in the US and when they moved to Australia, it was a no-brainer for us to make the switch.
“We had a lot of experience with cattle in the US being flushed by Trans Ova and a lot of friends and family had used Trans Ova in America.
“All our best pregnancy rate results were with imported Trans Ova embryos.”
The biggest difference between Trans Ova and the other companies used by Cherrylock is the consistency in pregnancy rates.
“It’s like chalk and cheese,” Brad said.
During the past year, Cherrylock ran a trial to compare embryos made by another company with Trans Ova, using the same donors and same recipients and the same program on the same day.
The Cherrylock home trial showed a huge difference in the pregnancy rates between the two – 48 per cent for the other company while Trans Ova-made eggs ran at 62 per cent.
The first local Trans Ova calves have just been born at Cherrylock and Brad says they are going well and matching previous import results.
“It’s working well and all our clients are happy,” he said.
The couple run an IVF-day every month and it’s pretty much booked out.
“We’re starting to stimulate a lot of donors and that’s really helping with embryo quality and pregnancy rates.
“We’re not only making good quality embryos; we’re making a stronger embryo that gives us a much higher chance of turning that into a pregnancy.
“That’s the biggest difference.”
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