An historic collection of bull semen will be auctioned by CSIRO to raise money for charities that help rural communities.

The genetic material from a range of rare cattle breeds offers breeding societies and producers the chance to bring back some of the older breeds whose genetic stock isn’t readily available anymore. 

Nearly 5000 ‘straws’ of semen are on offer at the auction on 27-29 November, through Auctions Plus.

The samples were gathered in the 1980s and 1990s, meaning another generation of Gen X and Gen Y cattle could be born in the next few years.

CSIRO began cattle genetics and breeding research in the 1950s for the Australian beef industry, at a time when animals had to be bred to be studied. Now, these studies can take place at the genetic level. 

Advances in science mean the semen is no longer required by CSIRO.

Since the completion of the cattle genome sequence in 2009, research into selective breeding and improving cattle herd genetics has moved into the digital age with observational studies, statistical imputation and machine learning replacing the much slower and more expensive traditional methods.

CSIRO livestock geneticist Dr Sigrid Lehnert said most of the samples are from hybrid species developed by crossing tropical breeds, known as Bos indicus, with the traditional British Bos taurus breeds. 

“CSIRO was the first in Australia to blend multiple British and African-sourced cattle breeds to create ‘tropical composite’ cattle that were more heat tolerant and tick resistant and therefore better suited to our climates,” Dr Lehnert said.

“With the new genetics we were instrumental in helping the livestock industry improve and diversify the genetic quality of the national herd.”

Australia’s first tropical composite breed, the Belmont Red, was bred at – and named after – CSIRO’s former cattle research station at Belmont in Central Queensland.

In addition to the Belmont Red, there is semen on offer at the auction from Tuli, Brahman, Adaptaur, Red Angus, Afrikaner, Simbrah, Charbray and other breeds.

“We can’t guarantee that the semen is still viable after all this time and unfortunately we have no genetic information on the bulls,” Dr Lehnert said.

The funds raised will go to charities that help rural communities, including Drought Angels, the Queensland Country Women’s Association and Beyond Blue.