Brian Leslie was speaking at the Delta hotel on Saturday at Holstein Canada's annual convention.This is the first time the conference was held on the Island.

Leslie said there have been thousands and thousands of embryos going to Australia from Canada since the early 1990s.

"They've got an enormous influence on the operating program down there," he said. "Canada has always stood out to breed cows with longevity and that's what we've sourced from over the years."

Some countries have more of an influence on strictly production, which is needed. But Australians like breeding Canadian cattle to raise in their fields, he said, adding that Australia has a "tremendous" relationship with Canada.

There are many young Canadians cattle farmers who do exchanges with young Australian farmers, he said."It's important because they learn a lot from each other."

Leslie said there are differences in the way the two countries breed cattle. For example, they use less staff in Australia to milk cows and Leslie said that it is perhaps more efficient than here in Canada.

"But that said, we can learn from Canadian farmers in different areas as well."

The cow-of-the-year was also announced at the convention on the weekend.

The winner of the Holstein International's Global Cow of 2006 was Dreane Astre Inksou, which was the first Canadian cow to score 96 points.

Source: The Guardian