A legacy of excellence meets cutting-edge technology

As the Australian beef industry prepares to welcome the world for the prestigious World Angus Forum in May 2025, Killain Angus in Tamworth NSW, stands out for both its deep-rooted heritage and forward-thinking approach to breeding.

Under the stewardship of Richard and Susie Duddy and their sons Ben and Thomas, Killain Angus has established itself as not only one of Australia’s premier Angus studs but also as an early pioneer in adopting revolutionary breeding technologies.

“The Angus breed has been in the Duddy blood for generations,” Richard explains, tracing his family’s commitment to the breed back to his grandfather who was among the first to introduce Angus cattle to their operation in the 1950s.

This heritage has evolved into a sophisticated breeding program that now spans 2,000 acres in Tamworth and includes a substantial commercial operation with 1,000 Angus females on King Island in Bass Strait.

Advancing genetic progress while maintaining animal welfare

For progressive breeders like the Duddys, traditional embryo production methods have posed significant challenges. Conventional flushing with hormone injections is time-consuming, labour-intensive, and can be stressful for cattle.

The toll of taking donor cows out of production, along with the potential long-term effects of continued hormone use, has been problematic for elite breeding programs focused on both genetic advancement and animal welfare.

“We needed a solution that would allow us to accelerate genetic progress without compromising our animals’ health or natural reproductive cycles,” Richard notes. As the beef industry becomes increasingly competitive, the ability to multiply genetics from superior animals efficiently and humanely has become critical to staying at the forefront of sustainable livestock production.

Why hormone-free matters to Killain Angus

When global precision livestock company, Vytelle, introduced its hormone-free IVF system to Australia, Killain Angus was quick to recognise its potential.

“We were the second people in Australia to use Vytelle,” Richard proudly states. “I’ve been waiting for it for ages because it’s such a great concept, and for years prior to its arrival in Australia we had been purchasing IVF embryos from the United States and had had fantastic results.”

Vytelle’s innovative approach removes the need for follicle-stimulating hormone (FSH) injections, allowing for weekly oocyte collection without compromising donor animal health. The process uses ultrasound-guided ovum pick-up (OPU) to collect oocytes directly from the cow’s ovaries, which are then fertilised in the laboratory using advanced proprietary media that mimics the uterine environment.

For Richard and his team, the benefits of Vytelle’s hormone-free approach have been transformative for their breeding program.

“In terms of beef production, hormone-free IVF rapidly increases the generational cycles. You’re rapidly increasing your genetic gain by being able to get calves on the ground from an elite female by the time she has calved as a two-year-old herself. Hence the rapidity of genetic turnover and selection is enhanced,” Richard explains.

“Vytelle’s IVF is quite a long way in front of conventional embryo methods because you don’t use drugs in your females, and your females stay in production. One of the most remarkable advantages is the ability to collect from pregnant cows, something impossible with conventional methods. 

“You can collect from them up to 120 days pregnant and some of the best embryos are made out of the pregnant cows, which is really interesting.”

This capability has allowed Killain Angus to dramatically accelerate its genetic program while maintaining natural breeding cycles.

” It’s amazing to be able to collect from females that are pregnant and often make 20 embryos out of a cow that’s three months pregnant and still in production without affecting their calving intervals or affecting their body shape.”

Richard has observed that conventional hormone treatments can have unwanted side effects on their valuable donors.

“Follicle-stimulating hormone, used in conventional IVF, does turn your females out of shape, it gives them big pile heads, and in some cases affects fertility, whereas this is a totally different concept. It’s a game changer.”

Impressive results through strategic management

Killain Angus’s results with Vytelle’s system have been nothing short of exceptional. “The last fresh batch, we got 64pc pregnancy rates,” Richard shares. The stud has seen even more success with certain genetic lines. “We put in 15 frozen IVF and there’s 12 pregnancies out of that.”

“The last lot of collections we did with our donors resulted in a conversion rate of 47pc from oocytes collected to embryos made, which is quite incredible. The rate of conversion is normally around 30pc, I hear.” 

Richard attributes much of this success to their donor preparation and the quality of their genetic foundation. Killain Angus was established in 2011 after the Duddys connected with the renowned Schaff Angus Valley operation in the United States. 

“We were very interested in the product they were breeding, and we flew over to the United States and spent some days with them. That’s where the Killain Angus stud was formed.”

“We decided to build a sister stud in Australia with genetics from their operation, exclusively using embryos from their top donors.” 

Management practices that optimise IVF success

When asked about advice for producers considering IVF for the first time, Richard emphasises the importance of proper preparation and management.

“You’ve got to have your nutrition and mineral program right. We use Multimin and Calver Life. We make sure the cattle are as healthy as they possibly can be, which is just normal animal practices really. But certainly to make sure that they’re in the best possible health and condition.”

He’s found that nutrition after implantation is equally critical. “Once embryos are put in, the cattle have just got to be on a rising plane of nutrition. And particularly if it’s hard feed, in terms of mature oats or similar, you really do get a great result.”

By combining these management practices with Vytelle’s technology, Killain Angus has achieved consistent success. “If you do that and look after them, you get as good a result as conventional, if not better.”

A forward-looking vision for Australian Angus

As a prominent fixture in the Australian Angus community, Killain Angus has contributed significantly to the breed’s advancement. Their achievements include winning the Hordern Trophy at the Sydney Royal Easter Show and securing four consecutive championships at Sydney and Brisbane Royal shows.

Looking toward the World Angus Forum, Richard is enthusiastic about showcasing Australian Angus genetics on the global stage.

“We’re producing for the commercial cow-calf operator with the high kill weights that meet MSA standards in mind. That’s where our market is and that’s where we’re headed.”

Richard sees continued innovation in breeding technology as essential for addressing future industry challenges.

 “We believe that methane production is going to play a major role in the industry. And it’s been proven by a lot of scientists that highly feed-efficient cattle are low in methane production. So from our point of view, we want to see cattle high in feed efficiency, high in performance.”

Vytelle’s own research supports this. Chief Science Officer, Dr Jason Osterstock, and his team conducted modeling earlier this year using data from the Vytelle Sense database to examine the relationship between residual feed intake and estimated methane emissions based on IPCC methodology. 

“As expected, we observed a correlation between these two factors,” Dr Osterstock said. 

“When we look at the scatterplot, with residual feed intake on the horizontal axis and predicted methane emissions on the vertical axis, the relationship becomes clear… higher and therefore less favorable RFI is associated with greater expected methane emissions. This isn’t surprising since dry matter intake has a strong influence on enteric methane emissions.”

“Our analysis shows that every one unit difference in RFI is associated with an approximately 13pc difference in expected annual methane emissions per animal. To put this in practical terms, if you compare bulls with a 0.5 versus a negative 0.5 RFI value, representing a one unit difference, the progeny of the more efficient bull would produce about 13pc less methane.”

“When we scale this across a bull’s lifetime production, the impact becomes substantial. Using the US Environmental Protection Agency greenhouse gas equivalencies calculator, we found that a one unit improvement in RFI manifest across a hundred lifetime progeny is equivalent to removing the emissions from more than 7,000 miles of driving or 320 gallons of gasoline consumption.”

“This data demonstrates how selecting for feed efficiency can simultaneously improve profitability and environmental sustainability,” Dr Ostertock explained.

A collaborative approach to genetic advancement

Killain Angus conducts approximately three IVF programs annually with Vytelle, strategically timing collections to optimise results. “The last program we did was a fresh program, which worked very well, and we’ll probably do another fresh program later in the year.”

Richard has observed that fresh embryo transfers typically achieve about 10pc higher pregnancy rates than frozen, but notes that frozen embryos still deliver excellent results when properly managed. This flexible approach allows them to make the most efficient use of their superior genetics.

As one of Vytelle’s earliest Australian clients, Killain Angus has demonstrated how strategic adoption of hormone-free IVF can accelerate genetic progress while maintaining animal welfare.

Building for future generations

For the Duddy family, their Angus operation represents more than just current success, it’s about creating a sustainable legacy. “It’s a great thrill for us to be able to build a business for our boys. And it’s a great thrill for us to be able to see them thrown in the deep end at an early age so they can look over it and work out the best way forward as a family.”

Richard sums up their philosophy simply. “We are certainly about building for the next generation, that’s the number one priority in our family.”

As the World Angus Forum unfolds this week, Killain Angus stands ready to showcase not only their superior genetics but also their pioneering approach to cattle breeding through hormone-free IVF technology. Their story represents the innovation and forward thinking that has positioned Australian Angus at the forefront of the global beef industry.

“We’re just going to continue to build, and it’s like building a house – you keep putting the bricks in place to build the operation. Hopefully we put the right foot forward in terms of building the operation to a very high quality Angus operation.”