June 1, 2009

US bovine semen exports to Hungary have continued expanding despite the shrinking market.

Hungarian importers are willing to pay for US breeding technology, but the acceptance of genotyped bulls from European breeder associations and Interbull remains a challenge, according to the USDA Foreign Agricultural Service (FAS).

FAS claimed that the Hungarians viewed the US dairy genetics industry as a world leader in new breeding technologies, which is important in Hungary. Competition from other EU member states continues to force reductions in the dairy herd, and the current Hungarian national dairy herd totals 320,000 head, down from 380,000 head in 2000.

Hungary imported US$1.4 million worth of bovine semen in 2006, US$2.3 million in 2007 and US$2 million in 2008. About 40-45 percent of the annual 260,000-300,000 doses of semen imports are from the US, up from virtually zero in 2005.