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May 20, 2026
120 Wagyu calves at Keith Hay’s GeneFlow mark a new chapter in Australian embryo technology
The first calves bred in Australia using Trans Ova IVF technology have arrived and the early results are everything breeders had been hoping for.
A group of 120 Wagyu calves at Keith Hay’s GeneFlow operation is among the first commercial output of the new Trans Ova systems now operating in Australia.
“The calves are healthy, growing well and coming out of the top cows in Australia,” Keith said. “We’re the second-best Wagyu stud in Australia at the moment.”
GeneFlow’s Wagyu donors are left on agistment at the Trans Ova Glenormiston facility, where they go through several rounds of IVF. The resulting embryos are implanted into recipients on site for Keith and other clients.
“We’re trying to breed a large 1 per cent herd, and we’ve started contracting to new entrants into the Wagyu industry,” Keith said. “They come to us wanting a 20 per cent herd, a 10 per cent herd, whatever they want, and we deliver the embryos and the pregnancies – or they can buy our already-created heifers.”
Keith rotates up to 75 donors against four or five of the top Australian Wagyu bulls. “We’re the only ones doing this at scale in Australia,” he said.
Trans Ova systems are built to support producers at this scale and beyond and equally suited to smaller operations.
Trans Ova is the largest embryo company in the United States, with over 40 year’s experience in delivering IVF embryos at commercial scale. Its technology and processes are now available to Australian breeders through Genetics Australia.
For Keith, a former dairy farmer and long-time Genetics Australia member, the move has been a natural one.
“We’re very happy that Trans Ova is available for producers in Australia,” he said. “It’s positive for Australia that the largest embryo company in the US wants to set up here. They’ve been doing IVF embryos for a long time, so it’s a compliment to Australia.”
GeneFlow leased a property at Stanthorpe in Queensland two years ago to run and calve down embryo recipients and continues to expand on the back of the Trans Ova systems.
Keith believes the Wagyu breed is poised for long-term growth as Australian beef producers chase marbling. “People want marbling in their meat, and Wagyu is the natural breed to deliver that.”