Alberta's Seedstock Purebred Breeding You'll find Alberta's beef breeds are as varied as their numbers are large. Although the Hereford, Angus, Charolais and Simmental breeds are the most dominant, there are over 30 other breeds found in Alberta. Alberta's beef industry has refined its genetic strength through reproductive technology. These centres offer frozen semen from Alberta's wide selection of breeds - representing the finest herd sires in North America. With Alberta's wealth of genetic material, embryo transfer has become a natural extension of the AI industry.
Buyers can now extend the normal lifetime production of an elite cow.
This technology in Alberta has been refined and developed to a high degree of practical application for both domestic and international markets. In the late 1880s, free range grazing in southern Alberta was the forerunner of Alberta's diversified cattle industry. Now ranches dot the entire province, with a new breed of rancher using modern breeding practices to maintain their herds. In Alberta, most cattle ranchers follow a cycle of breeding in June and July, with calving periods at March and April. Calves weaned in the fall can weigh from 160 to 300 kilograms, but average out at 240.