BREEDING: Why beef on dairy?
Dairies with a breeding program that includes sexed heifer semen from dairy bulls and semen from beef bulls get the calves they need to produce both dairy and beef.
Beef on dairy
Maybe you’ve heard the phrase but didn’t quite understand it. It’s the practice of breeding dairy cows to beef bulls, through artificial insemination or natural service.
Successful beef on dairy powered by Angus.
So why beef on dairy?
The bottom line is using beef genetics to add quality to dairy heifers that will not be retained or culled.
At the end of the day, a dairy farmer’s primary income comes from milk production, but implementing beef genetics can allow for a secondary income from meat production.
AI, sexed dairy semen and beef semen are key to making this secondary income happen.
“With beef on dairy, you use sexed dairy semen or top elite Brahman bull of the highest genetic level to mate with the number of heifers to be replaced or culled".
“ A dairy farmer can breed the herd to be replaced with high-quality beef semen genetics to produce good calves for feedlotting and eventually beef industry.
“I had a dairy farmer say that before beef on dairy, he was half guilty of being a heifer hoarder — if he had a heifer calf, he’d always keep it.”
This strategy was overstocking female inventory and potentially causing a never-ending drag because the dairy producer was keeping all females instead of only retaining females with the best genetics.
Cue beef on dairy
By breeding a portion of the herd to dairy sexed heifer semen, producers can select the number of high-quality genetic females they would like to retain and use the rest for beef production.
Long story short, the practice is sustainable
The primary income for a dairy producer is milk production. With beef on dairy, producers can bring more value to heifer that are not retained as replacements and add more revenue to the operation.
“And that’s a sustainable story for the dairy industry.”
The writer is a livestock economist who says dairy producers must pay more attention to the beef market now that raising beef on dairy has created a new opportunity for quality meat.
Holstein Fresian beef on dairy feedlot in Canada.
