Dairy beef

What is the difference between dairy beef and beef on dairy?

Dairy-beef cattle include those animals born to dairy dams, even if the calf has no beef-breed genetics, for example, Friesian bull calves and cull cows. These animals are usually born on a dairy farm and are reared or sold for beef production. Beef-on-dairy animals are typically progeny born to dairy animals and sired by beef, for example, Friesian-Hereford cross calves. They are sometimes referred to as beef-on-dairy animals or beef-cross animals and fall under the category dairy-beef animals.

Seventy two percent of dairy farmers already use beef genetics to improve the value and performance of calves that are surplus to requirements for their dairy business (Edwards et al, 2021). The successful production of dairy-beef requires both the beef and dairy industries to work together to increase profitability and efficiency.

Why should I consider dairy-beef?

There are some opportunities in which dairy-beef can be beneficial:

• Value chain optimisation
• System efficiency
• Reduction in GHG emissions
• Improved animal welfare
• Opportunity for increased traceability

However, there are some things to be aware of:

• The calving ease of selected beef sires to minimise assisted calvings.
• If there is a market supply and demand for your calves (breed and quality).
• If rearing or selling more calves fits your farm management decisions and business operations.
• Your long-term goals, if rearing and selling dairy-on-beef calves align with where your business is heading in the future.

Selecting beef breed sires

A wider range of beef breeds are available from most breeding companies, for example, Wagyu, Charolais, and Stabiliser, as well as more traditional breeds such as Angus and Hereford. Selecting sires that have desirable traits such as high-growth rate to 400 days, gestation length, and calving ease are critical when mating a percentage of the herd for beef production.

Select sires based on performance for the following beef and dairy characteristics:

• Gestation length
• Birthweight
• Calving ease
• Growth rates
• Weaning weights
• Eye muscle area
• Intramuscular area
• Carcass weight

Beef + Lamb New Zealand are progeny testing the performance of bulls with estimated breeding values (EBV's) that indicate they are likely to be excellent bulls for beef-on-dairy farm systems.

Read more on the Beef + Lamb New Zealand performance of bulls here.

Within breed sire variation

Different bull breeds have general trends in genetic production and efficiency characteristics, but there are within-breed sire differences. That is, one bull of the same breed will perform differently to another bull of the same breed. This difference might result in varying gestation lengths, birth weights, or carcass characteristics and growth rates. The sire selection is more important than the breed selection.

Selecting beef-bred sires for gestation length

Gestation length varies significantly based on factors such as heritability, sire genetics, breed, and calf gender. Beef breeds typically have longer gestation periods compared to dairy breeds.

In New Zealand, the average gestation length of dairy cattle is 282 days, but there is genetic variation around this. You should be aware of the gestation length Breeding Values of the beef sires you are using as it will affect the calving date of your cows.

Short gestation length can reduce the overall duration by 8-10 days. In most cases, when using short-gestation-length beef-bred semen, the gestation length can be similar to that of conventional dairy-bred semen. Although this is not the case for all breeds, for example, the Wagyu beef breed.

It’s essential to consider sire variation within the same breed for birthweights and gestation length traits. Proven beef sires may have shorter gestation lengths than the average for dairy; for example, Angus bulls in the top ten percent for gestation length estimated Breeding Value produce progeny with an average gestation length of 279 days.

If you’re exploring new semen technologies, start on a small scale to gain experience before committing fully, and consult your breeding company for insights into the expected results from different semen types.

Selecting for birthweights and calving ease

It is important to select beef-bred sires for lighter birth weights to minimise calving difficulty while ensuring calves have great growth rates. Using proven sires allows you to select beef-bred sires to produce progeny with lighter birth weights and in some cases still achieve high growth rates. The dam’s genetics will also influence birthweight.

Birth weight significantly impacts calving ease, especially among younger and smaller dairy cattle. Calving difficulties increase by 2.3 percent per kilogram increase in birth weight. The rule of thumb is that beef breeds have greater birth weights than lighter dairy breeds (e.g. Jersey), but this doesn’t hold true for all breeds (e.g. Angus). Proven sires through progeny testing ensure lower birth weights and avoid risk of within breed variation.

Dairy farmers aiming to select beef breeds for semen should select proven sires to ensure that subsequent calves have comparable birth weights to those of dairy breeds. From a beef rearing perspective, the minimum birth weight required for beef rearing is recommended at 35 kg to ensure calves reach target liveweights (Coleman et al, 2022).

There are currently progeny proven sire beef genetics available on the market.

Selecting beef-bred sires for beef performance and characteristics

Heritable traits related to cattle carcass characteristics and growth rates can be enhanced through crossbreeding strategies, leading to improved retail profitability in dairy breeds due to beef heterosis.

Growth rates:

• In the first year, some dairy calves can match the growth rates seen in beef calves, however growth rates will likely slow as they reach maturity.
• Typically, cattle with heavier live weights will have faster growth rates.
• Crossing faster-growing breeds with slower-growing breeds can boost growth rates in beef-on-dairy calves.

Carcass Characteristics:

Carcass characteristics include dressing out percentage, eye muscle area, lean meat yield, muscle to bone ratio, subcutaneous fat, and marbling (intramuscular fat).

Dairy progenies: Lighter carcass weight, low muscle to bone ratio due to poor muscularity, lower dressing out percentage, and smaller eye muscle area (indicative of lower lean muscle yield). Dairy breeds have the least subcutaneous fat resulting in below-average grading at slaughter.

Beef progenies: Heavier carcass weights, greater lean muscle yield, muscle to bone ratio, and dressing out percentage compared to dairy and beef-on-dairy animals. Beef breeds exhibit superior subcutaneous fat depths Even smaller-framed beef breeds (e.g. Angus) produce more muscle relative to frame size than dairy breeds.

Dairy calves sired by beef (beef-on-dairy animals): Lighter carcass weights, low muscle to bone ratio, and lower dressing out percentage compared to beef breeds. Due to increased muscularity, they exhibit greater dressing out percentage, muscle to bone ratio, eye muscle area, and lean meat yield at slaughter when compared to dairy breeds. Beef genetics positively influence carcass characteristics.

Beef-on-dairy rearing and market opportunities

There is opportunity for utilising different breeding strategies to break into the dairy-beef market. Strategic selection of high-genetic-merit beef-bred sires is critical for maximising beef genetics in mating programs. However, there are some limitations around how this market can be grown, and any growth needs to be done in a profitable and stable way to ensure the value of beef-on-dairy is kept or improved. Before deciding to rear more beef-on-dairy animals, build connections with your selected beef rearers, and select beef traits suitable for both your farm system needs.