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Beef on Dairy Update
August, 2023
Colleen Larson, UF/IFAS Regional Specialized Dairy Extension Agent
The dairy industry has always been a significant
contributor of cattle for beef production. Cull dairy cattle make up about
10% of U.S. commercial beef production (Moreira et al., 2021). Fed dairy
steers have traditionally made up another 10 to 14% of total beef harvested
in the US (Geiser and Boetel, 2019). While the number of cull dairy cattle
has remained consistent, there has been a shift in the type of calves being
raised for beef. The successful use of sexed semen on dairy farms has
allowed producers to raise only heifers from the best cows in the herd,
rapidly increasing genetic improvement and decreasing the total number of
calves needed. While this number varies greatly on individual dairy farms
because of management differences, dairies across the country routinely have
10-30% of the bottom cows in the herd available to bred to beef semen. Some
dairy farms use genomic selection to determine which cows get bred to beef
semen while others simply breed their older, lower producing animals.
According to CattleFax, the number of beef-on-dairy
crosses being raised for slaughter has skyrocketed from 410,000 head in 2018
to 2.6 million head in 2022. This number is expected to reach 4-5 million
head by 2026. In 2022 this number represented 7% of the cattle fed for
slaughter and would more than double to 15% in 2026 if predictions are
realized. Beef-on-dairy crosses are also driving beef semen sales. Beef
semen sales reached a record in 2015 of 2.5 million units due to increased
use of technology. Since the growth in beef-on-dairy crosses, that number
has jumped to 9 million units of beef semen being sold across the US.
Beef-on-dairy has several challenges to address.
Semen/AI distributors have been quick to work on the most pressing issue,
developing composite beef sires to address feed conversion rates. Since
these calves are fed milk and feed from day 1, decreasing days on feed and
feed efficiency is the primary goal of calf ranches. Along with improving
average daily gains, beef composites are being developed with the goals of
improving yield grades, dressing percentage, and ribeye shape. With data
from millions of offspring being evaluated, improving these benchmarks is a
realistic goal. The more difficult issue to solve has been the higher
prevalence of liver abscesses among dairy-influenced beef. Conventional beef
rates of liver abscesses are 15% to 30% with beef-on-dairy animals ranging
from 50% to 80%. This slows down processing lines and contributes to
significant discounts due to trimming and potential loss of the outside
skirt steak. Genetics and feeding strategies are needed address this
problem.
There is an immense opportunity for beef-on-dairy
animals to become a consistent, reliable, traceable part of the beef
industry. These animals won’t replace the higher end, traditional beef
animals, but instead will contribute to a steady supply of beef throughout
the year. Eat beef. Drink milk.
Geiser, J., & Boetel, B. (2109,
May 15). Dairy cattle a big part of US beef supply.
https://www.dairybusiness.com/dairy-cattle-a-big-part-of-us-beef-supply/#:~:text=In%202018%2C%20finished%20dairy%20steers,of%20beef%20production%20since%202002
.
Moreira, L. C., Rosa, G. J., &
Schaefer, D. M. (2021). Beef production from Cull Dairy Cows: A review from
culling to consumption. Journal of Animal Science, 99(7).
https://doi.org/10.1093/jas/skab192