The idea of crossbreeding low genetic/productive dairy cows with beef semen has become a growing practice on dairies. The main reason for the growth is the increased value of the offspring when compared to the traditional dairy male calf.
While the beef calf value is a real benefit, there are even more advantages. The use of sexed semen on the top of the herd to create replacement heifers also increases the selection intensity and speeds up genetic progress. Moreover, proactively managing heifer inventory will avoid excess replacements and result in lower rearing expenses.
More cash for beef cross calves, better genetics for replacement females and cost optimization is ideal, but it can be at risk if not careful while selecting beef genetics.
The first step in this process is to ensure the beef genetics will perform well in getting the cows pregnant and then to demonstrate calving performance. Additionally, producing a healthy and efficient calf that will create value for the whole beef supply chain.
ABS has multiple ways to support dairy farmers setting up a beef on dairy plan, below are several resources to start the process.
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