The use of beef sires to produce beef x dairy calves

By Blake Jackson

Over the past few years, there has been a growing interest in using beef sires to breed with Holstein cows to produce beef x dairy calves. This practice has become more popular as the value of purebred Holstein calves has decreased.

In 2017, Drs. Chad Dechow and Kevin Harvatine and I were awarded a USDA CARE grant to investigate beef sire selection recommendations for dairy producers. As part of this research, we evaluated the performance of beef x dairy calves sired by Angus, Charolais, Hereford, Limousin, Red Angus, and Simmental bulls.

We found that Angus-sired progeny outperformed the competition in terms of final body weight, rib-eye area, and average daily gain. Simmental-sired progeny entered the feedlot heavier than Angus-sired progeny, but Angus progeny gained nearly 50 pounds more during the finishing period.

Our data also highlights the importance of appropriate bull selection. When selecting sires, it is important to target sires that rank highly on characteristics that would contribute to growth and carcass performance, such as rib-eye area, yearling weights, and marbling.

From year 1 to 4 of this project, there was a dramatic shift in the economics of the beef x dairy calves. The largest driver of economic success or failure within our system was the purchase price of the calves. Therefore, our key takeaway from an economic standpoint is that buyers need to be fully aware of all their other input costs prior to purchasing these calves so that they can calculate the realistic breakeven or desired profit before entering the business.

For the foreseeable future, beef x dairy progeny will be part of the beef production system in the U.S. How these progeny are discussed within the system will be dictated largely by those making the breeding decisions.

Photo Credit: gettyimages-r-j-seymour