Rabo AgriFinance senior protein analyst, Don Close, agreed there's a lot of positive in this trend for dairies. Some estimates put the added value of beef-on-dairy cross calves (steer and heifer) at $100 to $150 per head. We went from something with essentially zero value to something that's inherently a better animal," she said. "With this program, while we still have the same supply of calves as before, we have new advantages. Traditionally, a dairy steer calf is inefficient and not of much value to the industry.
When it comes to beef-on-dairy crosses at Riverview, Osborn said they are clearly seeing the most benefit on the dairy side. She added other key touch points critical to success include calving ease, calf care and consistency. We have to get the cows pregnant first," Osborn said. We can't look at carcass merit or feeding performance in a vacuum. So, the bar we set for bulls has to be high on the fertility side. Those are our lowest-performing animals, and they are also the hardest cattle to get pregnant. "Dairy-cow candidates for this program are the bottom 10 to 40% of the herd. It may surprise beef producers to learn the first consideration for Riverview's BeefBuilder sires is not carcass quality. She works with the bull lineup and on the dairy program, and believes there are several key considerations that make this unconventional combination work. "We are all one farm, playing both sides of this equation," Riverview's Lauren Osborn explained. Its findings have made it a leader in this new trend expected to have a positive impact on both the beef and dairy industries. It developed a beef-on-dairy program, Breeding to Feeding, that today produces a hybrid known as the "BeefBuilder." Riverview's level of diversification put it in a unique position to objectively evaluate what each segment of its operation could bring to the whole. The Minnesota company is an integrated dairy, beef, farming and seedstock business.
It's a question Riverview LLP has been working on since 2012. What happens when these two camps start sharing genetics? A beef producer, on the other hand, would take a steer over a heifer any day. Give a dairy producer a heifer calf, and he feels like he just won the lottery. (DTN) - Dairy and beef producers have always seen things from different sides of the fence. (Photo courtesy of courtesy of Riverview LLP)īIRMINGHAM, Ala. Putting a beef sire on a dairy cow creates a calf with $100 to $150 more value at the feedyard.
0 kommentar(er)
