Just as a beef calf and a dairy calf have different needs, so do the beef on dairy cross calves, explains cross specialist Laurence Williams of Purina.
Williams tells Mid-West Farm Report that beef on dairy cross animals are replacing Holsteins in the beef market, and most dairy farmers are engaging in the industry.
“There’s great value in these cattle. The native beef herd, as soft as it is, these cattle really fill a need,” he says. “They’re here to stay.”
But Williams reminds producers that beef on dairy cross animals have genetic differences to pay attention to. They require needs closer to a beef animal than a dairy animal. He says cross-animals may also bring unique challenges.
“Some of those challenges end up being sort of a health cascade… they end up with a liver abscess, potentially. These cattle have a higher incidence of that,” Williams explains. “That’s what our research has been focused on — mitigating that through proper nutrition.”
When looking at a valuable animal, such as a heifer that will be the future of your herd, farmers typically invest in that animal to get the most production. Williams says the same concept should be applied to dairy beef cross calves. He adds these calves also require a nutritional investment.
“They’re probably different in terms of just the protein requirements. So if you look at the amino acid profile, this might be different,” he explains. “It’s really about getting enough protein and enough quality protein, enough quality nutrition into them in that neo-natal phase, especially in the milk phase.”
