Dairy farms across the U.S. have been breeding a portion of their cows to beef sires since 2018. As a result, domestic beef semen sales grew by nearly 7 million straws from 2017 to 2023. The resultant crossbred progeny, known as beef-on-dairy, has provided challenges and opportunities for both the beef and dairy industries. Penn State collected data over four years to evaluate the impact of beef-on-dairy progeny on these industries.
The dairy industry
One of the first questions surrounding the beef-on-dairy matings was: Would mating dairy cows to beef sires impact relevant dairy outcomes? While the calf is a necessary outcome for milk production, it is well-established that difficult deliveries can reduce productivity in subsequent lactations and, potentially, cow longevity. One of our goals was to assess the impact of beef sires on dairy cow productivity and health postparturition. Over 75,000 records from cows across 10 dairy herds from the Northeast and Midwest were summarized.
Results suggest that beef-on-dairy matings resulted in altered gestation lengths. In multiparous cows that carried beef-sired calves, gestation length was increased when compared to cows that carried Holstein-sired calves. Limousin-sired and Wagyu-sired impacted gestation length the most. Cows that carried Limousin-sired and Wagyu-sired calves carried them for five and eight days longer, respectively, than those that carried Holstein-sired calves. These data suggest that dairy farms using Limousin and Wagyu semen should consider extending the dry-off dates of cows mated to Limousin and Waygu sires to allow for an additional week of milk production from those cows.
Additional analyses of the records suggest that the incidence of dystocia, postpartum health events and early culling decisions were not impacted by sire breed. In addition, dairy cows mated to beef sires suffered no production losses in the lactation following delivery of a beef-on-dairy calf.
Current economics demonstrate that beef-on-dairy progeny are worth several hundred dollars more per head to the dairy as young calves at auction than their purebred dairy counterparts. Thus, the lack of impact on dairy productivity and the increased economic return to the dairy indicate that beef-on-dairy matings are a sound investment for the dairy industry.
The beef industry
Once beef-on-dairy was noted as a sound investment for the dairy, the logical follow-up question was: How do beef-on-dairy progeny impact the beef supply chain? The commodity beef supply chain dictates that fed cattle fit a narrow range of standard parameters, referred to as fitting the box. The standards are based on consumer expectations such as loin size because meat cuts from fed cattle are literally boxed and shipped nationally and internationally. At the start of the rise of beef-on-dairy, beef producers were left with a mishmash of genetics and unpredictable growth and carcass performance – all based on mating decisions made at the dairies. Since then, many breed associations and semen companies have begun to publish bull recommendations for dairy producers, and the industry is well past simply breeding dairy cows to cheap black semen.
The research conducted by Penn State evaluated three years of phenotypes for feedlot growth performance and carcass characteristics of beef-Holstein steers. Progeny were sired by seven different beef breeds including Angus, Charolais, Limousin, Hereford, Red Angus, Simmental and Wagyu. Sires within breeds were chosen based on their rankings as terminal sires (sires that would add growth and good amounts of muscle) at the time of mating when such rankings were available. Thus, beef sires were not solely selected for hide color or the price of the semen, but intentionally selected as sires that would make beef.
Two major criteria drive the economics of the beef cattle industry: 1) how efficiently cattle can grow – namely muscle – and 2) how well they can marble, or deposit fat, in their muscle tissue. When summarized across all three years of data, there were no differences in feed efficiency, measured as gain to feed, among cattle regardless of sire breed. However, Angus-, Charolais-, and Simmental-sired beef-Holstein steers had the greatest average daily gain (ADG) and, thus, spent the fewest days on feed. Wagyu-Holstein spent five to 26 more days on feed than any other breed. This alteration in days on feed can have a large impact on the industry. Fewer days on feed means cattle feeders can bring younger, more efficient cattle in quicker and, thus, reduce the annual overhead costs of the operation by spreading those costs over more cattle.
In addition, the growth of these cattle resulted in similar muscling across breeds. The industry uses dressing percentage – the pounds of carcass weight divided by the pounds of live weight – as one estimate of muscle in cattle because it drives the amount of saleable red meat yield from the carcass. Most beef breeds will have an average dressing percentage of 63% to 64%, whereas purebred Holsteins have always been challenged in this area and struggle to reach 60%. Across all breeds in the Penn State study, beef-on-dairy cattle had average dressing percentages of just over 61%, suggesting they have a greater propensity to muscle than purebred dairy counterparts.
The second economic driver of the industry is the quality of the meat, measured as marbling and reported/sold, based on the USDA Quality Grade, coming from the carcasses of those fed cattle. Currently, approximately 85% of the fed cattle in the U.S. grade USDA Choice or better, creating a certain industry expectation for carcasses that will marble well. Carcasses from Angus-, Charolais-, Hereford-, Red Angus- and Wagyu-sired steers marbled similarly, and all averaged a USDA Choice quality grade. Although carcasses from Limousin- and Simmental-sired steers did not marble as well as carcasses from the aforementioned breeds, the majority of those carcasses from Limousin- and Simmental-sired steers still graded USDA Choice on average.
Taken together, these data suggest then that beef-on-dairy progeny, whose sires are selected based on key terminal characteristics such as muscling and marbling, meet the current beef industry expectations.
How we move forward
The terminal selection criteria that the study used make use of sire expected progeny differences (EPDs). Most dairies are well-versed in using predicted transmitting abilities (PTAs) to choose a sire that will produce a heifer that will be profitable for the dairy. Dairies will need to become more comfortable selecting beef sires based on their genetic value to the beef industry to maintain a solid beef-on-dairy market.
The data generated from Penn State would suggest that beef-on-dairy cattle will have a greater potential to put on muscle than purebred Holstein steers if bull selection was appropriate, and because the beef cattle industry is focused on saleable red meat yield, there appears to be potential in the beef-on-dairy calves. However, the price paid for those calves and the costs to reach 500 pounds will be determining factors in the longevity of these breeding programs.
Cattle economics vary daily, and the market shifts can be unpredictable. Beef-on-dairy calves can work in the beef supply chain, but current supply and demand economics are driving record-high prices for calves. There will come a time, eventually, when the beef cattle supply, currently at a historic record low, will rebound, shifting the demand for beef-on-dairy calves and driving down the price. Therefore, dairies will have to work harder in the future to provide calves that can grow and perform in a beef market when that demand shifts.
References omitted but are available upon request by sending an email to the editor.
This work is supported by Critical Agricultural Research and Extension (CARE) from the USDA National Institute of Food and Agriculture, a collaboration between Dr. Tara L Felix, Dr. Chad Dechow and Dr. Kevin Harvatine. Dr. Bailey Basiel conducted the research and Dr. Adrian Barragan collaborated on the project.
