As growth in the dairy herd continues, so too will the number of dairy beef animals slaughtered each year. Dairy cow numbers are estimated to go above 1.5 million in 2019 – that’s 500,000 more dairy cows than there were in 2009.

As dairy cow numbers increase, so too will the amount of beef we slaughter each year from the dairy herd. This figure sat at 300,000 animals in 2009 and is estimated to double to 600,000 in 2019. See Table 1 for Teagasc predictions on the future output value of dairy beef in Ireland.

What does this mean for the dairy industry and what does it mean for the beef industry.

Opinion is divided on the beef side. Some welcome the increase in numbers and are using them to supplement a reducing income from a suckler or beef enterprise on their farm. Others are completely against them, saying they will drag down beef price and are lower quality in terms of weight and conformation.

On the dairy side, we have seen a seismic shift to easy-calving, short-gestation bulls being used on the dairy herd. These are predominantly Aberdeen Angus and Hereford genetics. A Teagasc survey in 2017 by Ruth Fennell demonstrated that when choosing a beef bull for the dairy herd, 43% ranked easy calving as the number one attribute while 42% ranked short gestation as the number one attribute.

Calf value, calf growth rates and beefing ability don’t enter the equation. This has worrying implications for the Irish beef industry. Some of the bulls currently being used, while they tick the box for the dairy farmer, don’t tick any box for the beef farmer.

Recently a farmer invited me to look at a shed of 400kg Aberdeen Angus heifers ready for slaughter. They killed out 210kg at R+4-. Needless to say, they died in debt. While the genetics used did a perfect job for the dairy farmer, the same cannot be said for the beef farmer.

What’s the solution?

It’s a difficult question to answer. There are bulls out there that will tick both boxes. They aren’t that plentiful but they can be identified. The industry calls them curve-bending bulls – low-birth-weight, short-gestation, high-growth-rate bulls. The problem is trying to identify these bulls.

At the moment, there is a poor level of sire identification being completed in the dairy herd. This is due to a multitude of reasons including a team of bulls running with cows, non-pedigree bulls being used on dairy farms. Dairy farmers don’t have to identify the sire at registration and many just don’t bother.

ABP trial results

In 2015, ABP started a trial looking at different genetics being used on dairy farms. These calves are purchased as two- to three-week-old calves, reared on an ABP contract-rearer farm and finished to slaughter.

The first batch of animals (364) from the farm were slaughtered at the end of 2016 and early 2017 at ABP Cahir. All were bred from Holstein Freisian cows (135 heifers and 229 steers). Some 27 AI sires and two stock bulls were used and the preliminary results indicate a variation in performance within breed and across breed depending on the sire.

For Angus heifers, the results below (Table 2) show a difference of almost 70kg in carcase weight. For steers, a difference of 32.68kg in carcase weight was observed.

In value terms, this represents a differential of €290 based on current prices, farm assurance, breed bonus and taking into account days on farm.

For steers, the difference is 33kg, which equates to a value differential of €191. Similar results were observed in Herefords. At some point in the future where these calves of higher genetic merit could be identified, it would make sense for calf purchasers to pay more for calves of higher terminal genetic merit and pay less for calves of lower genetic merit.