Does Beef Cross Dairy Work for Beef….or Just Dairy?

Ideally, all cattle, beef or dairy in their breeding, enter the beef supply chain eventually. Since 2016, the research emphasis of Felix’s Beef Cattle Nutrition lab at Penn State University has focused on the progeny coming off of dairy farms into feedlot systems. With the devaluation of the Holstein bull calf in beef markets in 2017, and the subsequent shift to breeding dairy cattle to beef, our research has focused on determining what it is we need to know about the crossbred beef cross dairy calves to make them successful in the feedlot. Most data related to beef cross dairy production is decades old or limited to international cattle populations or is decades old. In North America the day-old beef cross dairy calves are greatly valued, but in 2020, initial data reported inconsistencies in these progeny throughout the beef production system. Beef cross dairy matings are now estimated to produce 4 million calves per year, representing nearly 20% of the total supply of fed cattle marketed annually. To maintain the value of the crossbred beef cross dairy calf to the dairy, the progeny have to succeed throughout the beef supply chain. To date, valuation of beef cross dairy progeny has been poorly quantified throughout the supply chain. In part, this is due to the multiple changes in ownership throughout the beef cross dairy calfs' lifetime. Our work has modeled commercial production systems and changes in ownership to evaluate the impact of sire selection on beef cross dairy outcomes relevant to the feedlot and packing industries.