Bull choices for the latter stages of breeding
Alan Dillon, DairyBeef 500 Campaign Co-Ordinator, joins Stuart Childs on this week’s Dairy Edge podcast to discuss late breeding season bull choice.
Alan explains that late-born calves are as much of a hassle for the beef farmer as they are for the dairy farmer, as they don’t fit into any system. Given this, a defined breeding season is important to eliminate May/June calves, as they are of limited value to dairy-beef farms or to dairy farmers.
Alan then outlines the criteria for bull selection at this stage of the season, with high carcass weight of >10kg for traditional breeds such as Angus and Hereford and a minimum of 20kg for the continental breeds desired. The focus must be to produce a quality calf that has potential to deliver a return.
Gestation length and calving ease are the other two important criteria for dairy farmers, particularly at this stage of the season, where the objective must be to get the cow calved as early as possible at this late stage.
Additionally, dairy farmers should try to use the best beef genetics - either through AI or stock bull - to generate calves of quality to move into dairy-beef systems. In the future, the Commercial Beef Value (CBV) will have a significant role to play in deciding the value of the calf. Using a good beef sire is as easy as using a bad one and is to the benefit of the industry as a whole.
Alan also advocates developing a relationship with a local buyer to ensure calves move off the dairy farm for a reasonable price and in an orderly fashion, rather than being at the mercy of the market each week. This is very useful for the calf buyer, as they have animals that have a health history behind them. Dairy farmers should try to develop these relationships ahead of the calving season, when time will be hard to come by.
Finally, Alan invites all farmers to attend the BEEF2024 Open Day in Grange, Co. Meath on June 26, to see all things dairy beef.
Listen in below:
Find more information on BEEF2024 here.
For more episodes from the Dairy Edge podcast, a co-production with LastCastMedia.com, visit the Dairy Edge podcast show page.