Value-Added Dairy Beef Solutions
The New Zealand dairy industry currently produces over two million bobby calves each year. As of June 2023, Fonterra has announced changes to its terms of supply that will insist all calves are given a “useful” life.
As consumers become more interested in the food production process, the New Zealand dairy and beef industries have a huge opportunity to reduce the number of bobby calves produced and breed value-added dairy beef offspring from New Zealand’s dairy herds.
In the near future, there will be major changes to beef production, and many beef farmers will begin to assess the carbon cost associated with each kg of beef created. A value-added dairy beef animal removes the need for a suckler cow and, therefore, the inefficiency associated with maintaining that suckler cow.
Many of New Zealand’s dairy farmers have begun to use Sexed Dairy Genetics to gain valuable replacements from their best cows, while using Dairy Beef Genetics on the tail end of their herds to breed that value-added beef animal.
With the right selection, dairy farmers can turn what is essentially a waste product into a value-added beef animal, gaining a tighter calving season and extra days in milk (short gestation), easy calving, easy identification (colour marking), and sought-after offspring (a second income stream).
Included in this Dairy Beef Solutions catalogue, you will find breeds and sires available for every dairy herd in New Zealand. A large portion of New Zealand’s dairy herd has a heavy Jersey influence, and we have solutions that cater to these herds and even have sires bred for Jersey populations such as the Danish Blue.
With many happy farmers already here in New Zealand, you can see examples of these offspring on both the front and back covers of this Dairy Beef Solutions catalogue.
The importance of using the right dairy beef sire has never been more important. Many of our dairy beef sires come from breeding programs that have been running for decades. This kind of focus on dairy beef with these specialized genetics is something our competitors simply cannot compete with.
Our breeding consultants are farmers themselves at heart and trained to help you maximize the value of each and every pregnancy. Our team loves to visit herds and can help you select the right Dairy Beef Solution for your herd.