June 19, 2009

With the reduction in UK's suckler herd, there is going to be increased demand for dairy beef and dairy farmers should address sire selection to generate better beef alongside good heifer replacements, according to John Allen of Kite Consulting.

Allen said that with the growing demand for red meat, the prospects for meat generated from the dairy herd are significantly improved.

Dairy bulls have long been viewed as a low value by-product of dairying, but with individual dairy bull calf prices up between GBP30 and GBP130, alongside concerns over animal welfare, they can offer a valuable source of income.

This attitude is shared by Richard Phelps of Blade Farming, and reflected in Blade's new Star Sire Scheme.

Richard Phelps of Blade Farming said holstein bull calves potentially have a significant value, however, Blade has found 25 percent of bull calves lost due to inadequate management, with another 25 percent rejected as a result of poor genetics.

Blade's new Star Sire Scheme acts to increase the value of dairy bulls by providing a list of sires that can produce dairy bulls more suited to the beef market, without compromising dairy heifer genetics.

The scheme aims to validate the genetic worth of a dairy bull calf and will help identify the bull to a prospective buyer as a good quality beef animal.

Beef farmer and British Cattle Breeders Club chairman Paul Westaway said data collected by Blade on calf grades has shown a high percentage of grade one calves have bulls in common.

Westaway said that they were able to come up with a ranking of bulls to best fulfil this criteria while fulfilling the main objective of dairy farming - to produce good quality heifer replacements.

By producing high quality bull calves, farmers can take advantage of current market prices. Stuart Hassall, auctioneer for Wright and Manley, Cheshire, has seen a 50-percent increase in the number of dairy bulls coming to market as a result of significant improvements in prices.