Although dairy animals have traditionally made up about 20% of the beef supply, packer decisions in 2017 to stop purchasing fed dairy steers have led those producers to make different choices in their genetics and breeding decisions. Early semen selection approaches provided black-hided cattle but with conformation more closely matching straight-bred dairy cattle.
With little direct connection between feedlots and dairy farms, it's difficult to obtain data from the common link: beef on dairy (BXD) calf raisers and ranches, and producers finishing BXD calves. An Iowa Beef Center-led study focused on this link with surveys of both groups in or near Iowa.
June 11, 2024
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