But for calves headed to the feedlot, we don’t want a large frame. When we’re raising Holstein heifer calves as replacements, our goal is lean tissue and stature growth. They need less protein and more fat in their liquid rations But enough of them have gone through the production chain for us to at least develop some on-farm impressions of them, including: 1. So far there is little research focusing specifically on dairy-beef calves.

If we’re going to be raising a lot more of these calves, we need to start embracing their unique characteristics. The scale at which large dairies can produce calves is much greater than the average beef herd, plus they can provide a year-round supply. Dairies that succeed at this will find a ready market for their calves. The goal of dairy-beef breeding is to produce calves that finish efficiently and cut out consistently, on par with full-blood beef animals.

Some buyers currently are seeking specific breed crosses, and some programs are dictating specific sires within a breed. That process is being fine-tuned, with most dairies now embracing genomic data to choose those sires. With newborn dairy-beef calves fetching in the neighborhood of $100 per head more than purebred male Holsteins, it’s an easy decision on the dairy side to strategically incorporate beef sires into their breeding programs.

Raising dairy bull calves for profit