Dairy Beef Opportunities
written by Sam Cranstone (s.cranstone@outlook.com)
I come from a sheep and beef farming background in the Whanganui region, where my family has bred low birthweight Hereford bulls for the dairy heifer mating industry for over 40 years. Coming from this background, I have developed an interest in beef on dairy, and cattle genetics and breeding.
I am currently studying a Bachelor of Agricultural Science at Lincoln University, although this year I am continuing my studies at Colorado State University as a part of a one-year academic exchange programme.
Aside from my formal studies, I have spent much of my free time researching and networking within and across the beef on dairy supply chain looking into some of the key issues and opportunities there. I am also interested in understanding the US market more as a major importer of NZ beef.
I see a huge opportunity for NZ beef in the lean meat space in the US. There is a major uptake in usage of GLP-1 weight loss medications such as Ozempic, which leads to many American consumers requiring nutrient dense, high protein, low fat diets – i.e. lean beef; every piece of meat packing I have seen here comes with a leanness percentage printed on it. To that effect, there is potential here for our lean beef to be marketed as its own product.
On top of this, the vast majority of US beef is finished in a feedlot. This due in part to systems constraints, and in part to target higher IMF and subsequently higher meat grades. As the US beef kill continues to improve in terms of grading, more fat enters the ground beef system, and more lean beef (from NZ!) is required to mix in with American beef to dilute the fat concentration down to more acceptable levels. Otherwise, the quintessential American hamburger pattie would fall apart when cooked, turning into a slushy blob as the fat reaches melting point.
Whilst the feedlot systems of the US lend themselves to high grade, fattier beef, our NZ pasture-based systems make it difficult to achieve the same marbling scores. This isn’t by any means a bad thing. I feel it opens up the door for NZ as meat producers to market quality cuts of relatively leaner meat to US markets, whilst also firming up opportunities in the grinding meat space. The grinding meat space is an export market largely made up of 90 CL cow beef in NZ – dairy farmers’ cull cows!
In terms of beef on dairy, with such strong prices in the beef market flowing through to feeder calf markets, now seems like a great opportunity to work on reducing surplus calf numbers. This market is growing rapidly also, and aside from the national goal of reducing surplus calf numbers, there is a lot to be gained in the efficiency of NZ beef on dairy production.
From an environmental standpoint, finishing what would otherwise be a surplus calf as a beef on dairy animal results in a meat product that is lower in emissions than a straight beef-bred animal. IDF carbon accounting attributes only 15% of a dairy dam’s emissions to its calf – the rest to the milk it produces. The beef cow, on the other hand, only produces a beef calf, and 100% of its emissions are attributed to its calf.
To really maximise efficiency, that beef on dairy animal must be finished before its second winter – where cost of feed becomes expensive and growth rates slow. To achieve this, it is important to get both management and breeding decisions right! To give dairy beef the best chance, it is important that the ‘right’ bull is used for the job. What does this look like?
To take care of your cows, and minimise assisted calvings:
· Low Birthweight and High Calving Ease – especially over heifers!
To maximise days in milk, and time to cycle again:
· Short Gestation
To ensure sufficient growth from an early age through to finish:
· High 200-day and 400-day growth rates (with 600-day growth rates likely pulled up as a result)
To provide the ability to finish the animal before it’s second winter:
· Low mature weights/moderate frame sizes
When crossing a beef animal across a dairy cow, there is typically already plenty of frame coming from the dairy half of the calf’s genetics. Therefore, a more moderate frame sized bull, whilst still being big enough to get its work done, should produce a calf with stronger finishing ability.
As the order of tissue development in mammals dictates that bone will develop earlier than meat, something growing into a large-framed animal may not be sufficiently filled out in time to finish before that second winter. An animal with more moderate frame, fed the same way, should fill out and finish significantly earlier than that of the larger frame size.
Whilst it is not so simple to eliminate surplus calves by using beef across the whole dairy herd with the limited land resources available, the ability to finish more cattle in NZ is growing. Virtual fencing technology allows those with the right skills to practice better pasture management in hill country, and potentially allows more traditional breeding country to be used to finish stock instead. This would have the effect of creating opportunities for more dairy beef animals to get to target liveweight.
Of course, it is hard to capture the value of using the ‘right’ bull for the job without rearing the calves yourself. If relationships with rearers can be developed, with shared understanding of the value of the genetics of those dairy beef animals, could that value be realised better?
I would love to see a day where DNA could be taken from a calf at birth, and genomic information be returned in time to sell the calf based on genetic merit as opposed to perceived merit (based on coat colour etc.). I can see benefits in terms of identifying animals bred for heifer replacements also, potentially reducing the need for visual markers at birth also.
All that being said, I am excited for the future of the NZ beef and dairy industries as gains in technology and understanding and changing market requirements provide opportunities for NZ to step up and prosper.
All the best for Spring and the 2026-27 season.
