Using beef semen on dairy cows is a current change within the dairy trade to extend income and certain profitability for dairy operations.
Conventional dairy steer calves had comparatively much less worth, however by using sex-sorted beef semen on dairy cows that aren’t candidates to provide alternative dairy heifers, the result is a steer calf with further worth when fed and become beef.
Nevertheless, this shift in the usage of beef semen within the dairy trade is just not all the time seen as favorable by the meat trade as a result of it will increase general beef provides.
Newer reproductive applied sciences have helped spur the adjustments which have occurred within the dairy trade. It raises the query of what choices can be found for cow-calf producers to extend returns with these applied sciences.
Steer worth outpaces heifer worth
Step one in answering this query is to have a look at the place added worth is perhaps accessible.
The desk under supplies the common and share distinction between steers and heifers at Missouri feeder cattle auctions. The information is an easy common throughout the 300- to 900-pound reported costs.
The coloured shading within the desk strikes from pink shades at smaller variations between steer and heifer costs to inexperienced shades at bigger variations. The shading reveals a reasonably constant pattern of rising variations between steer and heifer costs over time.
In 1999, feeder steers had been value $8.45 per cwt, or 9.1%, greater than a feeder heifer. Within the first 10 months of 2022, the common distinction between steers and heifers was $24.15 per cwt.
The trade has identified for years that feeding steers leads to higher feed effectivity within the feedyard, bigger carcasses and certain larger premiums. That’s the reason feeder steer costs are larger than feeder heifer costs.
When cattle provides are quick, like in 2014 and 2015, the information within the desk present that the premium for steers over heifers grows even bigger. 2022 can be displaying bigger variations between steer and heifer values, and will replicate each larger cattle values generally and the excessive price of acquire in feedyards.
Change calf ratio
The identical know-how that dairy producers have used to create beef on dairy animals can be utilized within the beef cattle trade. Nevertheless, it’s probably extra expensive for beef cow operations on condition that dairy operations have simpler entry to their cows.
There are two vital questions that beef cow operations should reply are:
- Will the pattern towards larger costs paid for steers relative to heifers proceed?
- What would be the further prices to provide the next proportion of steers out of the meat cow herd?
Given how tight cattle provides can be for the following couple of years, the hole between steer and heifer costs will probably stay giant.
Though it’s simple to handle an operation in the identical trend 12 months after 12 months, financial incentives are all the time altering, and reproductive applied sciences are extra commercially accessible in the present day.
The mix of those adjustments means that beef cow operations should hold taking a look at methods to regulate their operations to maximise returns. It might be time to take a web page out of the dairy trade’s playbook.Â
Brown is a livestock economist with the College of Missouri. He grew up on a diversified farm in northwest Missouri. Vaughn is a junior MU agribusiness administration pupil.
