In today’s Beef Buzz, senior farm and ranch broadcaster Ron Hays speaks with Laurence Williams, beef-on-dairy specialist for Purina, who says the rapid rise of beef-on-dairy has reshaped both the dairy and beef sectors. Williams notes that while these cattle have been around for a while, the industry has reached a turning point. “These cattle have been here. Now we’re making them better,” he says, adding that with the native beef herd “as soft as it is,” more attention is being placed on beef-on-dairy animals. Today they make up “15% of the fed kill,” and Williams says they are proving to be “really good cattle when you get them to harvest.”
Williams explains that improved genetics have been a game-changer as dairies moved away from simply using leftover semen without long-term goals. “Early on, folks were emptying out their semen tank of whatever was left,” he says. But as calf supplies tightened and value became clearer, the industry shifted. “When we realized how much value there is in these beef-on-dairy cattle… all of a sudden there’s a focus on, let’s make them better,” he adds, pointing to both genetics and management as major drivers of improvement.
Genetically, the combination of dairy base traits and high-quality beef sires has created a more valuable end product. “If you’re feeding Holsteins, you’re going to get some marbling… Put great beef genetics on top of those dairy cows, and that’s just gotten better,” Williams says. The result is an animal that “is going to marble” and produce more red-meat yield, making them competitive with many native beef animals.
Purina has stepped in on the nutrition side, recognizing that these crossbred calves must be raised differently to reach their full potential. Williams says Purina ran extensive trials to develop specialized formulas for neonatal beef-on-dairy calves. “Different genetically, you need to feed them differently,” he explains. He adds that these calves need more nutrition than typical dairy-raising systems provide because “they’re just bigger, heartier cattle” with greater muscularity that must be supported early in life.
Looking ahead, Williams believes the industry’s next big step is aligning supply chains to protect value from birth to harvest. “It becomes a people business,” he says. Getting dairies, calf nurseries, and feedlots coordinated is key to ensuring these cattle are raised for maximum performance. “These things are great value. We should be talking about how we make them better,” Williams emphasizes, underscoring the importance of cooperation as beef-on-dairy continues to grow.
The Beef Buzz is a regular feature heard on radio stations around the region on the Radio Oklahoma Ag Network and is a regular audio feature found on this website as well. Click on the LISTEN BAR for today’s show and check out our archives for older Beef Buzz shows covering the gamut of the beef cattle industry today.
