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Beef on dairy remains profitable

A cattle consultant says the outlook for profiting from beef on dairy operations remains strong.

Brady Hicks is the manager of Simplot Animal Sciences, and he says, “It has been surprisingly high and has been really good for the dairy sector.”

Hicks tells Brownfield when looking for beef bulls to cross with dairy cows, look for genetics that will help the beef-dairy cross animal perform well at the calf ranch, the feed lot, and ultimately, at harvest time with higher quality and better marbling. “There’s certainly a number of options that work well there. We produce a lot of angus for good quality marbling-type animals that perform well and that there’s a market for. There’s a lot of people exploring other options.”

Hicks says most economists project the market for beef-on-dairy animals will remain high for a while. “It does take a while to rebuild the beef herd here in the U.S. with the drought conditions that we’ve had, the challenges that way, so that market seems to stay high and feedlots are continuing to look for beef cattle to feed. There is a shortage there.”

To get the best prices, Hicks says producers need to be forward-thinking and have a market, knowing where those animals will go. “If they have somebody wanting to buy their calves already, they have specific genetics in mind that they’re wanting to buy, then they can breed with that rather than being a market taker at the sale.”

Hicks says many dairy farmers have benefited from the beef market and the advancements in science to get exactly the kinds of calves they need.

Audio: Brady Hicks discusses beef-on-dairy with Brownfield’s Larry Lee