Liver issues in dairy-beef cattle are the main issue, holding back the further growth of dairy-beef sector in America, according to a leading US researcher.
Texas Tech University Professor in Sustainable Meat Science Dale Woerner told the Dairy Australia Growing Beef From Dairy Conference, Melbourne, dairy beef was comparable with traditional beef, on most measurements.
There was no disadvantage in milk production, from dairy females crossed with beef bulls, and the only real difference appeared to be a slightly longer gestational period in cows and heifers.
"Evolution in our industry, since 2017-2018, has put on the map a substantial number of these beef on dairy cross cattle, most of which are still Holsteins," Dr Woerner said.
"The majority of calves coming into the feedlot industry are now, in fact, crossbred with beef sires."
Dr Woerner said the "number one" issue for dairy-beef, going into feedlots in America, was liver abscesses.
"That serves as a primary economic disadvantage, this disadvantage also comes from downtime, in terms of increased times of production, processing and additional trimming," he said.
It could cost up to $60 a head if the muscle was trimmed or damaged.
"We still see an exaggerated disadvantage when it comes to crossbred cattle, when it comes to liver abscesses," he said.
In some cases it was as much as 80 per cent.
There could also be further condemnation of visceral components, the stomach, intestines, heart and lungs.
"It is something we have to get a grasp of and get control of if this model is to optimised and maximised," he said.
Prof Woerner said there were a number of positive aspects to dairy beef, although studies had shown breeding with beef semen increased gestation times by about one to three days.
"Days of first milk, days of first feed, none of these things were affected," Dr Woerner said.
"Ultimately, the overall lactation performance was not affected at all.
"In fact, in a following year, dairy cows bred to beef bulls ultimately ended up with a slightly improved lactation.
Dr Woerner said the shift to dairy-beef accelerated in 2017, when the National Association of Animal Breeders reported a sharp fall in the amount of dairy semen going to dairy farmers.
"This was a response to a sharp signal by our beef packing industry that Holstein or dairy steers as a whole were no longer desirable for our production system," he said
Severe discounts were applied to animals brought to the market.
"As a result the dairymen responded by breeding their cows, to beef bulls," he said.
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"We focussed efforts on traditional beef cattle versus dairy cattle, mainly Holsteins," he said.
"We understand there are stark differences between the cattle types, including that of growth rate and gut health, as it specifically pertains to liver abscesses in our intense feeding systems," he said.
The studies also looked at muscle to bone ratios, steak shape and color.
"There are several advantages, on the dairy side, including eating characteristics, as a result of marbling, muscle biology and fibre type, all of which provide positive eating experiences," he said.
Dr Woerner said the university wanted to find out where dairy-beef fitted into both systems.
"These cattle perform as well, if not better, in terms of quality weight performance or marbling performance and ultimately better than pure-bred Holsteins," he said.
"The beef on crossbreds is a true intermediate, in terms of fat."
High yield crossbreds could be as good as, if not better, than the conventional beef population for red meat yield, he said.
US Beef x Dairy director Casey Anderson told the conference drought in America had accelerated the increase in the number of dairy-beef in feedlots.
This year dairy beef had contributed 5.6 billion pounds, or 21 per cent, of the American beef market.
He said finished steers made up 3.37b pounds, or 12.6pc, of that market.
That was partly due to the drought, which saw cow populations bottom at 29-30 million.
"For the next three years, our beef-dairy program is going to be a necessity for a lot of feed yards (lots) to refill and replenish their lots," Mr Anderson said.
"After that, it will be very interesting to watch what happens when beef cows come back online, and the herd grows.
"But what we anticipate, in the next three years beef dairy is going to fill a lot of these gaps."
The dairy population was expected to remain stagnant, between 9.1 and 9.3 million for a "very, very long time."
Mr Anderson said dairy-beef animals were regarded as highly as traditional beef, in terms of the Certified Angus Beef eating standard.
"Dairy cross are crushing that," Mr Anderson said.
"The US beef dairy population is making extremely, extremely desirable quality meats," Mr Anderson said.