Farm World Lardner discusses dairy-to-beef profitability potential

"Redirecting bobby calves into maturity for the meat supply chain is becoming more popular in both the dairy and beef sectors...

Greenham dairy beef and animal welfare manager Sarah Bolton said the panel discussed the need to balance economic and social factors when dealing with dairy to beef.

“What we need to see consistently, going forward as an industry, in order to sure up the dairy industry’s social licence to operate, is an ability to direct surplus calves into meat production,” Dr Bolton said.

“(That has to) be done consistently, year-on-year, but do that in way that isn’t harming the business from an economic perspective.

“The challenge is how to we balance economic viability and social acceptability of the way we manage surplus calves."

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Source: Alex Sinnott, 30 March 2023