Episode 3 – Is there really value in our dairy-beef calves?
Editor of Dairy Exporter, Sheryl Haitana along with her co-host Anne Lee, Deputy Editor, discuss the change in focus to value opportunities for dairy-beef with industry experts Bob Thomson of AgFirst, Allan McDermott of Pearl Veal and Rebecca Hickson, Geneticist with Focus Genetics.
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Every week, we’ll be interviewing experts, inspiring characters and change-makers to bring you the latest news and trends from the dairy industry.
Episode 3 - Is there really value in our dairy-beef calves?
Guests:
- Bob Thomson, AgFirst
- Allan McDermott, Pearl Veal
- Rebecca Hickson, Geneticist, Focus Genetics
Hosts:
- Sheryl Haitana, Editor, Country-Wide
- Anne Lee, Deputy Editor, CountryWide Media
Did you know that cattle of dairy origin currently account for 50% of all beef finishing cattle in New Zealand?
It’s time for the dairy industry to take responsibility beyond sourcing sires on gestation and calving ease.
These experts believe, that as a dairy farmer, it pays to do the numbers on what beef sires have the greatest statistics on live weight gains on dairy-beef calves too.
Editor of Dairy Exporter, Sheryl Haitana along with her co-host Anne Lee, Deputy Editor, discuss the change in focus to value opportunities for dairy-beef.
It’s a growing focus as milk processors, such as Fonterra, ask farmers to have better options for their non-replacements calves and beef processors suggest that by 2030 the 2 million surplus dairy calves won’t be accepted under 10 days of age.
The episode kicks off with Bob Thomson from AgFirst who has become a thought leader on supporting dairy farmers to encourage more dairy-beef breeding and rearing to address the challenge of surplus dairy calves. Bob highlights the value of the Beef + Lamb NZ Genetics Dairy Beef Progeny Test.
Read more about Bob’s advice on how to pick sires: https://dairyexporter.co.nz/why-dairy-farmers-should-pick-proven-beef-sires/ (Free)
Anne Lee, deputy editor of Country-Wide discovers the impact Pearl Veal with co-founder Alan McDermotte is having on building a brand with rearing on whole milk to finish 10 month old beef animals for what is a growing sort after delicacy by chefs compared to traditional veal.
Read about Pearl Veal: https://dairyexporter.co.nz/bobby-calves-natural-rearing-makes-pearl-veal-the-real-deal/
Rebecca Hickson from Focus Genetics chats to Sheryl Haitana the editor of Dairy Exporter on how to keep the beef finisher in mind when selecting the best sires for your farm system as they do with Pamu.
Read the article: https://dairyexporter.co.nz/dairy-beef-keep-the-finisher-in-mind/
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