Bobby Calves

Dairy farmers wishing to phase out bobby calves will need to raise animals that will compete with other land uses. Sheryl Haitana reports.

Where others saw the issue of bobby calves in the dairy industry as a serious issue, Alan McDermont and Julia Galway saw an opportunity: to produce world class pasture-raised veal that everyone could enjoy.

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.

In the first episode of The Dairy Exporter Podcast, Editor Sheryl Haitana & Deputy Editor Anne Lee delve into the study at Lincoln University’s Ashley Dene Research and Development Station that looks at a suckling calf rearing system, where cows and calves are kept together until weaning.

Pamu is now rearing more than 50% of its calves born on the dairy farms, with a target to get to 75% in the next three years, and 100% by 2030.

Calving ease and the animal’s value through the chain to end market are major considerations in the drive to reduce bobby calf numbers for Waikato’s Owl Farm. Louise Hanlon reports.

A Mid-Canterbury dairy farm, with connections to Synlait, is tackling the bobby calf issue with a beef twist. Anne Lee reports.

The team at Odeon restaurant have whipped up a delicious recipe for BBQ Veal Ribeye Chop with house mustard and spiced jus

The aim of a pasture-raised veal system is to give calves great lives and keep rearing as close to nature as possible, Anne Lee writes.

A scientist with an agricultural background believes he has an answer to the glut of bobby calves. By Ashley Smith.