By Dusty Sonnenberg,
There are roughly 10 million dairy (breed) milk cows in the U.S. Dairy Herd. The bull calves born from this dairy herd make-up a significant portion of the animals slaughtered for beef each year. Over the last several years, the idea of breeding dairy breed cows with beef breed bulls has gained momentum, and is known as “Beef on Dairy.”
“It is estimated that by the end of December 2020, nearly two million beef on dairy calves will have been born for the year,” said Bill Tom, Executive Vice President for Livestock Marketing at United Producers, Inc. “This is an increase over the 2019 numbers. Estimates are that just under three million beef on dairy calves will be born in 2021, and that number could increase to between five and six million beef on dairy calves born annually by 2025.”