Cream of the crop: beef from dairy paves pathway

Transforming the management of non-replacement dairy calves by creating a viable beef from dairy pathway is the key focus of a recently launched dairy Australia and MLA Initiative – CalfWays.

The CalfWays partnership will drive welfare, environmental and productivity outcomes across the supply chain. 

With more than one million dairy calves born each year, the benefits are set to be significant.  

Developed by Dairy Australia in collaboration with more than 150 stakeholders, the initiative aims to ensure all dairy-origin calves which are not required for herd maintenance will have a valued market pathway, primarily as beef cattle, by 2035.

Chair of the project’s Steering Committee – former CEO of the Australian Meat Industry Council, Patrick Hutchinson – is well placed to lead the initiative with his wealth of experience in agribusiness strategy, sustainability and trade negotiation. He’s keen to gain momentum for the development of partnerships and co-investment structures to fund the initiatives outlined in the CalfWays Sustainable Dairy Calf Management Roadmap to 2035.

“CalfWays gives both the dairy and red meat sectors a real chance to fix a longstanding challenge by creating a genuine, valued pathway for every calf,” Patrick said.

“What excites me is that this isn’t theory, it’s practical, commercially-minded work that brings the whole supply chain together.

“If we get this right, we improve welfare, strengthen farm businesses and build a pathway that is sustainable for everyone, from producers through to processors and retailers.”

Creating value 

Establishing market chains for male and non-replacement female dairy calves will remove the need for routine on-farm euthanasia or early life slaughter. This is good news for industry-wide productivity, animal welfare and emissions reductions.

To leverage the value creation potential of non-replacement dairy calves, producers need access to the right breeding, rearing and production knowledge and resources.

CalfWays will facilitate industry partnerships to generate market demand and increase awareness of techniques such as the use of sexed semen, genomic testing and strategic breeding aimed to optimise herd composition. 

This will ensure that all calves born are better suited to either herd replacement or market needs.

CalfWays presents multiple opportunities for value creation across the supply chain:

• Dairy farmers: Non-replacement calves represent a potential revenue stream if they can be integrated into the beef market.
• Rearers and finishers: Benefits from increased demand will incentivise the rearing of calves to meet market specifications.
• Meat processors: Increased value from more sales of red meat that includes beef from dairy.
• Dairy processors and retailers: Value in sustainable calf management from a sustainability and corporate social responsibility perspective.

Eating quality 

Meat Standards Australia (MSA) consumer sensory trials have shown that dairy beef, when raised with the right nutrition and growth pathways, performs well in terms of tenderness, juiciness and flavour. Well-finished Holstein and Jersey cattle can produce beef of comparable eating quality to traditional beef breeds – a key factor that makes beef from dairy a valuable addition to the beef supply chain.  

Lowering emissions 

Beef from dairy is well aligned to industry’s emissions reductions goals. By integrating dairy calves into productive markets, CalfWays supports opportunities for supply chains to reduce scope three greenhouse gas emissions.

This is because beef from dairy emissions intensities are significantly lower than conventional beef, due to the attribution of dam emissions to both milk and beef.