The sale of dairy bull calves can be an important revenue stream for many dairy farmers. However, dairy calves crossed with a beef sire could be more profitable for farmers, argued 2015 Nuffield scholar Joe Burke.

Burke, who works with Bord Bia as the beef and livestock sector manager, said beef-sired dairy calves can achieve an average of €100/head more when sold than Holstein Friesian calves.

At present, more than 60% of dairy cows are inseminated with a dairy sire. But as the Irish dairy herd continues to expand, Burke argues that a greater uptake of beef siring may be needed to meet the market demands for beef and receive greater returns from animals.

Carbon footprint

Irish beef currently has the fifth-lowest carbon footprint in Europe. However, the average carbon footprint of dairy-bred beef is shown to be 14.1kg of equivalent CO2 per kg produced. This is somewhat lower than the average carbon footprint of a kg of suckler beef at 21.2kg equivalent CO2.

As the national cow herd increases improvements in Ireland, agriculture's carbon footprint will need to be lowered to meet targets, said Burke.

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Tackling the thorny issue of dairy beef

One of the scholars presenting at Friday's Nuffield conference in Dublin was Joe Burke, who explored ways of growing the calf-to-beef revenue stream on dairy farms.