What is the dairy beef index?
The dairy beef index is a breeding tool developed for Irish dairy and beef farmers to promote high-quality beef cattle bred from the dairy herd.
The aim is that dairy farmers will use the index when selecting beef bulls to use on their dairy herd. The use of these bulls will hopefully reverse the decline in carcase weight and carcase conformation in beef from the dairy herd.
What are the benefits?
It will identify easy-calving and short-gestation beef bulls with high carcase merit.Progeny will be more saleable as calves and more profitable at slaughter.There will be minimal consequences on dairy cow fertility performance, milk production, or health.What does the dairy beef index select for?
High € values for calving sub-index (64% of DBI):
Shorter gestation lengths.Easy calving.Less calf mortality.High € values for beef sub-index (36% of DBI):
Less feed consumption.High carcase weight and conformation.Low carcase fat.Meet factory spec for weight and conformation.Expected increase
Each €1 increase in DBI can be interpreted as a €1 expected increase in profit for that bull’s progeny, compared with progeny born to the average Holstein-Friesian bull.
Dairy farmers who are not keeping progeny may say "it’s not my problem", but that would be a short-term view to take.
If dairy beef is unprofitable, beef farmers don’t buy calves and dairy farms are left with the problem.
Calf welfare issues and questions over the sustainability of the current dairy breeding programme suddenly come into play, so both the dairy and beef industry need to take note.
Table 1. The top five Dairy beef bulls on the Dairy Beef Index
First place
In top spot is the Bova AI Belgian Blue, Du Stordeur Flaneur (SFL). He comes in with a dairy beef index (DBI) of €121. Hi gestation length is -1.45 days and his calving difficulty % figure is 6%. His carcase weight figure is +19kg with a high carcase conformation figure of 2.49. He has 1,346 calving records in the database and 5,230 carcase records in the database. At €20/straw he may be a little expensive for widespread dairy use.
Second place
Taking up second spot is the popular Limousin sire Elderberry Galahead (EBY). He comes in at €104 and has a calving difficulty figure of 4% and a gestation length figure of +2.37 days. Carcass weight is +20kg and carcase conformation is 2.18. There are 2,164 calving records and 5,173 carcase records in the database. He is available from Dovea Genetics and currently costs €12/straw.
Third place
In third place is the red Aberdeen Angus bull Lanigan Red Deep Canyon (ZLL) with a DBI of €93. This bull is no stranger to topping lists, with ZLL consistently taking his place in the top 10 beef replacement bulls for recent evaluation runs. His gestation length figure is -1.21 days and his calving difficulty figure is 2.1%. He is +12kg for carcase weight and 0.44 for carcase confirmation. There are currently 144 calving records in the database on ZLL and 845 carcase records. He is available from Bova Genetics and is priced at €30/straw which will exclude him from much of the commercial dairy use.
Fourth place
The fourth place goes to the Dovea Genetics Salers bull Ballymackeogh Hugh with a DBI of €93.His gestation length is 1.65 days and his calving difficulty figure comes in at 3.3%. His carcase weight figures is +15kg and his carcase conformation is 1.31. There are currently 122 calving records and 1,535 carcase records in the database. He is currently €8/straw.
Fifth place
Taking up the final spot in the top five is the Bova Genetics Aberdeen Angus bull Westellen Diego M734 (WZG). This bull has a DBI of €91. He is -1.86 on gestation length and 2.7% on calving difficulty. His carcase weight figure is 7kg and his carcase conformation figure is 1.22. He has 306 calving records and 506 carcase records in the database. He currently costs €10/straw.
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