2021 Beef Sired Progeny from Dairy Cows

By Tara L. Felix and Bailey Basiel

Penn State is conducting an ongoing feedlot study to evaluate beef-sired progeny born to Holstein dams- heretofore referred as beef x Holstein. Domestic beef semen sales have nearly tripled from 2017 to 2020, characterizing the growing prevalence of beef x dairy matings. In 2020, calf-fed beef x Holstein crossbred steers were compared to calf-fed Holstein steers.  In an effort to provide beef sire selection recommendations to dairy producers, Penn State researchers continued evaluating beef x Holstein steers in 2021. The results of these efforts are detailed below.

Penn State has completed the second year of the 4-year trial investigating the optimal genetics and nutrition for F1 beef x Holstein crossbreds. This research is being conducted at the Pennsylvania Department of Agriculture's Livestock Evaluation Center (LEC) in Pennsylvania Furnace with additional support from JBS and Premier Select Sires. Beef x Holstein bull calves born on PA dairy farms from May to October 2020 were gathered within 1 week of birth and housed at a commercial calf grower. Calves were fed milk replacer until weaning at 6 weeks of age. Following weaning calves were grown on 56 Mcal NE_g (~50:50 corn silage to concentrate mix on a dry matter basis). About 90 days prior to arrival at the LEC, steers were vaccinated and implanted with Revalor-G and grown on a grain-based diet at a commercial farm. After the initial grow out, 70 beef x Holstein crossbred steers were brought to the LEC and fed for 151 days, from April to September 2021. Ages of the steers varied due to the range in birthdates. The average weight of the crossbred steers entering the LEC 745 ± 146 lbs and ranged from 434 lbs to 1,020 lbs.

Daily feed intake of individual steers was recorded using the GrowSafe Feed Intake Monitoring System. The diet contained corn silage, dried distillers grains, soybean meal, and cracked corn and was formulated to a 63 Mcal NE_g to meet or exceed the requirements of beef cattle. Initial and final weights are reported as a 2-day average body weight at the beginning and end of the LEC feeding period, respectively. Average daily gain was calculated as the difference between final and initial average body weight divided by the total days on feed, 151 days.

Average growth and carcass traits of the steers are reported in Table 1. There was a substantial range among final body weights, 958 to 1,643 lbs, and hot carcass weights, 519 to 967 lbs. Average daily gain for the group was 3.75 lbs per day, which exceeded the 2020 Elanco fed Holstein steer benchmark (2.80 lbs/day) by nearly 1 lb per day. Crossbred steers consumed 6.59 lbs of feed per lb of gain while the 2020 Holstein benchmark was 7.65 lbs of feed per lb of gain. In fact, feed conversion was similar to the 2020 native cattle benchmark of 6.54 lbs of feed per lb of gain. The crossbred carcasses had an average ribeye area of 12.3 in.² and 0.32 in. of backfat. Distribution of USDA Quality and Yield Grades are reported in Table 2. About half of the carcasses graded Choice while 44% graded Select and the remaining 7% graded Standard. All carcasses were Yield Grades of 3 or below. A total of 4 carcasses received a Yield Grade 1, 3 of which also graded Standard.

While the crossbred steers were more efficient than the Elanco benchmark average for fed Holstein steers, both Holstein and crossbred steers, grown under similar management conditions at the LEC, have performed better than the 2021 beef x Holstein steers. While the impact of the reduced performance is unclear, authors surmise that health conditions may have suppressed the growth and carcass performance of the steers finished in 2021. In future work, the pedigrees of steers over all 4 years of the study will be compared to determine if genetic potential impacted the performance of this particular group of steers.

What's next?

Penn State will continue researching the impacts of sire selection of beef x dairy growth and carcass performance. Thanks to the generous support of Premier Select Sires and participating dairy farms throughout the state, 130 crossbred steers resulting from planned matings were born in the summer of 2021 and are being commercially grown in anticipation of their arrival at the LEC in April 2022. Researchers plan to showcase and discuss steers from planned mating at the 2022 Ag Progress Days hosted at the Russell E. Larson Agricultural Research Center.

An additional 900 units of beef semen were used to inseminate Holstein cows this summer to generate the final group of steers for this study to be finished at the LEC feedlot in 2023.

Funding Note

This work is supported by Critical Agricultural Research and Extension (CARE) [grant no. 2020-68008-31411] from the USDA National Institute of Food and Agriculture. Any opinions, findings, conclusions, or recommendations expressed in this publication are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the view of the U.S. Department of Agriculture.