I was recently at a cattle convention and an idea popped up on stage that was newsworthy to me. Apparently we have seen, here in the U.S., an uptick to the number of cattle that have a cross of beef and dairy genetics.

I got home and did some research and it turns out that the person disseminating this information was correct. Dairy-beef cattle numbers are on the rise. But why? Paul Beck, a beef cattle nutrition specialist with Oklahoma State University Extension, says 100 percent dairy steers aren’t worth a lot…

“A 100 percent dairy steer is very low in value, so the dairies have treated those like they’re a byproduct or just a kind of a waste. There has been a change in some reproductive technologies that our dairies are taking advantage of where they can use sex semen to produce heifer calves out of only their best cows. Then they’re opened up to the freedom of using a beef-type bull on their other mediocre cows because they need a pregnancy just to restart lactation.”

He says the resulting beef-dairy cross animals are catching the attention of livestock producers.

Beck added that the industry is very interested in getting the most from these production systems and that it’s something they’re continuing to research at Oklahoma State.