It's not black and white: Perspectives of Western Canadian beef farmers on dairy-beef production.

ABSTRACT: Non-replacement dairy calves (i.e., males and females not needed for milking herd replacement) can face multiple welfare challenges due to their low economic value in the dairy and beef industries. Incorporating beef genetics into dairy herd breeding programs has become common to produce beef-on-dairy crossbred calves that are better suited for beef production than pure dairy breed animals. This practice has the potential to increase revenue from non-replacement dairy calves for dairy farmers, but little is known about its impact on beef farmers. This study aimed to investigate the attitudes of Canadian beef producers toward dairy-beef production, with a focus on how beef-on-dairy breeding strategies by dairy may affect the beef industry. We conducted semi-structured interviews with 20 bee

SUBMITTER: Vandresen B 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC12422455 | biostudies-literature | 2025

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature