The Rural Voice, 2019-06, Page 21When choosing a beef
on dairy strategy, the
Angus breed has a
great combination of
yield and feeding ability while
Wagyu-cross calves are nice and
small for heifers and Belgian Blue
have tremendous performance.
Which to choose?
A panel of dairy, beef and veal
experts shared their experiences
using a beef on dairy strategy with
farmers at the Stratford Dairy XPO in
March.
Promoted as an opportunity for
dairy farmers to breed the bottom
half of their cow herd beef to
increase genetic gain and diversify
their income, each panel member had
some advice to give on the process.
Moderated by Kendra Keels,
Industry Development Director with
the Veal Association of Ontario, the
four panelists were asked to give
their thoughts on several questions
she presented. The panelists were
Craig Connell of Wicketthorne
Farms near London; Rita
Maciukiewicz of Andita Holsteins
Inc., near Belwood who also raises
veal calves; Aaron Keunen, a veal
farmer near Palmerston (see his story
in this issue of The Rural Voice) and
Brad Gilchrist, a beef farmer and
Beef Program Director at Semex
Canada.
When you breed cows, what is
your primary focus?
Craig Connell:“All our heifers
are bred sexed semen to high
genomic bulls. They get two chances
with a Holstein bull and then we
breed them Angus. On the cow side,
50 per cent of the cows are bred to
beef. We like to use Belgian Blue
bulls on the cows.
Rita Maciukiewicz: “We use a lot
of sexed semen on the top half of our
dairy herd. The middle cows get
regular semen and the bottom third of
the herd gets beef semen. We almost
never breed heifers
beef because we find
the calves are a little too
big.”
Aaron Keunen:“When I’m
looking for calves, I look for calves
with vigour. We want to pick the
healthiest calves.”
Brad Gilchrist:“When looking at
a beef on dairy strategy, we need to
understand what the end user needs
and what their wants are. The end
user also needs to understand what
the dairyman needs and wants.
Fertility and calving ease need to be
high on that list.”
Brad showed a chart which
June 2019 17
Dairy & Beef
Beef on Dairy Strategy
Farmers on both
sides of the fence need to
listen to each other
Craig Connell
Wicketthorne Farms,
London
Rita Maciukiewicz
Andita Holsteins Inc.
Belwood
Aaron Keunen
Mapleview Agri Ltd.
Palmerston
Brad Gilchrist
Semex Alliance
Lucknow
•By Lisa B. Pot •