The major and most recognized product produced by dairies is milk. In 2020, U.S. dairies produced 218,411 million pounds of milk, and Idaho dairies contributed 15,632 million pounds to the total production.

Getting cows bred and a live calf on the ground are critical factors in the success of cow-calf operations. Calving ease is important in both situations and is affected by several things including size and age of the cow, birthweight of the calf and other factors.

After two years of liquidation due to pressure from drought conditions, the industry is headed into shorter beef supplies over the next three to four years, CattleFax analyst Kevin Good told attendees at the National Cattlemen’s Beef Association (NCBA) Cattle Industry Convention and Tradeshow in Nashville, Tennessee. “The U.S. beef cattle herd is undergoing liquidation. Beef cow slaughter is up 10 percent. There are less replacement heifers and more heifers going to the feedlot.”

Mating dairy cows to beef sires is only becoming more and more commonplace in the dairy industry. With tight margins, dairy producers need to add more value to low-end calves destined to enter the meat market. The beef industry is responding to this new market and the opportunities it represents. Angus Genetics Inc. (AGI) sets one example with their new indexes specifically for Angus sire selection for use on dairy cows.