The dairy and beef industry can collaborate to solve the challenges associated with feeding dairy cross calves today.

There is a widespread misconception that dairies must wait to see financial returns from genomic testing — that cash-strapped dairies can’t justify the investment for potential long-term gains. A close look at the numbers produced from a carefully considered genomic testing plan tells a different story — one of increased efficiency and more immediate returns. But how?

As a dairy geneticist, I am trained to preach precision breeding for high genetic gain. Therefore, mixing multiple bulls in one semen straw felt counterintuitive. But the dairy industry is not what it was 50, 30 or even 15 years ago.

Studies by scientists at the University of Minnesota and their USDA-ARS collaborators indicate that a unique herd of unselected Holsteins, maintained at the University of Minnesota since the mid-1960s, has a very strong potential to help reduce mastitis in future generations of Holstein cows.

“I think, done the right way and with proper management all the way through, these calves are better than the native beef,” said Dan Dorn.