With the ever-changing value of both replacement heifers and beef-on-dairy crosses at the front of many producers’ minds, optimizing inventory of both streams of calves has become a crucial element of producer strategy. Effectively managing the interplay of the two begins in the dry cow pens.

While dairy producers are heavily driven by fertility and calving ease when it comes to a beef breeding, there are additional traits that can create cattle desirable to the beef market, creating valuable relationships for the longer-term profits.

When it comes to new breeding strategies in your herd, there is a lot to navigate. How does this impact replacement inventory? What are the trade-offs? Novel strategies usually have an extra cost – right?