Beef production from the dairy sector and possible alternatives such as sexed semen were the focus of the second session of this year’s National Dairy Conference in Co. Cork.

Held by Teagasc in Rochestown Park Hotel today (Tuesday, November 27), the session was chaired by dairy farmer and chairperson of Teagasc Dairy Stakeholder Group Kevin Twomey.

The panel for the discussion featured: Dr. Natalie Roadknight from the University of Melbourne; Andrew Cromie from the Irish Cattle Breeding Federation (ICBF); and Stephen Butler from Teagasc.

Roadknight gave a presentation based on Australia and New Zealand’s non-replacement (bobby) calves being produced for abattoirs at a few days old.

She outlined animal welfare concerns and regulations in place in Australia, New Zealand and the EU, as well as the challenges facing this system in the southern hemisphere such as a social licence to operate.

Roadknight also discussed the findings of research she conducted on the Australian bobby calf system.

Meanwhile, Cromie focused on the importance of the beef side from the Irish dairy system and noted the current trends in dairy farmers seeking easy-calving and short-gestation bulls, resulting in lighter carcasses from bulls.

The new Dairy Beef Index was explained in terms of new traits to promote better carcass conformation while still retaining the preferred easy-calving attributes.

Finally, Butler explained the results of the recent sexed semen trial conducted this year in Ireland and England.

The ultimate finding was that the relative conception rate between sexed semen and conventional semen used in the trial amounted to 76.6%; less than the 90% goal rate.

However, other findings from the study indicated that aspects could be improved on to increase this result, such as selecting the most fertile cows and narrowing down the AI serving times for cows in heat for the best chances of conception.

Further research was recommended to fine-tune these aspects and improve conception overall.