Understanding the production of beef from dairy systems in the UK: An analysis of trends

Application
This paper draws on comprehensive data of the UK cattle sector to analyse how dairy beef cross (DBX) production changed over time, providing
insights into risks and opportunities for future development of the cattle industry.
Introduction
Cattle production systems have evolved into two subsections - beef and dairy - with clear genetic and phenotypic differences (Simm et al.,
1996). Recent advancements in reproductive science have enhanced dairy beef cross (DBX) production. We systematically analyse trends in
DBX production to identify challenges and associated opportunities for economic viability and performance.
Materials and methods
We utilised data from the Cattle Tracing System (CTS) from 2010 to 2020. Breeding information (breed of the animals and their progenitors),
location information, sex and birth and death dates were used to identify trends in production. Mixed effect models and multiple
linear regression statistical models, were fitted to analyse differences between breeds, production systems, locations and sex of DBX production.
However, there are limitations to these data, for example missing sire information (it is not required by regulation) had to be predicted
using the offspring breed information.
Results
The number of DBX animals in the herd grew significantly between 2010 and 2020 (34% and 47% of calves born from dairy were DBX,
respectively, in those years). DBX production comes from all dam breeds with two main beef breeds gaining increasing importance
recently: in 2010, the Limousin ranked first, followed by Aberdeen Angus and British Blue. While, annual Limousin DBX numbers dropped
by 36k, Aberdeen Angus and British Blue grew by 133k and 128k, respectively. Focusing on DBX from black and white dams we found that
the British Blue DBX were slaughtered at the same age as pure British Blue (29 months average). Aberdeen Angus DBX were slaughtered on
average at 30 months compared to 31 months for the pure Aberdeen Angus. Contrastingly, Limousin DBX had an increased average age of
slaughter of 31 months compared to the 28 months of pure Limousin. DBX animals are not only used for meat production, but for in breeding
too, though over the 2010–2020 period we found a slight reduction of 3% of DBX cows that had offspring.
Conclusions
The growth of the DBX sector is reliant on two key breeds. The large frame of the British Blue may benefit meat quantity (Mota et al., 2017),
whereas the popularity of Angus may be due to its premium price (McHugh et al., 2010). Reliance on two key beef breeds brings a concern
about diversity within the system. In terms of opportunities, just as for pure beef animals, a reduction in slaughter age could improve environmental
efficiency of the system. Future research – qualitative mapping of DBX breeding decisions –is being conducted to understand
how DBX breeding choices are aligned in the supply chain.
Acknowledgments
This work was funded as part of a ESRC SGSS funded PhD project.
References
McHugh, N., Fahey, A., Evans, R., Berry, D., 2010. Animal 4 (8), 1378–1389.
Mota, R.R. et al., 2017. J. Anim. Sci. 95 (10), 4288–4299.
Simm, G. et al., 1996. Appl. Anim. Behav. Sci. 49 (1), 47–59.