An on-farm pilot is tackling the key challenges of breeding, rearing and marketing bull calves as the clock ticks on changes to Red Tractor standards in 2023 which aim to strengthen the dairy sector's pledge to rear every calf with care.
Over 1.4 million calves are born to dairy cows in Great Britain alone each year, according to industry body Ruminant Health and Welfare (RH&W).
However, improving the outcome for around 60,000 dairy bull calves with no market to take them is a difficult but surmountable hurdle – one which could open new opportunities for the sector.
Gwyn Jones, vice chairman of RH&W, says the solution is to ensure all calves have a value, which is the focus of more than 40 organisations involved in the GB Dairy Calf Strategy 2020-2023.
RH&W's pilot project in South Wales involving farmers, breeding companies, processors and rearing specialists aims to link solutions together into a viable, sustainable and profitable system.
Mr Jones explains that breeding is the starting part of the strategy, with some block calving herds containing cross cows too small to produce calves for the beef industry.
“We believe we need to look towards cows which are a minimum 470kg yet still profitable for milk solids production, and early results on this look positive,” he explains.
“We also need to ensure calf genetics are suited to the rearing system and end market, and sexed semen is used strategically so calves can be reared efficiently and profitably.”
Another aspect is viable supply chains for rearing calves. This might involve making use of extra resources like labour and buildings from other sectors such as sheep, or positioning calf rearing as a way of new entrants getting into farming without land.
“As part of this we need high quality rearing and stockmanship, and there’s scope to reduce mortality and morbidity across the industry in the first 12 weeks so these calves don’t just survive but thrive.”
TB is also a barrier, and more could be done to facilitate movement of calves off farms under TB restrictions, especially in South West England and Wales, adds Mr Jones.
“TB-restricted calves must be able to move quickly through the system – so this brings us back to farms in high-risk areas using sexed semen for replacements, and avoiding use of native breeds which are unsuitable for the intensive indoor production systems used in Approved Finishing Units (AFUs).”
The last piece of the jigsaw is understanding whether calves can be marketed as high-welfare, high-quality, low carbon beef.
According to Mr Jones, this will go hand in hand with improving genetics and will provide a long-term solution to the lack of UK-bred beef products on the market.
“The hope is that once we have the results later this year, the model could provide a template or at least a starting point for other parts of the country,” he explains.
“The UK dairy industry prides itself on being a pioneer in dairy cattle welfare. It is a top priority for the sector, and it’s important to the public as well.
"We know this project on sustainable dairy bull calves will offer wide-reaching opportunities to improve reputation as well as profitability.”
