Non-Replacement Calves Research
Dairy Australia has led or contributed to a wide range of research projects aimed at ensuring ethical calf pathways and animal welfare over the last decade.
Meat Quality of Dairy Beef (2017 – 2023)
Dairy Australia contributed to this research project led by Charles Sturt University and Meat and Livestock Australia. The final report found that dairy steer cuts had equal eating quality to those from beef breeds when finished in feedlot or supplemented pasture-based systems.
South Coast Non-Replacement Calf Pathways (2019 – 2022)
Delivered and funded by Dairy Australia with support from the NSW Government via DairyUP, the South Coast Non-Replacement Calf Pathways pilot worked with farmers, the beef and dairy supply chains and the broader community to identify pathways for non-replacement calves, as well as building trust between stakeholders.
The project is the basis of a PhD undertaken by Dr Sarah Bolton, supervised by renowned welfare scientist Nina von Keyserlingk. It resulted in scientific papers on the issue of the Dispensable Surplus Dairy Calf and Value Chain Stakeholder Attitudes to Surplus Dairy Calf Management.
Dairy HIGH 2
A co-investment between Dairy Australia and the Tasmanian Institute of Agriculture led by Dr Megan Verdon which focuses on value-adding measures for non-replacement dairy calves. This research explored the production of dairy beef animals on grain-free calf starter diets. Research suggests no difference in productivity between grain-based and grain-free dairy calf starters.
Online Dairy Beef forum (2021)
Dairy Australia hosted an industry conference that in Melbourne that focused specifically on the topic of dairy beef.
