09/07/07 Beef and dairy

Statistics show about 20 percent of the beef comes from the dairy side of the cattle industry but some dairy producers don't always recognize that role. Dairy Herd Improvement Association administrator Jay Mattison says dairymen have a real stake in the beef industry. MATTISON "There are two products in a dairy operation. One is the harvest of the milk and one is the harvest of the animal at the end of their productive life and also we have to remember there is a calf born to every one of those cows so half of those are bulls and so those are going to go automatically to beef." Dairy producers naturally focus on their dairy business but Mattison wants them to be aware of the things they can do to improve the value of their animals through beef. MATTISON "With a little planning maybe they'll be able to hold the animals after their productive life for 30 or 45 days, get a little more condition, a little better body score out of them and it would really increase the value in that harvest for beef." Mattison says in addition to awareness of the beef product and putting some additional condition on the animal dairy producers should use a proper injection site forward of the shoulder. He says those three immediate steps are easy to do and should be taken seriously. Today's Idaho Ag News Bill Scott