Picture of a woman (PhD student Victoria Ekenberg) squatting next to a black and white calf outdoors.
Victoria Ekenberg, PhD student in the project “More meat on the bones when selecting beef bulls for crossbreeding with dairy cows”. Photo: Lisa Chröisty, SLU

More meat on the bone

News published:  01/07/2025

Many people want to drink cow's milk, but fewer think about what happens to the calves that are raised just to make the cows produce milk. A more sustainable approach is now being explored that may point the way to a society where we work smarter instead of harder and increase our self-sufficiency.

After many years of carefully selected breeding, dairy cows and beef cows are now two completely different types of what were basically the same animal. One is relatively slender, as large parts of the body's resources are used to produce milk for the large udder. The other is tough, robust and well-muscled to provide plenty of meat.

In such a carefully selected breeding program, most of the dairy calves that are born do not continue as breeding animals, but are slaughtered sooner or later," says Victoria Ekenberg, PhD student in the project.

But unlike beef-type calves, which are born with a large body mass and are therefore well placed to generate a lot of meat, dairy calves (even when kept for meat production) grow up to be leaner, meaner versions of their relatives.

This means that these calves fall between the cracks, as the majority are neither used further in milk production, nor provide much meat at slaughter," continues Victoria Ekenberg.

But maybe there is a smarter solution?

Meat x dairy breed cross

Cattle
= cows, bulls, heifers and calves

Traditionally, breeding is thus kept pure between the two branches of cattle, dairy and beef: dairy cows are mated to a bull of the same type, and beef cows to a beef breed bull. But a method that is also used, albeit to a much lesser extent for cattle in Sweden, is to cross the two types - to get calves that are a cross between the two.

The idea is choosing a meat-type bull for your dairy cows, so that the calves that are born anyway will yield more when they are later slaughtered in the production chain," Victoria Ekenberg continues.

Internationally this is more common, but in Sweden the figures are as low as only 24-29% of semenings on dairy cows are done with beef breeds.

Many people also believe that crossbred calves, like meat breeds, are more resilient, so there is also a health aspect to it all," says the doctoral student.

So the question is why don't more Swedish dairy farmers choose a beef breed bull for the dairy cows whose calves are not intended for further breeding anyway? Researchers are now seeking answers to this question, as one of the four parts of the “More meat on the bone” project.

  1. The first part is about describing the perception of crossbred calves among Swedish farmers of both beef and dairy production types who already have experience of them. The data consists of about 20 in-depth interviews, spread from farms across the country. The questions can be such as:
    1. How do these crossbred calves function on the farm today in terms of daily maintenance (feeding, bedding, group cohesion, etc.)?
    2. What choices do you actively make when selecting a beef bull for your dairy cows?
    3. How does the cooperation with other farms or livestock agencies work for the sale of these crossbred calves?

  2. The second part involves mapping the production systems for crossbred calves from dairy production in Sweden today, through a nationwide data collection. The data is retrieved from the databases of Kokontrollen, Jordbruksverket and Växa, which collect data from all farms throughout Sweden. This part will complement the in-depth interviews in the first part of the project.

    These two elements form the basis of the research project.
    It is also important for us to validate how well the beef breed bulls that dairy farmers use today work for crossbreeding with dairy cows, so that we ensure that the animals used today and recommended for crossbreeding give the positive results expected for both the cow (easy calvings and good recovery) and the calf (that it is born healthy, in an easy way and then grows up with good growth), adds PhD student Victoria Ekenberg.

  3. The third part then builds on the information from the first two sub-projects and aims to develop an updated breeding index, i.e. guidelines on breeding for crossbred calves, which is as suitable as possible for our Swedish conditions. Finally, it is planned to test this new breeding index for crossbred animals against actual use and compare it with existing breeding indices (recommendations) for purebred beef bulls, as well as crossbred indexes for beef breeds on dairy cows (the so-called Nordic Beef on Dairy Index).

  4. The fourth and final part of the project and its design remains to be seen, but there will be a continued focus on the sustainability of the breeding work with these crosses.

Work smarter - not harder

There are several potential advantages of crossbred calves, compared to purebred dairy calves, in cases where they are not going to continue in dairy farming:

  • Health benefits for the crossbred calves which, thanks to the meat animal genes and the crossbreeding effect, are both more robust and healthier
  • From a eco-friendly aspect, as more meat can be obtained per animal from crossbred calves than dairy calves, without having to keep more animals.
  • In addition, it is a way of increasing Sweden's degree of food self-sufficiency, which currently stands at 57% for beef. A higher degree of self-sufficiency can provide greater security, not least in a changing world.
I really see potential in this, not as a way to exclude purebred breeding but on the contrary to complement it," says Victoria Ekenberg.

But, there are also challenges.

Cooperation between cow farmers, with contribution from research

Reviewing the possibility for more Swedish farmers to choose crossbred calves is thus about working more climate-smart and seeing the full value of all animals, for better animal health and also greater self-sufficiency within the country.

But there is also a lot to get right, including the size of the crossbred calves to avoid problems when the dairy cow is giving birth; which production systems these crossbred calves work best in/if any crossbred type works better in any system; and investigating the importance of these crossbred calves being somewhat similar to each other, for example to be kept in similar groups and fed the same type of feed.

Production system
= The way the animals are raised, for example: only in stables versus mixed stables/outdoors, or in stalls. What surface they stand and walk on. And how long they are kept before they finally go to slaughter/euthanasia. What you feed (only roughage, or roughage and a little grain, or a large proportion of grain, or, for example, residues in combination with roughage) and how you group the animals can also differ between production systems.
Here it is super important to listen to both dairy and meat farmers, because they influence each other and have the opportunity to collaborate on this, says the PhD student.

And working closely with farmers is an important part of ensuring that the research project is useful and can design tools that can be practically applied on farms.

For me, the drive to understand why we do what we do has always been important, in order to also discover good opportunities for development. I really hope that this can contribute to more and more profitable farms in the long run," concludes Victoria Ekenberg.
Portrait of a woman (PhD student Victoria Ekenberg) indoors at SLU.
PhD student in the project, Victoria Ekenberg, is a trained animal agronomist and has a master's degree in animal science with a focus on animal genetics. She has also grown up in a family business in tea and coffee. Her best tip if you want to go the extra mile is to choose the ‘champagne of teas’: the first flush (= first tea harvest each year) of the Darjeeling tea variety. “Compared to regular tea, it has a much more complex taste,” she says. Photo: Lisa Chröisty, SLU

Facts:

  • The PhD position is funded by the Swedish Agricultural Research Foundation (SLF) and is expected to last for the period 2024-2028.
  • Victoria Ekenberg is a PhD student in the project, together with a research team consisting of:
    • Susanne Eriksson, main supervisor and researcher in genetics and animal breeding at the Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences, SLU
    • Mikaela Jardstedt, researcher in beef and lamb production at SLU
    • Christian Bengtsson, from VikingGenetics
    • Erling Strandberg, Professor of Quantitative Genetics and Breeding at SLU
    • Lotta Rydhmer, Professor of Quantitative Genetics and Breeding at SLU
    • and Elisenda Rius Vilarrasa, who works with breeding evaluation and genetics at the livestock association Växa

The elements of the project can be broadly described as:

  1. The first part is about describing the perception of crossbred calves among Swedish farmers of both beef and dairy production types who already have experience of them. The data consists of about 20 in-depth interviews, spread around farms across the country. The questions can be such as:
    1. How do these crossbred calves function on the farm today in terms of poor maintenance (feeding, bedding, group cohesion, etc.)?
    2. What choices do you actively make when selecting a beef bull for your dairy cows?
    3. What choices do you actively make when selecting a beef bull for your dairy cows?

  2. The second part involves mapping the production systems for crossbred calves in Sweden today, through a nationwide data collection. The data is retrieved from the databases of Kokontrollen, Jordbruksverket and Växa, which collect data from all farms throughout Sweden. This part will complement the in-depth interviews in the first part of the project.

    These two elements form the basis of the research project.

  3. The third part then builds on the information from the first two sub-projects and aims to develop an updated breeding index, i.e. guidelines on breeding for crossbred calves, which is as suitable as possible for our Swedish conditions. Finally, it is planned to test this new breeding index for crossbred animals against actual use and compare it with existing breeding indexes (recommendations) for purebred beef bulls, as well as crossbred indexes for beef breeds on dairy cows (the so-called Nordic Beef on Dairy Index).

  4. The fourth and last part of the project and its design remains to be seen, but there will be a continued focus on the sustainability of the breeding work with these crosses.

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