The Aberdeen Angus Cattle Society has launched a Dairy Beef Index to help dairy farmers choose Aberdeen Angus bulls, describing it as the first dedicated dairy-beef index from a UK beef breed society.

The index combines several estimated breeding values into one figure covering traits that matter to both the dairy herd and the beef system: calving ease, gestation length, 200-day and 400-day weights, carcass performance and intramuscular fat, reflecting growing interest in eating quality.

Values are expressed as expected profit per calf born relative to the breed baseline, and the society encourages farmers to compare the difference between bulls. A bull indexed at £120 would be expected to earn £50 more per calf than one at £70; the top 20 per cent of Angus bulls score above £96 and the bottom 20 per cent below £46.

"The Dairy Beef Index brings together the traits that matter from both a dairy and beef perspective," said the society's chief executive, Robert Gilchrist. With more beef now coming from the dairy herd, he said, breeding decisions made on dairy farms increasingly affect both dairy efficiency and the value of cattle entering the beef chain.

Gilchrist said the index supports the GB Calf Strategy 2025–2030, which aims to give every calf born value and a purpose in the supply chain, and should help farmers buying stock bulls or semen compare a wider pool of genetics on one consistent measure.

The index is available for all bulls registered with the society through its online database.

The report was written by Kelly Henaughen.

Photo: Ann Cook / Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 2.0)

Source: The Scottish Farmer