Agenda Item 1 Current situation: Market trends

Beef and veal consumption robust at around 300,000 tonnes each year

Veal production has increased

Exports of beef and veal have increased since 2006 Source: GTIS

Imports somewhat level Source: GTIS

Self-sufficiency in beef and veal %

Agenda Item 2 Male dairy calves

Live exports at a low level Dutch farmers boycotted UK calf trade mid 2008 following detection of bTB

almost half to Spain

Dairy calf registrations since 2006 – male & female Source : BCMS

Use of sexed semen Apr 2011 – Mar 2012 (DairyCo survey of breeding companies )

Destination of male calves (000’s) Female Registrations Male Registrations Estimated no. males born * Estimated no. disposed on-farm Live exports Estimated no. retained in GB From 2008 onwards, applying a 1% year on year increase in the number of heifers born due to the use of sexed semen

Destination of dairy male calves

Link between feed costs and registrations evident

Rearing calf prices volatile since 2006 – but have moved up £ per head Source : AHDB/EBLEX Ho/Fr heifers Ho/Fr bulls

Upwards evolution in finished cattle prices continues

Evolution of compound cereal prices since 2006

Dairy male calf registrations/beef and veal imports - a stable relationship

Economic prospects Tighter global & domestic supply will tend to support beef prices Margins possible for better quality animals Highly dependent on input prices Domestic market for veal still underdeveloped What value provenence ?

Financial performance (May-Apr)

Higher prices through 2011 and 2012 filtering through to improve returns, but still negative margin for many

Agenda Item 3 Health and welfare of dairy calves

Dairy calf health and welfare Calf survival a continuing focus of attention –Perinatal mortality –Early stage nutrition –Control of disease Dearth of robust industry data Specialist rearing units more switched on to best practice ? Outcome based welfare measures for dairy cows

Colostrum (volume and quality) Too much milk does not cause scour Well fed calves develop higher immunity 60% calves have inadequate colostral immunity Recommendation for 10% of body weight in critical first 6hrs £14/calf added cost feeding saleable milk Reinforcement of strategies/best practice Needs agreement on protocol from all parties

Emerging results from DairyCo funded CASE studentship Perinatal mortality –Mean 5.4 % (Range 1% to 13.9%) Differences in feeding regime for male calves –Yes:34%, No:66% Recorded examples, males given –increased volume of milk to prepare for sale –waste milk, often in significant volume –milk powder, while heifers given fermented whole milk Proportion of bull calves disposed of on farm –6.3%

Nutrition up to weaning A system based on feeding: –10% of bodyweight (45 kg calf gets 4.5 litres) –10% concentration of powder g powder) Whereas feeding: –2.5 % of bodyweight (45 kg = 5.5l) –5% concentration of powder (5.5 15% = 825 g powder) Little more than maintenance Maximum growth, when calf is biologically most efficient

Disease Risk/Effect on Yield

Calf health & welfare workshop Royal Vet College, 23 July 2013 –DairyCo Research Partnership (Health, welfare & nutrition) Aim to identify –best practice guidelines for calf rearing –gaps to be addressed in current knowledge Four themes –health, welfare, housing and production economics Cross sector representation –Farmers, vets, researchers, legislators

Agenda Item 4 Developments in breeding

Reducing heifer losses Average heifers calving down at 28 months Attrition rate of heifers during rearing period still too high Higher losses of dairy progeny from heifer calvings Management during first lactation Targetting better performance –DairyCo PD+ blueprint –Benchmarking (e.g. Milkbench+) –PhD study: Economic analysis of heifer rearing and breeding selection in UK

Current purebred genetic evaluations DairyCo provides evaluations for major dairy breeds Pursuit of fitness traits tends to select for animals with better conformation UK genetic ranking encourages use of fitness traits –Longevity, Fertility, Mastitis, Lameness Genetic trends in all 4 areas are in a positive direction Since 2012, information available on farm’s herd genetic reports HUK introduced Body Condition Score indexes

Sire usage for combined fitness (Note; 2007 saw major change in £PLI) Current PLI review likely further emphasise fitness traits, and include a Live weight component

Use of sexed semen DairyCo survey of breeding companies indicate that sexed semen accounted for 13% of sales in 2011/12 Resulting in approx. 5% skew towards female progeny Constraints to greater adoption of sexed semen –Reduced conception rates –Less attractive to block calving systems –Lack of semen availability from elite bulls –Price ?

Cross breeding Since 2010, DairyCo also evaluates cross-bred animals Andy – some words on cross breeding and impact on calf price? Dairy systems modeling (Moorepark economic model)

Make it easier to choose semen Industry KT events on-going to educate farmers on use of the indexes on a pure and cross-breed basis DairyCo and Holstein UK both have websites that allow farmers to select the bulls that suits them Genomic selection

Extended lactations Industry trend towards increasing lactation length Modern genotypes can still be yielding significantly beyond 305 days Theoretical advantages of 18 (or 24 month) lactations –Fewer progeny –reduced metabolic stress and increased longevity –insemination costs –reduced number of dry days within the cow's lifetime

Extended lactations Evidence to date indicates Feasible, but yield level and persistency of lactation are key Different cows and sire groups react differently to delayed breeding Potential for cows to get too fat, compromising subsequent lactations Economics not sufficiently proven Block calving systems more challenging, need 24 month system Further information needed to on interactive effects of lactation pattern, diet and management before any wider recommendations

Development of Carcass EBV’s DairyCo/EBLEX funded study to evaluate potential of combining abattoir data with BCMS data Alternative approach in absence of beef progeny test Feasibility study indicated –Heritability estimates for net carcass weight, conformation & fat class: 0.31, 0.24, & 0.14 –Data challenges, registration EBLEX in discussion with breed societies regarding funding of potential implementation phase