Limousin genetics are making an impact in the U.S. dairy population.
Over the past 30 months, Genex Cooperative, Inc. has marketed more than 300,000 units of beef semen to dairy herds. The marked increase in sales of beef genetics to dairy herds is attributed to technological advances enabling producers to target matings to a specific purpose as well as tight beef supplies and record low beef cattle numbers.
Realizing an opportunity to capture additional revenue, dairy producers from locations across the U.S. have chosen to breed low genetic merit dairy animals with beef semen and produce high value feeder cattle. At the same time, the breeding strategy is benefitting their dairy herds. Some producers are simply placing bias against old cows as potential dams of future replacements, through use of beef semen. Others are also incorporating use of high genetic merit gendered semen on heifers to drastically shift genetic progress within a herd.
While dairy producers have utilized Simmental, Angus, Gelbvieh and Limousin genetics for the beef and dairy mating, the Limousin cross has proven the most successful to date according to packing industry carcass assessments.
The Limousin cross infuses the correct genetics to improve feed efficiencies, carcass quality and capture the most market premiums.
Genex was the first artificial insemination organization to pave the way for Breeding to Feeding, a program utilizing Wulf Cattle Limousin genetics on dairy cattle with guaranteed calf buyback from Wulf Cattle. Genex and Wulf Cattle earned a 2013 World Dairy Expo Innovation Award for Breeding to Feeding.
Source: North American Limousin Foundation
