Outreach, society, policy

Beef-on-dairy: Farmers' views on breeding strategies and management in Sweden

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Abstract

The use of beef breed semen on dairy cows not intended for producing replacement heifers is increasing worldwide, providing a climate-efficient way to increase beef production from dairy herds. The use of beef-on-dairy (BxD) semen and production systems varies across Sweden. For development of sustainable breeding guidelines, further knowledge of social aspects is needed. Using a whole-systems approach, this interview study aimed to describe how Swedish dairy and beef farmers view the usage of beef bull semen and rearing of BxD crosses. Using strategic snowball sampling, farmers throughout Sweden with dairy (D, n=6), beef (B, n=6), or both dairy and beef production (DB, n=9) were identified. The sample aimed at a broad geographical distribution of D, B, or DB producers with interest in crossbreeding and experience of BxD crosses, striving to identify farmers likely to represent future Swedish producers regarding their use of BxD breeding strategies and related beef production. The semi-structured interviews were digital, recorded, and transcribed for further analysis using NVivo software (Lumivero, version 15.2.2). The qualitative thematic data analysis was inductive, focusing on uncovering meanings within the farmers' responses. Summarized farm data is presented in Table 1. Themes emerging from the analysis reflect farmers' perspectives on "Current and future conditions for cattle production in Sweden", "The role of beef-on-dairy crosses in today's production systems", and "Beef-on-dairy: semen usage isn't one-size-fits-all". Farmers generally expressed a positive attitude towards BxD and perceived conditions favorable for cattle production. A common perspective on the role of BxD was described by this B-farmer: "It's about changing dairy farmers' approach: try only getting recruitment heifers from the animals they want and inseminate the rest with beef semen. This benefits them if calving is uncomplicated, because the calves are more valuable. Also, it´s much better for us who are rearing them later. It means that we produce more meat per animal. We talk about increasing production. This is a way to increase with the same number of animals". In most production systems, BxD bulls were central, but according to several farmers, heifers and steers also mattered for optimizing production. The results showed that the respondents perceived BxD crosses improved resource usage and production efficiency, but management for rearing BxD crosses of different sexes, breeds, and ages varied. The use of BxD semen was influenced by farmers balancing adaptation to farm specialization and resources, local supply and demand of calves, farmers' prioritization of BxD traits, collaborations, market prices, and recruitment planning. In conclusion, we found that an intricate interaction between many aspects shaped the type of system suitable for a given farm. Shared knowledge of production systems could support collaborations in reaching solutions together, leading to improved farming systems and profitability.

Keywords: 2026

How to Cite:

Bengtsson, C., Ekenberg, V., Eriksson, S., Fikse, F., Jardstedt, M., Rydhmer, L. & Strandberg, E., (2026) “Beef-on-dairy: Farmers' views on breeding strategies and management in Sweden”, World Congress on Genetics Applied to Livestock Production Digital Archive 2026(1): 2284533. doi: https://doi.org/10.31274/wcgalp.23578

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