The supply chain analysis of dairy beef (veal) cattle : understanding the pathway to linking cattle producers with markets
Creators: name: Pham, Kieu My
Publisher: name: University Of Tasmania
Year: 2024

description: The dairy industry is an essential component of agrifood systems worldwide as well as in Australian agriculture. On dairy farms, non-replacement dairy calves, known as bobby calves, are those animals considered surplus to requirements (Moran, Hopkins &amp; Warner 1991; Jongman &amp; Butler 2013). Because these calves have immature immune systems and are often not managed in the same way as the replacement heifers, there are concerns about their welfare on farm, and during transportation, slaughtering and processing. Dairy producers do not want to keep these calves on their farms. However, slaughtering bobby calves is not only a waste but also produces meat which does not meet market requirements, especially the demands of retailers, butchers and consumers. The value of processed calf meat is low due to limited markets for this product. A potential solution to this problem is to develop a process which produces high value meat which meets consumer demands. This product would be dairy veal and dairy beef.The purpose of the research project is to develop a best practice model for non-replacement calf production in dairy farming systems. A best practice model would enable farmers to gain benefits from turning these surplus animals into a saleable product- dairy veal and dairy beef. Mixed-integer linear programming modelling was used to identify the optimal plan for sustainable non-replacement dairy calf production. In particular, the model aimed to determine when farmers should sell these calves to maximise their profit with restrictions of available input resources. It was assumed that non-replacement dairy calf production met all requirements in terms of animal welfare. The boundary of the model was about non-replacement calves, and it excluded dairy cows and milk production.Non-replacement dairy calf production is a potential pathway to address issues about calf welfare on farms, transport duration and slaughtering process. The model results indicated that dairy farmers would profit from keeping bobby calves on farm and rearing for dairy veal or dairy beef. However, there are differences between these two operations. Bobby calves are raised in different ways to produce different types of meat and the products are sold to different markets. While dairy veal is sold to niche markets (butchers or the hospitality segment) with long-term agreements, beef dairy cross cattle are delivered to abattoirs for dairy beef at the different time due to their sizes. Changes in farm profit depends on how calves are grown, changes in number of sold calves, used labour, feed costs and other costs (delivery and processing).All scenarios of the model showed how non-replacement dairy calf production changed when dairy farms followed an intensive or extensive pathway. Intensification is considered as productivity and production increases due to uses of more input resources or increases in scales (Lourandos 1985; Holdaway, Fanning &amp; Rhodes 2008; Styring et al. 2017); while extensification is the opposite. The "pure" extensive or intensive pathways may not be farm choices in terms of non-replacement dairy calf production. Based on farm circumstances, semi-intensification was shown to be the most appropriate choice for non-replacement dairy calf production.The increases or decreases in an input resource only led to the differences in other input usages, but did not have significant influences on the total costs and outputs of the production as well as farm decisions on bobby calves. This led to the conclusion that dairy farmers who do not want to change their input usages to achieve higher productivity and profits in non-replacement dairy calf production are likely to only manage for milk production purposes and farm circumstances. In these situations, other factors, such as technologies and feed management should be considered to improve technical and economic efficiency of non-replacement dairy calf production. Furthermore, the production would bring more benefits to dairy farmers in the future since there are opportunities to export dairy veal and dairy beef. The growth of non-replacement dairy calf production would also meet human demand as it supplies substitute products for both domestic and international markets.