Fast food key to farmers making more with their dairy calves

In short:

Australian dairy farmers are beefing up their bobby calves as demand grows for dairy beef meat.

Global fast food companies and supermarkets have committed to using more dairy beef to secure supply and improve sustainability.

What's next?

Global cattle numbers are declining, so the demand for cross-breed meat is expected to continue to rise.

Every day, Evan Nicholas and his family milk around 600 black-and-white Friesian cows in the Upper Murray region of Victoria.

He has another 900 head of cattle on his farm, many of them calves born from the milking herd each year.

Historically, those calves were sold on quickly, but Mr Nicholas is among a growing number of dairy farmers in Australia finding viable ways to keep them longer.

And as fast food companies make plans to increase the amount of dairy beef they are using, farmers are capitalising on the surge by cross-breeding their cows with beef genetics.

"It makes the bobby calf a viable asset," Mr Evans said.

"The beauty about dairy beef is now you can choose the best genetics … and you can get the most meat," he said.

Beefing up bobby calves

Dairy cows generally need to calf every 12 months, to keep milk production going.

Of the 1 million dairy calves born in Australia each year, about a third are sold as "bobby calves" or "non-replacement calves" from as young as five days old.

They are used for veal meat or hides.

The younger members of Mr Nicholas's herd are part of the Dairy Australia and Meat and Livestock Australia Calfways project, to transform dairy calf management by 2035.

Bec Barnewall from Dairy Australia said calves were historically an "issue" to deal with, but now were an "opportunity".

"We're trying to find them viable pathways, whether that be through to weaning and going to backgrounders and feedlotters," Dr Barnewall said.

"One of the surprising findings has been, regardless of the cost to get the animals weaned, farmers were able to compensate for that cost when they sold them, which is really positive."

Fast food wants dairy beef

The Fulton Market Group (FMG) is the main buyer of beef and pork for McDonald's restaurants around the world.

Earlier this year, the company announced it wanted to increase the amount of dairy beef it used in Australia by 2030 and beyond.

Speaking at the Australian Dairy Conference in February, FMG Global strategic sourcing manager Andrew Ralph said high-quality beef could be created from dairy cows "if it's done right".

"We want to take 100,000 of those [300,000 non-replacement calves] and move them out of that non or low-value market and move them into a high-value market," he said.

"Our goal is now to work with processors to get their confidence in these cattle and start scaling supply chains up to that 100,000 head by 2030."

McDonald's Australia was contacted for comment.

It is not just the fast food sector that is keen to use more dairy beef.

"It's a hot topic at the moment," Dr Barnewall said.

"It's encouraging to see big companies come forward and make that kind of commitment.

"We've started to see a lot more announcements from bigger companies and a lot more positive conversations around dairy beef in Australia."

There has also been a rise in the purchasing of beef genetics by dairy farmers.

Genetics company Semex said in 2021 they sold 5,700 doses of Angus semen, and in 2025 that had risen to 60,000 straws.

Semex Australia general manager Tyson Shea said that number was expected to rise.

"I think now with the use of the right genetics over dairy herds, people are seeing it as a revenue type of opportunity," Mr Shea said.

"This beef market can play a huge role, as beef herd numbers drop around the world."

No phasing out of bobby calf market

Dr Barnewall said the move to dairy beef genetics did not mean the bobby calf market would be phased out.

"We're really just looking to give dairy farmers options if they would like to keep the animals on farm for longer," Dr Barnewall said.

Mr Nicholas agreed the bobby calf market needed to stay for now, but said changes may come in the future.

"My thoughts are that in time something will change [with bobby calves] and we'll have to keep them for a certain period of time," he said.

He said the opportunities in dairy beef would protect farmers and the industry going forward.

"This has given us something that we're trying to make a viable industry for," Mr Nicholas said.