British Blue

Backed by Cogent Breeding Ltd’s large, scientific breeding programme and sire proving scheme in central England, British Blue has been selectively bred in the UK for its suitability to modern dairy-beef farming systems.

These cattle are medium to large-framed, and most-noted for double muscling which results in a high meat-to-bone ratio.

Crossing British Blue sires with dairy has become increasingly popular in the UK due to improved carcase quality, high growth rates and efficiency, ease of calving, and short gestation length.

The two nominated sires presented in this catalogue have been mated over LIC-bred dairy cows managed in a grazing environment in the UK. In general, the dairy-beef progeny from these bulls showed very short gestation lengths (275 days) with birth weights and calving difficulty the same as the average of all beef breeds when mated to New Zealand sired dairy cows.

British Blue-cross calves exhibit excellent muscle development, higher meat yield, and superior conformation compared to other dairy-beef calves. They show fast growth rates, good feed conversion, and frequently meet target weights quicker than other breeds – with a larger, heavier, carcase. This makes them profitable for rearers and finishers, and highly desirable for the beef market.

Despite their muscularity, British Blue sires used for dairy crossbreeding are carefully selected for calving ease, reducing the risk of complications in dairy cows.

British Blue vs Belgian Blue

British Blue was developed from the Belgian Blue in the UK but selectively bred for a more moderate muscle structure, improved management traits such as calving ease, and adaptability to modern farming systems.

Traits

Calf quality % is a visual appraisal of conformation and fleshing ability and is expressed as the percentage of progeny who are average quality or above.

Calf Vigour is the offspring’s vitality and potential to thrive in the first 24 hours of life.

Calving difficulty % is based on a 1 to 5 scale of calving ease; this displays the percentage of calves that required moderate assistance to be born.

Blue roan % is percentage of Light Blue, Blue and Dark Blue Roan calves, with the remainder being White, or Black and White.

Triple Mix Straws

Triple Mix Straws contains sperm from three different sires in the same straw. Polaris and Rockstar are in Triple Mix straws. Triple sires are selected on management traits. Three sires are included in each mix, these sires are short gestation, easy calving and produce progeny with low birthweights. This is done to ensure that Triple Mix products can be used confidently across the herd.

Current LIC Beef + SGL bulls

For further information on individual beef bulls and packs, please contact your local Agri Manager.