Dairy Cow Vs Beef Cow: What’s Best for Your Homestead?

Are you at the point in your homesteading journey when you are ready to add cattle to the mix? Let’s compare adding a dairy cow vs beef cow so you can decide which is best for your homestead. 

Dairy Cow Vs Beef Cow

Every homestead has different goals. When it comes to adding a dairy cow vs beef cow, you must consider what your homesteading goals are. 

Some folks would say that dairy cows and beef cows are two different animals that require different care, time, feed, and commitment. From my experience, I would fully agree with that statement. 

Let’s Get Some Cattle Terms Out of the Way First:

• Cow- A female cow that has given birth.
• Heifer- A female cow that has not given birth.
• Calf- Either a male or female that is under one year old.
• Bull- A male that is intact and can reproduce.
• Steer- A male that has been castrated and cannot reproduce.

Dairy Cows for Milk Production

Dairy farmers keep dairy cows with one goal in mind. Milk and lots of it.  With their large udders, you can expect to get enough milk from a dairy cow than you know what to do with.  You may even get to the point where you feel like a small dairy business is in order. Dairy cows produce a ton of milk in their lifetime. 

If your goal in keeping cattle is to have gallons upon gallons of milk to make your own dairy products, dairy girls are the way to go. Knowing how much a Jersey cow will produce in a day can help you come up with ideas for what to do with all that milk.  Learning how to make this simple, homemade farm cheese or even ice cream is a great start. 

Dairy Cow Vs Beef Cow: Dairy Girls Are Harder to Keep

There is much to consider before adding a dairy cow to the homestead. Just know that this type of cattle requires full commitment, as well as a lot of time, energy, patience, and money.

Keeping a family milk cow is a big decision. While they are a lot of work, lots of homesteaders love keeping dairy animals. Many consider their milk cow to be the center of their farm.

• You’ll need to train your dairy heifers.  This includes halter training and milk training.
• You will need to decide where you will milk your cow. What will your setup be like?
• You will need to learn all about milking a cow by hand. Or will you machine milk?
• Dairy cows require careful attention to their health. Being prepared if your cow has mastitis or other health problems is top priority.
• Dairy animals also require proper feed, hay, minerals, and lots of fresh water.
• How will you have your dairy girls bred so they can start producing milk? 

Dairy Cow Vs Beef Cow: Feeding Dairy Animals

Milk cows require more attention to their diets compared to beef cows. Grass or hay, high-quality grains, vitamins, minerals, and water must all be included in the diet of the typical dairy cow that is in milk. 

Can You Use Dairy Cows for Beef?

According to research at UC Davis, dairy beef from dairy farms accounts for around 20% of the beef industry in the United States.  While dairy cattle are not considered to be the high-quality beef that you get out of your best beef animals, it’s still good beef.  

Milk Production Vs Muscle Production

Since dairy animals put all their energy into milk production vs muscle production you will get fewer pounds of beef from your dairy breeds. The steaks may be smaller and the roasts may be tougher, making them excellent for ground beef or stew meat.  

A few years back, I picked up some dairy steers that were crossed with Angus. It was fantastic beef. Many beef and dairy producers prefer this mix. 

Popular Dairy Cattle Breeds

• Holstein Cows
• Jersey Cow
• Brown Swiss
• Guernsey Cattle

Dairy Cows Are Selected for:

• Milking Traits
• High Milk Yields
• High-Quality Milk and Butter Fat Content.

Beef Cows for Meat Production

Where’s the beef you ask?  Out on pasture! Beef cows, with their stockier build, are bred to build muscle for meat production.  

This can be done with fewer inputs from the homesteader or farmer in the beef industry, making them easier to raise compared to dairy cows. You can count on lots of beef but not much milk.  

Do Beef Cows Produce Milk?

Yes, your beef cows will still produce milk but usually only enough to feed their calf.  While you do hear stories every now and again of someone milking their beef cows, it’s not the go-to choice for milk production. Beef cows are for, you guessed it, beef!

Dairy Cow Vs Beef Cow: Beef Cows Are Easier to Keep

My friend and I often joke that my farm is the “hands-off farm.”  She keeps mostly dairy cows whereas I keep mostly beef cows.

If you have plenty of good-quality pasture, beef cows can be turned out and mostly left alone.  They can produce plenty of beef on grass, water, and minerals alone. Some folks do prefer to finish their beef cattle on grain for extra marbling though. 

Dairy Cow Vs Beef Cow: Feeding Beef Cows

Beef cattle will do well raised on forage, pasture grass, grain, protein (alfalfa or soybean meal), minerals, and lots of fresh water.  Depending on what your beef cows have access to will determine how and if you need to supplement their diet with grain or extra protein. 

Hardy Beef Cows

It also seems that beef cows are hardier cows than dairy cows.  They do not struggle with as many health problems, like mastitis, since they are not bred for milk production.  Health problems can still come up so be sure that you have a relationship with a good large animal vet.

Popular Beef Breeds

• Black Angus Cattle
• Charolais Cattle
• Hereford Cattle
• Limousin Cattle
• Simmental 
• Brahman

Beef Cows Are Selected for:

• Muscle Development
• Temperament
• Birthing Ease
• Birth Weights
• Weaning Weights

What About Dual Purpose Breeds?

So, you want the best of both worlds in one type of cattle?  If your homestead is looking for both meat and milk production and does not want to keep two separate breeds, you may want to check out Dexter Cattle.  You may even luck out with cross-bred cattle, like a Jersey-Angus cross.

For years I have said that I have wanted to try a few Dexters on our homestead but still haven’t taken the plunge. They produce large quantities of milk but not nearly as much as dairy breeds.  That takes away some of the burden of what to do with all that milk. 

Dexters are well known for their good temperaments and also for their beef.  They are, however, a little smaller than some of the standard beef breeds. Keeping a dexter cow for milk production and raising a dexter steer for beef is a popular choice for many homesteads.

What We Keep On Our Homestead

Around here, we are all about the beef!  Our herd is a mix of Aberdeen Angus, Angus, and Limousin. I just love the somewhat “hands-off” approach to raising beef cattle. 

While I do have one jersey girl, I will likely be selling her. She’s sweet but way more sassy than my beef cows. I’m just not sure I’m committed enough to keeping a family milk cow now that my kids are older.  We just aren’t heavy dairy consumers anymore.  Keeping a dairy cow vs beef cow is an easy answer for my homestead.  What about yours? Do you need beef, milk, or both?

Happy Homesteading & Cattle Keeping,

Jenny @ The GrahamStead Family Farm

Jenny and her family have been homesteading for more than two decades. They currently live on a 10-acre farm in Northeast Florida, which they built from the ground up, nine years ago.

On their farm, they grow 100% of their meat and most of their vegetables. With a small herd of Aberdeen Angus cattle, pastured poultry, sheep, and seasonal pigs, they not only meet their family’s meat needs but also sell their surplus to the local community. They are dedicated to sustainable practices like making compost, seed saving, and processing much of their garden and animal harvests at home. You can find Jenny wandering through her garden, making herbal tinctures, preserving food, making bone broth, and one of Jenny’s favorite hobbies, tanning all types of hides.