World Dairy Expo: McNess shares calf nutrition options amid strong beef-on-dairy demand

3 December 2025

3 minute read

By: Sarah Mikesell

North America

Tiago, you are new to McNess. Tell us a little bit about your background and what drew you to McNess. 

I've been with McNess for the last eight months. My background is a little different. As you can tell by my accent, I'm not from here; I'm from Portugal. I grew up on a small dairy in Portugal and went to veterinary school in Portugal. 

In 2012, I came to the U.S. to earn my PhD in dairy nutrition at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. I've been in the industry for eight years, working as tech support throughout the country, helping farms and dairy nutritionists. I joined McNess because the position was challenging and it provided me the opportunity to work at a different level, more closely with the farms. I'm really enjoying it. 

Beef on dairy crosses has been a major trend lately, especially with the volatility and calf prices. How do you see this trend shaping the dairy industry in the next few years? 

It has been quite surprising. If we remember about 10 years ago, a dairy male calf would have been almost worthless. It's great that we are at this stage. We have the opportunity now for dairies to diversify their revenue. At McNess, we are here to help with that. 

Everybody is waiting for when this market is going to go down, but maybe it's here to stay. 

We were just at a Calf Rearing Conference at the University of Wisconsin – Madison, and the prices they were getting for bull calves was crazy. Many said they used to get $10/head, and now it’s up to $1,300 to $1,400/head. It’s been a complete shift in the industry and created a new revenue stream for dairies. 

Definitely. Now more than ever it makes a lot of sense to invest in these animals from day one and, in reality, even before that. We still have this mentality of overlooking bull calves and not paying that much attention to them. We are still looking at them as an expenditure and not as an investment. We need to shift that thinking, so we can take better advantage of the current economic situation. 

What solutions are offered by McNess to help dairy producers improve calf performance and overall herd profitability in this changing market? 

At McNess, we have a wide range of products from milk replacer to pre and post-biotics. We are now launching our Harmonize WD, which is a water dispersable product that will allow us to inoculate with the right bacteria and prevent bad bacteria in the GI tract of the young animal. It will symbiotically support rumen function, downstream gut integrity and overall health of cattle and calves during periods of stress, diet changes and digestive upset. 

Because once they are born, that's when inoculation happens and it's particularly important to provide the right bacteria and the right supplements. So, we can create an animal that will be productive in the future.

The calf is going through so much change and development in those first three months. So, any help we can provide is going to be very good. 

We also have a calf paste for young baby calves for use on day one. Of course, we also have our different lines of a calf starter. We provide a whole program from beginning to end, and of course we also are a supplier of feed for dairy cows as well. 

Looking ahead Tiago, what innovations or developments from McNess should dairy producers be excited about? 

Part of my job is not only to provide tech support for the nutrition team but also to develop a research platform for McNess. On the dairy side, we are partnering with a couple of dairies where we'll be able to do high quality on-farm research where we'll be able to evaluate control versus treatment. 

I cannot speak about the specific products we are already planning to assess and bring to market, but we have several in the pipeline. I hope they are going to turn out very good and that everyone will stay tuned for the research and products.