breeds that grass finish

[angusdave63]

i have a reg char cow that that would not fatten on forage in 10 years but i have a full sister a year younger just the oppsite just cattle i suppose thanks David

 

[djinwa]

And lets throw in some British White while we're at it:

http://www.texasbritishwhitecattle.com/ ... hWhite.htm

 

[robert]

most any animal can fatten on grass, it all depends how long you want to wait.....

The folks raising and selling grass fed beef can't wait 3 to 4 years for some breeds to fatten. That is why they are using the proven breeds that do well on grass.

proven breeds huh? proven lines maybe, but breeds? The genetic variation in most breeds is so vast, diluted, mixed up and outcrossed that to hope a 'breed' as it stands today will be surefire grass finishers in that 18-26month window is a stretch.

 

[Dylan Biggs]

most any animal can fatten on grass, it all depends how long you want to wait.....

The folks raising and selling grass fed beef can't wait 3 to 4 years for some breeds to fatten. That is why they are using the proven breeds that do well on grass.

Jovid, nothing against the breeds you listed, I have no doubt they will and should grass finish at the range BrandomM said, 18-24 months, which is the national average.

We have grass finished cattle for 16 years now, will kill 70 plus off the grass this summer and fall, most in the 25 to 26 month range and 20 some in the 16 to 17 month range. In our experience at the 18 to 24 month age, if the type is right, the list of breeds and crossbreds that will finish on grass is much bigger. We use predominantly Angus and Red Angus and some Gelbvieh influence bulls, but as Dun has said our commercial herd is a box of crayons herd. To the list you posted I would add Hereford, Shorthorn, Angus, Galloway, Welsh Black, Sussex, Speckle Park , Murray Grey, Gelbvieh/ Angus, Char/Angus, Simm/Angus,etc,etc. Given the right type. Now if you are talking 16-18 months of age things tighten up a bit more, but in my experience if the type is right not near as tight as some would like to have you believe. Unfortunately this "grass finishing ability" has become another marketing gimmick for a lot of breeds that were or are looking for a market niche or a marketing angle, and I guess that is fine, that is what marketing is all about. In my experience the ability is not nearly as exclusive as some would like people to believe, but that is just the nature of competition in a "free" market economy. Now there are plenty of wrong type cattle in lots of the breeds I listed that won't finish in the time frames set out above, and so I feel as Robert does that naming a "breed" as qualiyifing is a bit of a dubious act. That being said I certainly would be more inclined to name some breeds over others, Murray Greys over Gelbvieh for sure.

 

[brandonm_13]

All breeds have cattle in them that have the ability to grass finish in two years, but breeds that don't advertise it are often breeds that put their emphasis on traditional grain finishing. yes the pool is larger than Jovid said, but there are hundreds of breeds throughout the world, so he could have named them all. He was just giving a good variation. And the thing is, if you had to blindly go out and pick 100 cattle from 20 different breeds, you would almost certainly see breeds advertised as grass animals do better on average, or I should say, out of the 100 cattle, a higher percent would do well on grass. Just like you say, Murray Grey's are better than many other breeds. As a matter of fact, they are one of the best breeds, but again they've been to do well on very little, and in rough climates, and they are usually small to medium framed animals.

 

[goddy]

While it is obviously correct that not all cattle are equal as to finishing on grass it is just as true that not all grass is equal, not all managers are equal, not all climates are equal................ If the breed ( or cross breed) you have works in your climate and keeps your customers happy then I'd say stick with it.

 

[DOC HARRIS]

While it is obviously correct that not all cattle are equal as to finishing on grass it is just as true that not all grass is equal, not all managers are equal, not all climates are equal................ If the breed ( or cross breed) you have works in your climate and keeps your customers happy then I'd say stick with it.

goddy-

What a terrific and factual comment!! This statement by "goddy" is as true an operative statement regarding ALL factors relating to beef cattle as anyone could make! One may associate these facts to feeding, grass finishing, the use of EPD's and DNA factors in seedstock selection, - - almost ANYTHING related to beef cattle protocols and management as is necessary to achieve a positive result in production.

This relates to my continuing and on-going contentions that "Multiple Trait Selections" are paramount for success in any phase of beef cattle decisions.

Or decisions of any other kind, for that matter.

DOC HARRIS

 

[Betty]

We finish on grass using black angus.
We have docile relaxed cattle that are not crowded.
We like the sire Oak Hollow for this.
We sell to the locker and have never had any < high choice.
No primes though - I think maybe you need grain or at least confinement for Prime with our angus.

 

[wrightcattleco.]

i also have angus and hereford as well as some charolais cows between the 4 breeds i should have something there that would come close to a grass finish i was just stating what the red poll web site said about there cattle my honest thoughts on finishing cattle in the future at least on my farm is forage based diet until about the last 90 days on full feed we have a herfy/char cross steer we fed this way he is going for a ride monday morning to the packer i will know in a couple weeks how he turns out David

i have a friend who is a producer and professional butcher. his favorite breed for beef is herfy/char. he says you more prime beef with poor forage in herefords than any other breed. ben

 

[goddy]

i also have angus and hereford as well as some charolais cows between the 4 breeds i should have something there that would come close to a grass finish i was just stating what the red poll web site said about there cattle my honest thoughts on finishing cattle in the future at least on my farm is forage based diet until about the last 90 days on full feed we have a herfy/char cross steer we fed this way he is going for a ride monday morning to the packer i will know in a couple weeks how he turns out David

i have a friend who is a producer and professional butcher. his favorite breed for beef is herfy/char. he says you more prime beef with poor forage in herefords than any other breed. ben

The idea when finishing on grass is to provide very good forage so they grow fast enough to finish before their second winter.

 

[Nesikep]

Goddy, in your first post you mentioned someone killing at 17-20 months at the 700ish pound range.. to me that sounds rather light for that age, though I will completely agree with you when you say that climate, type of grass, and management all play large roles..
In my climate, I can grow alfalfa (which isn't *really* grass), but we only reseed our pastures every 10 years or so and as such, the alfalfa dies out and is taken over by real grasses, however, we wean at the typical 205 day age at which point the better calves are 700 lbs, by 1 year, they're in the 900's.. and they only eat grass/hay, there are completely organically raised. We are using a Gelbvieh bull for the second year, on mostly shorthorn crosses, and we really like the GV. Again, People in this thread have mentioned bloodlines being more important than breed, and we may have lucked out with the GV bull (he was bought to bail us out of an emergency situation)

Here are the hind ends of the 2 heifers we kept over winter... by my eye, I think they could spare a steak for me right now

 

[angusdave63]

those 2 are nice i think they would work here also i live in indiana we can grow good alfalfa or clover here i would run calves on an alfalfa/grass mix if i have it right the alfalfa will have protein and the grass energy the reason i am studing this is how long are we gonna be able to feed 7 dollar corn and stay profitable maybe we need to look at this a little diffrently and say we are in the forage business and harvest with cattle just a few random thoughts here David

 

[Nesikep]

here's a pic of the butt on the left, when she was about 6 months, you can see the pasture a bit too, Taken last october, calf was born Apr 18, last year.

 

[dun]

If you knock the size of the picture down some the whole thing will show

 

[angusdave63]

nice heifer i can see why you saved her David

 

[Jovid]

Goddy, in your first post you mentioned someone killing at 17-20 months at the 700ish pound range.. to me that sounds rather light for that age, though I will completely agree with you when you say that climate, type of grass, and management all play large roles..
In my climate, I can grow alfalfa (which isn't *really* grass), but we only reseed our pastures every 10 years or so and as such, the alfalfa dies out and is taken over by real grasses, however, we wean at the typical 205 day age at which point the better calves are 700 lbs, by 1 year, they're in the 900's.. and they only eat grass/hay, there are completely organically raised. We are using a Gelbvieh bull for the second year, on mostly shorthorn crosses, and we really like the GV. Again, People in this thread have mentioned bloodlines being more important than breed, and we may have lucked out with the GV bull (he was bought to bail us out of an emergency situation)

Here are the hind ends of the 2 heifers we kept over winter... by my eye, I think they could spare a steak for me right now

Re read his post.....700 lb carcass weight

 

[Nesikep]

Ooops, I guess I should learn how to read more carefully, it does make a heck of a lot more sense


Dun, I would like to, but then I have to keep 2 copies of the pic on photobucket.. and in this case, you see the important parts of the heifer anyhow... I wish the pics would just autoresize to fit the screen here though

 

[Lon]

if ya dont mind me asking whats with the bells? ive seen thousands of cattle but never a bell on them.

 

[Nesikep]

We like the sound, and the sound also helps keeps coyotes away form the hen pen it seems... if you go to Switzerland (where I was born) it's the norm.. I only have a couple bells, so just the tame ones get them.. and I think they're proud of being special as well.. From my experience, it seems like they get used to percussive noise and spook a little less easily as well, though I'm still "researching" that

 

[Lon]

We like the sound, and the sound also helps keeps coyotes away form the hen pen it seems... if you go to Switzerland (where I was born) it's the norm.. I only have a couple bells, so just the tame ones get them.. and I think they're proud of being special as well.. From my experience, it seems like they get used to percussive noise and spook a little less easily as well, though I'm still "researching" that

id put them on the wild ones so i could hear them running up on me. :lol: interesting though i never did see that well once in a picture of some breed of cow cant member know though what she was.