Cost Effective?

[Just Curious]

I have always grain fed my finished steers....
Lately, however, with the higher corn prices, many locals are saying that it isn't cost effective and they are grass finishing their steers...
What are your thoughts?
TIA

 

[msscamp]

I think it depends on whether you like grain-finished beef - vs grass-finished beef, and what you're willing to spend to ensure that the end-product is acceptable to you.

 

[bigbull338]

personally even if you finish them on grass.i think they need 30 days on grain before you butcher them.some say grassfed meat taste differant.but i dont know ive always fed grain to butcher calves.

 

[ChrisB]

Corn @ $3.50/bu = $0.0625/lb. Conversion of 7:1 = $0.48/lb of gain. Steers selling @ $87.00. Seems to work for me.

Of course I am leaving off protein and other feed additives, yardage, etc. And I don't honestly know the current corn price. But regardless, it looks cost effective to me.

 

[hayray]

Typically a grass fed carcass yields 3/4 of what a grain fed carcass does and takes a third more time to finish. With those numbers it was not economical for me to raise grass fed beef unless I was getting much more premium paid. It is still more cost effective to raise grain fed beef.

 

[msscamp]

personally even if you finish them on grass.i think they need 30 days on grain before you butcher them.some say grassfed meat taste differant.but i dont know ive always fed grain to butcher calves.

Maybe I'm wrong here, but it seems to me like feeding grain would completely negate the premise of grass finishing. They are either grass-finished (during which no grain is fed), or they are grain-finished - but they cannot be both.

 

[hayray]

personally even if you finish them on grass.i think they need 30 days on grain before you butcher them.some say grassfed meat taste differant.but i dont know ive always fed grain to butcher calves.

Maybe I'm wrong here, but it seems to me like feeding grain would completely negate the premise of grass finishing. They are either grass-finished (during which no grain is fed), or they are grain-finished - but they cannot be both.

He was asking about the economics of how to finish cattle, not that he was concerned with what the end product is labled.

 

[msscamp]

personally even if you finish them on grass.i think they need 30 days on grain before you butcher them.some say grassfed meat taste differant.but i dont know ive always fed grain to butcher calves.

Maybe I'm wrong here, but it seems to me like feeding grain would completely negate the premise of grass finishing. They are either grass-finished (during which no grain is fed), or they are grain-finished - but they cannot be both.

He was asking about the economics of how to finish cattle, not that he was concerned with what the end product is labled.

Sorry for my error. :oops:

 

[Susie David]

I see alot of folks that are feeding animals 10 to 25 pounds of grain per day...now up here cracked corn is going for $200.00/ton...so if a guy feeds 20 pounds a day for, say, 90 days that equates to $180.00 on top of the hay and minerals that is direct production expenses.
High quality alfalfa sells for about the same money (still rising and expect well over $200.00 by January) anyway, for a operation that buys feed instead of growing it, that is a few dollars that didn't go into our pockets.
Real accurate record keeping and knowing when to buy and at what price is the key for to keep things from running in the red.
And that's just my two bits worth...asked for or not....DMc

 

[somn]

Corn @ $3.50/bu = $0.0625/lb. Conversion of 7:1 = $0.48/lb of gain. Steers selling @ $87.00. Seems to work for me.

Of course I am leaving off protein and other feed additives, yardage, etc. And I don't honestly know the current corn price. But regardless, it looks cost effective to me.

There is a old man from this area who has figured his cost of gain the same way forever. He takes the price of corn / by 5 then adds $.05. It seems high to me but maybe that is why he is still in the business he never loses money. Somehow that equation takes in account the price of hay, vitamins, minerals the whole ball of wax.

 

[Stocker Steve]

I have always grain fed my finished steers.... Lately, however, with the higher corn prices, many locals are saying that it isn't cost effective and they are grass finishing their steers... What are your thoughts?
TIA

1) To sell a little grass fed beef you can haul a couple hand picked long yearling heifers to the locker plant after the spring flush. Just make sure the customer is focused on omega 3s and doesn't try to incinerate the meat on a grill. To grow your grass finishing business you have to have the right genetics, avoid middle men, and get a premium price for your product. Are you a marketer?
2) To sell grass feed beef year round you need to feed balage or good alfalfa hay, but this does not pencil out for some folks. Are you set up to do this?
3) I think an alternative is to fall calve, graze the weaned calves the following summer, and then finish them on grain & byproducts.

 

[mnmtranching]

Just isn't enough grass in the USA for folks to take grass finishing to seriously. Not even enough for cow/calf producers. Heck, why do we all have to buy so much expensive feed? And import so much beef? Simply not enough forage.