Finishing grassfed cattle

[WolfCreek]

My fiance is a 3rd generation 100% grassfed beef farmer. We live in central Maine and we have a cow calf operation as well as finish our own beef. It has always been a struggle to get cattle close to finish weight for processing and from my observations it has never been a goal to improve this on the farm. I am making it a goal now!

I'm not here to debate grass finished vs other forms of finishing. It all has it place

I have 2 steers that will be processed this summer and I'm wondering what I can do to help improve our processing weights. Currently we just put them out to pasture (rotational graze) and we don't currently pay much attention to forage quality. I haven't been able to find much guidance in terms of what I can do to my pastures to help them gain weight or what practices I should be attempting to utilize so I'm looking for guidance here

 

[sstterry]

we don't currently pay much attention to forage quality.

If you are insistent on no supplementation at all, then your best bet is to provide the highest quality hay and forage you can and make it free choice from here on out. You need to be concentrating on forage quality more than anything else. As @Caustic Burno says, he is a grass farmer, and the cattle are a byproduct.

 

[Brute 23]

I'm far from experienced in that area but my understanding is genetics go a long way. Using animals like Wagu or the Angus that a were developed on feed don't always work on grass fed.

 

[WolfCreek]

I'm far from experienced in that area but my understanding is genetics go a long way. Using animals like Wagu or the Angus that a were developed on feed don't always work on grass fed.

Absolutely! So far the farm has been a 100% hereford genetics farm but we are not opposed to change. I find that our calves are VERY slow growing. We are hoping to use AI this year to gain access to genetics that otherwise we could not afford.

 

[WolfCreek]

If you are insistent on no supplementation at all, then your best bet is to provide the highest quality hay and forage you can and make it free choice from here on out. You need to be concentrating on forage quality more than anything else. As @Caustic Burno says, he is a grass farmer, and the cattle are a byproduct.

Absolutely! I completely agree with this but, I don't know exactly where to start. We had soil tests done this year via the NRCS but when they told us what would be needed for fertilizer there was just no way we could afford that and that was where the help stopped =/ and I know it's not all about fertilizing. I also know that I won't be able to afford to implement every single change or suggestion in year 1 so looking to take the small bites where we can. Do you have any resources that you recommend?

 

[sstterry]

Absolutely! I completely agree with this but, I don't know exactly where to start. We had soil tests done this year via the NRCS but when they told us what would be needed for fertilizer there was just no way we could afford that and that was where the help stopped =/ and I know it's not all about fertilizing. I also know that I won't be able to afford to implement every single change or suggestion in year 1 so looking to take the small bites where we can. Do you have any resources that you recommend?

If you cannot afford the fertilizer and what is needed to adjust the soil PH, you need to concentrate on adding organic material back to the soil such at unrolling your hay and strip grazing to give your grass in the springtime to recover. Others with more knowledge may jump in here that have more knowledge than I.

 

[WolfCreek]

If you cannot afford the fertilizer and what is needed to adjust the soil PH, you need to concentrate on adding organic material back to the soil such at unrolling your hay and strip grazing to give your grass in the springtime to recover. Others with more knowledge may jump in here that have more knowledge than I.

Thank you I appreciate your insight!!

 

[RDFF]

I agree with sstterry... build the organic matter of the soil. Focus on that, and most of the rest of it will come. The soil will eventually balance itself, including ph, over time, if you're not artificially messing with it, (synthetic fertilizers, tillage, and chemical disturbances, etc.)... the natural biological influence of the soil critters interacting there will take care of that. THEY are building a home for themselves. They know what they need, and it's their life's mission to build it how they need it. But it's not an overnight process, its more of a years long process.

Bale grazing "bombs" the soil by adding very high additional levels of organic matter (far beyond what the soil would be able to produce on its own in its current condition) in fairly limited areas, which ramps up the soil biology, water holding capacity and infiltration rates, which works more quickly to bring the soil back around to where it needs to go. BUT... like I said, that is in a fairly "limited area"... just where you were able to bale graze.

Bale unrolling brings these same benefits, but in a smaller degree per season (won't "overwhelm the biology with too much of a good thing"), over a much larger area (one bale fed across let's say 1200 sq. ft. or in a 40' diameter circle when bale grazing, vs. one bale fed across 6600 sq. ft. or a 10' wide x 1/8th mile area if unrolling). You'll be able to positively affect much more of your pasture sooner by spreading that organic matter out over a much larger area, whether it be the positive impact of the hay itself directly, or that impact of the hay after being processed through the cow's gut and added as manure/urine.

Beyond that, it's all a matter of high quality feed for your finishers. High brix=sugar content. You can't expect a finishing animal on grass to "look" quite the same as one finished on grain... any more than I could expect you to get fat on salad only, vs. a really high carb diet (keep in mind that you'll likely be healthier on that salad than on high carbs!). That said, and beyond that, it goes back to genetics. Some individuals CAN get fat on salad, some other individuals may be "hard keepers" and they might not get fat even on a high carb diet. In your operation of grass finished beef, you want to be selecting for individuals that have proven that they can "finish out" nicely on salad.

 

[SBMF 2015]

A.I.ing will be a great way to help you change your finishing time.
This grass finishing thing (though I disagree with it) has become popular enough that most of the common breeds have genetic lines that are more suitable to grass finishing. Stay with smaller framed cattle.

What about inter seeding some legumes into your pasture to increase protein.

And if you aren't already; implant your steers. Maybe not with a "hot" finishing implant but one designed for yearlings on grass.

 

[RDFF]

I'd be careful about using implants, if direct marketing your beef. My customers don't want me using any implants. I understand that pretty much everybody in the commercial beef market is using them... but that's a big part of "the difference" that the consumer is willing to pay extra for. And they should, because it takes longer, and more feed, to get them there.

 

[Rancher]

I run a small heard of Angus and grass feed on brome and bluegrass pasture. I have alsike and red clover sparsely mixed. Using electric polywire with stepin post, we rotate 5acre every 10 or 12 days. We do spred 200lbs of 24-10-10-5s twice a season and this is timed with the wet weather. Our beefers really put on the weight using this method. They weigh 1100lbs at 17months

 

[SBMF 2015]

I'd be careful about using implants, if direct marketing your beef. My customers don't want me using any implants. I understand that pretty much everybody in the commercial beef market is using them... but that's a big part of "the difference" that the consumer is willing to pay extra for. And they should, because it takes longer, and more feed, to get them there.

How much more are they willing to pay? I'm just curious. The place I used to manage we just switched implants and we took an average of 60 days off our finish time. That HUGE when you talk cost of gain.

There were some 1,500lb strs this week that bought $360/100 on the rail. I can't remember the exact figure but it was north of $3,300/ hd.
At those prices how much longer can people afford to pay a premium for niche beef?

 

[kenny thomas]

How much more are they willing to pay? I'm just curious. The place I used to manage we just switched implants and we took an average of 60 days off our finish time. That HUGE when you talk cost of gain.

There were some 1,500lb strs this week that bought $360/100 on the rail. I can't remember the exact figure but it was north of $3,300/ hd.
At those prices how much longer can people afford to pay a premium for niche beef?

For niche beef thats cheap. I know of some grass fed selling for 4.50 here. Has been getting that for several years.
But i do understand what you are saying there also.

 

[Mark Reynolds]

@WolfCreek, welcome to Cattle Today! You are getting some excellent suggestions here, but I'd like to add some 'why' to these. I don't know what your soil tests show for nutrient availability, but correcting the pH before considering any actual fertilization is important. The reason being, is that when the pH is 'off', nutrients that are in the soil aren't as readily available to the forage grasses even when present or in worse cases, may even be present in the soil and not be reflected at actual levels in your soil test. Additionally, if you add nutrients to a soil with a skewed pH, the nutrients you have added very well might not even be accessible by the forages due to the pH.

You indicate that you rotational graze and I appreciate that. Many producers know that rotational grazing is the right thing to do, but they don't realize there is 'minimum' correct way to rotational graze and a whole lot of different 'incorrect' ways to rotational graze. I'd encourage you to check out the threads here on "The four Never Fail Rules of Grazing" or Google the same. Proper rotational grazing will promote root growth. Roots on grass plants are completely replaced after two years. As a result, all the roots you see on a grass plant will be "converted" to below ground organic matter two years from now. Converting roots (if you have a lot of them and proper rotational grazing will get you a lot of them) to organic matter is much better than adding hay on the surface of the soil for organic matter, that doesn't get incorporated into the soil. Don't think tilling the soil will get the OM from the surface to mix into the soil. More organic matter is actually destroyed than is mixed in if you do this.

Genetics is key when grass feeding/finishing, and frame size is a big part of it. Bigger framed cattle have a more difficult time grass finishing than smaller framed cattle as a rule, but it's not a perfect correlation, hence why you want to look at the genetics.

You might consider some annual forages for grazing that might contribute to a possible faster marbling rate such as oats or some legumes. However, I would suspect you will get a faster improvement on finishing animals by focusing on their genetics.

 

[RDFF]

@MarkReynolds is right, particularly about nutrient tie up if the ph is off... but I'll add that placing organic matter on the top of the soil (like hay residues by bale grazing/unrolling) absolutely will and DOES add significantly to the organic matter in the soil, without the use of mechanical tillage, because many of the critters in the soil will be consuming that "armor", and not only do they literally "pull it down into the soil" (plenty of videos of nightcrawlers doing just this), but they add it into the soil in their tunnels through their excrement (like earthworm castings, and the slime that they "lubricate" the walls of their tunnels with... all of the biology in the soil does this), AND, because you've been consciously and intentionally feeding your "livestock" IN the soil, they thrive, reproduce, die and are consumed by other biology living IN the soil, that all are doing the same. That "armor" on the soil IS LITERALLY the "house" protecting the soil micro-biome. Without it, they don't survive and thrive. That's one of the reasons that "bale grazing" is so effective.

On soils without much biological life (think no-till in conventional row cropping), they often are concerned about "residue buildup" on top of the soil surface. Gets to be too much to be able to plant through... so they "need" row cleaners and other apparatus to move it aside. Stalks may lay there for years. Just the opposite becomes the case though in highly biological soils, regardless of how much residue is applied... you can't seem to KEEP residue there as armor, because it gets consumed so rapidly.

It's not "evaporating" into thin air... it's being consumed by the soil biology, and being turned into soil organic matter... blacker, more aggregated, more permeable and infiltratable soil with a much higher water holding capacity, and a much higher soil biological composition and respiration rate. All "healthy" soils will have significant "litter" on top, and that will have to be replaced regularly, because of the soil life that consumes it, and is dependent upon it.

If I had a property without ANY soil at all... just "rocks", the very first thing that I would want to do would be to get as much organic matter spread around all over that "rock field" as I possibly could (at least if I wanted to grow something on it, instead of turning it into a rock quarry!!!). I surely wouldn't worry about ph, or N-P-K levels, or CO2 burst tests, and I wouldn't do a soil test on it, either a conventional or a Haney test. I'd feed my cattle on that area, as much as I possibly could.... importing as much "organic carbon sources" as possible. And I'd be willing to bet that in just a few years, I'd have grass growing on those rocks.

 

[StrojanHerefords]

I would look at planting crops for winter grazing that will allow the cattle to gain over the winter. I visited a farm in New Zealand that wintered their steers on beets and moved up their finishing time up to 14 months.

 

[RDFF]

If I had a property without ANY soil at all... just "rocks", the very first thing that I would want to do would be to get as much organic matter spread around all over that "rock field" as I possibly could (at least if I wanted to grow something on it, instead of turning it into a rock quarry!!!). I surely wouldn't worry about ph, or N-P-K levels, or CO2 burst tests, and I wouldn't do a soil test on it, either a conventional or a Haney test. I'd feed my cattle on that area, as much as I possibly could.... importing as much "organic carbon sources" as possible. And I'd be willing to bet that in just a few years, I'd have grass growing on those rocks.

And I certainly wouldn't be "spreading purchased seed" on it either, at least at first. I WOULD want to use hay that had some mature viable seed in it however. Even just weeds would be better than nothing at all... anything to get roots growing the the soil I am creating, on top of those rocks. The roots, along with the coming micro-biology, will exude the chemicals necessary to break down and extract nutrients from those rocks. Eventually, it (functional soil) will come. And putting down that "wasted feed", and livestock ON THE LAND, is what will bring it about faster than anything. Spreading fertilizer on it would be an effort in futility.

We need to keep this example in mind, when considering how synthetic fertilizer actually functions.

 

[BC]

You have gotten some good advice and some I question. Seeing that I live in East Texas, I am unfamiliar with your forages in Maine. Let me suggest that you get some local advice on what is the highest quality grass/legume that will grow in your area. It needs to be highly digestible and managed to NOT get mature. You do this by concentrating the cattle on small areas and rotate frequently. You get better manure distribution. I have watched the grazing dairies in this county do this successfully. Now, lets talk about genetics on the cattle. Look for smaller framed cattle as they have they have the propensity to fatten earlier. If you AI, look for bulls that have way above average IMF epd's.

 

[wbvs58]

I would concentrate on a smaller field that you can afford the fertilizer for and maybe consider a forage crop for these couple you are trying to finish. Where I am which is a long way away from you millet and forage sorghum are good summer crops and oats, barley and annual rye are good winter/spring forages.

Ken

 

[ClinchValley86]

How do you graze them? What time of year do you plan to process? I think Fall is ideal. they get a full season to get fat.

I've had to take them to 30+ months to get good and finished. These are angus/sim/limo/char type cattle with big guts.

grazing annuals seems like the sure fire way to add weight the quickest. Thats somrthing i wanna play with when precipitation will allow. Perennial pasture takes time. Summer grasses being ideal to finish on IMO.