Finishing Holstein steers

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Calhoun Farm

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My dad and I have decided to sell our angus cattle and start finishing steers. Several things brought on this decision but mainly the ease of handling and short turn over time. This is a new area for us so I'm looking for advice. Do any of yall have a program you follow in terms of taking 300lb steers to say 700lbs? At the moment we have 8 and will be buying probably 15 more once we finish selling our angus momma cows. Right now we are letting them free range pick grass and feeding a 14% co-op blend developer in the evenings. Roughly around 1% to body weight ratio with plenty of fresh water. Is 6months a rational time frame to sell them?
 
I'm no expert but have raised some holsteins in the past and have some good friends that finished out a lot of them. In my opinion one of the biggest mistakes made with holstein steers is when people try and put frame on them as you would with colored cattle. They should be on full feed right from the start and then you can get them to 1200 pounds in 12 months but it seems buyers prefer them to around 1400 pounds. You can background them and limit the grain but if you are trying to put finish on them they will end up being 1700 lbs. and be severely discounted - I think they are referred to as 'silage fed'.

A good rule of thumb would be 100 pounds of gain per month when they are on full feed. Also if you are going to turn around and sell them as feeders - buyers will use the term 'calf-fed' meaning they have been on full feed their entire lives. This is desireable since they will finish out in a reasonable time period with out getting so big. And it is easy to pick out when they go through the sale ring.

It takes a lot of corn to finish holstein steers but you can make decent money on them by buying them right and raising them right. The people that claim there is no money in them or that the beef isn't very good are the people that try and raise them the same as they would their angus calves.

I always fed mine whole shelled corn mixed with protein pellets free choice along with a bale of cornstalks or really rank hay. Most feed companies in the midwest have a dairy steer program. Probably the most notable is Doboy, but Hubberd, and Land-O-Lakes do also. I would google those companies and find out more about what they suggest.

Like I said, I am no expert so you take my advice for what it is worth. Good luck.
 
Sorry - I totally missed that you were just trying to get them to 700 pounds so most of what I said you can ignore. But as I said - buyers will not want 700 pounds holsteins with a lot of frame on them. And usually buyers like to buy them light like the 300 pounders you are buying since you can put the next 700 pounds on them pretty cheap. I'm not sure what kind of market their is for heavy feeders.
 
I think grass is a waste of time with them. Hope you have silos full of corn or a big budget, they just keep on inhaling the stuff. The biggest profit sector with Holsteins was birth to 300 I thought. Got to have good scale to make any of it work even if you can.
 
Thanks for the info.

I must be off my rocker then, I was thinking I could make around $300/head on them not counting feed. Chris, its very rare in the market down here to see a steer over 1000lbs. Most of our stock yards steer sales are mostly 450 to 800 pounders. Thats why I thought there was money to be made selling them at 650lbs.
 
chippie":2mftocxk said:
Dairy steers weighing 650 lbs will not bring the same price as a beef breed weighing 650 lbs.


I never said they would, beef steers avg about .20 per lb more than holsteins here. But the blacker the holsteins the more they bring, I know its just the color but they do.
 
I didn't mean to offend you. I probably should have completed my thought or be clearer.

You said
300lb steers to say 700lbs
hopefully in a 6 month time frame and
I was thinking I could make around $300/head on them not counting feed.

A Holstein will inhale the feed and regardless of what some people say, a dairy breed does not convert feed into meat as quickly as a beef breed. Holsteins are a large frame cattle, and you can have a steer weigh 700 lbs and still look like he doesn't have much meat on him. Hence, the price hit at the sale barn. We have raised quite a few Holstein and Jersey steers for the freezer over the years.

Add the cost of your calves, cost of feed to reach your target weight, the cost of hay or grass (even if you own the place - no land payment, it still costs you something), the cost of vaccinations, deworming, etc... per calf. Then check the market price for a 700 lb Holstein steer and see if you may come out ahead.
I don't know where you live. Dairy steers may sell better than they do here. There was a guy here (this bulletin board) who ran a feedlot operation with dairy steers and he did well. But he did it on a large scale and was able to get better prices on feed and such because he bought such large amounts. At least he said he did.

Good luck!
 
Calhoun Farm":2isll3yl said:
But the blacker the holsteins the more they bring, I know its just the color but they do.
:???: I don't notice this at most sale barns. Holsteins in all colors bring same price at our local sale barns.

Honestly, I would think you do better with the beef steers instead of dairy steers.
 
Taurus":jre7g1uj said:
Calhoun Farm":jre7g1uj said:
But the blacker the holsteins the more they bring, I know its just the color but they do.
:???: I don't notice this at most sale barns. Holsteins in all colors bring same price at our local sale barns.

Honestly, I would think you do better with the beef steers instead of dairy steers.


That was an option for us but we can't find young bull/steer angus calves from private sellers. My dad and I work full time jobs so going to the sale barn isn't really easy for us. We buy most of our cattle off craigslist from local farmers and trying to find angus calves is near impossible. On the rare occasion we do the farmer wants almost double market price because their black, and we can't make any money like that.
 
You need to get that feed up to close to 2% of there weight a day, then 400lbs in 6 months will be possible if they are good cattle. Your doing good or beef breed prices are bad in your area if there is only 20cwt difference.
 

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