finishing steers

[jscunn]

zirlottkim.

If he is getting that much per pound I would make sure they are is heavy as possible without overfinishing it.

 

[Lawson Farms]

We sell by the half, mostly to repeat customers or referrals from them. This year, our fall butcher beef (5 head) will be $3.50 lb. hanging weight and customer pays cut/wrap plus his share of the $75 kill fee. One burger cow is also on the roster, and that meat will be $4.50/lb. freezer-ready, all costs inclusive. For the last few years, we've added one steer every year from the previous year, and we don't have to look for buyers. Deposits on our Fall beef were all paid in May; also have deposits up front on the burger cow -- we're estimating 400 lbs. of that, 50 lb. minimum orders, and have a waiting list if she nets out higher. Zirlottkim, our customer base is like yours -- they buy from us because they know exactly where the product is coming from and how it's been raised and cared for. We buy nothing from auctions; if we don't have enough bull calves born on the place, we buy at 6-7 mos. old from local cattle folks and raise 'em up. We aren't making a lot of $$, but we aren't losing any -- gives us some extra to keep up farm maintenance, make some improvements, and it gives the retired hubby something to do besides watch old Westerns all day.

Kathie,
I've never offered up a "burger cow." But I think I could sell it very well. I have never slaughtered an older cow for my own consumption. What are your requirements for choosing the burger cow (other than she didn't breed back)?

 

[Kathie in Thorp]

Lawson Farms, we've never sold a "burger cow" because she didn't breed back once. We AI here, and if she's a persistent problem with AI, she's on the list. There was one that fit that. I will be very honest. The most recent . . . we didn't breed her until she was 3 yrs.; she started labor last year but not what seemed to us to be aggressive labor, so we didn't bring her up to the barn. We did the next day, and she had a nasty looking discharge. Went in, and pulled a dead calf. Treated her w/ antibiotics and AI'd her again. She didn't take. After that, she roared like a bull anytime she was in season or any other cow was. We blood tested preg checked her, and she was open. When the other cows calved this year, she developed an udder. We slaughtered her last weekend. There was no indication whatsoever that she had carried a calf in the last year, but there was milk in her udder. We figure, huge and major hormonal issues, and she was a big girl. She hung at 1,050, all grass fed.

 

[Lawson Farms]

So 5-7 year old cow that's fat and happy, but not bred you could advertise as a burger cow? I've just never attempted to sell freezer beef locally that wasn't a 2 year old steer and sold by the qtr, half, or whole. But seems like a great place to move a otherwise healthy animal. I'm thinking of a few in the past years that didn't breed back that I could have profited off better than just sending to the sale barn.

 

[Hook]

In all fairness, kathie has developed an extensive clientele and networking base. From what I've seen all her customers have been happy. I need to hire her for my marketing program

 

[Kathie in Thorp]

In all fairness, kathie has developed an extensive clientele and networking base. From what I've seen all her customers have been happy. I need to hire her for my marketing program

Aww, thanks, Hook! I take that as a big compliment. Lawson Farms, yes we can sell barren cows as burger cows any time we have them, which (fortunately) is not often. I don't know that we've had one as old as 7, but we've had as old as 5. We don't sell anything sick or beat up -- for whatever reason, they haven't lived up to production expectations; we don't make the decision lightly, as our preferred breed of cattle is hard to find out here.