First 6 steers going to processor Monday

[Jacob]

I am very new in cattle business. Please let me know the feeding process you use to get cattle to look like this? Is there anything I can read on the process of preparing cattle for processing? Your cattle look very good.

I am very new in cattle business. Please let me know the feeding process you use to get cattle to look like this? Is there anything I can read on the process of preparing cattle for processing? Your cattle look very good.

You must start with a good calf. We been breeding angus cattle for 30 years. We cull hard. If a cow don't milk and can't raise a calf we send her to the sale barn. I don't recommend buying cows at the sale barn. In our operation we send them to the sale barn for a reason. Have a good health program and worn them twice a year. Get a set of scales. You can't manage what you can't measure. We wean in may and these calves just coasted over the summer getting some feed but not a ton. Maybe 1% of body weight and grass. We feed cpc from the local co op. We buy it in bulk and you have to pour the feed to them. We started really feeding heavy in October. We weighed several times between October and now and adjust the amount of feed as I go to hit target process dates I set up over a year ago. You must be intentional In the cattle business. From breeding all the way through to the processing. Most people don't feed enough or long enough. A good rule of thumb should be feed for 130 to 140 days. And I figure 2 tons of feed per head. If I process before the 140 days I'll use less feed. Longer will take more feed.

 

[hillbilly beef man]

Jacob, your numbers are exactly what I use. I figure 50 bu ear corn and 500 lbs 30% protein supplement per calf (2 tons of feed) and 3 4x5 rolls of hay. This gets me very close every year. It takes time and money to make great beef.

 

[davesr]

You must start with a good calf. We been breeding angus cattle for 30 years. We cull hard. If a cow don't milk and can't raise a calf we send her to the sale barn. I don't recommend buying cows at the sale barn. In our operation we send them to the sale barn for a reason. Have a good health program and worn them twice a year. Get a set of scales. You can't manage what you can't measure. We wean in may and these calves just coasted over the summer getting some feed but not a ton. Maybe 1% of body weight and grass. We feed cpc from the local co op. We buy it in bulk and you have to pour the feed to them. We started really feeding heavy in October. We weighed several times between October and now and adjust the amount of feed as I go to hit target process dates I set up over a year ago. You must be intentional In the cattle business. From breeding all the way through to the processing. Most people don't feed enough or long enough. A good rule of thumb should be feed for 130 to 140 days. And I figure 2 tons of feed per head. If I process before the 140 days I'll use less feed. Longer will take more feed.

Thank you for your suggestions. I started about 7 years ago and I have been through a very steep learning curve, and I have been concentrating good health program, and a good breeding process of Brangus cattle with a couple of good, registered Bulls and some commercial breed Brangus Heftier, I have culled heifers and calves if I did not see the weight gain or a cow the did not milk well. I am now wanting to start concentrating on quality of beef so your suggestion are very helpful. Thank you.

 

[jscunn]

Jacob,
We hauled 4 steers Monday and 3 Steers today..
Live wts
1349
1311
1407
1344

HCW
782
788
806
842

Can you match the hanging wts to the live wts? They are not in order..

Let me help
1349# was 842#
1311# was 806#
1407# was 788#
1344# was 782#
Weird huh? The 842 wasnt terribly tight made, had plenty of rib and flank and was as finished as anything in there..

Today
Live wts
1311#
1324#
1319#

Tomorrow I will let you know how they killed. I would suspect the 1319 would be the high HCW based on body type. We will see.

 

[Jacob]

Wow. I wonder if that one that's 1407 had water weight or something that dressing percentage looks way off u less he was super fat.

 

[jscunn]

Most of the time the super fat ones have slowed down on ADG in the last month this one hadnt done that.. That calf had gained 6.07 #/day between 1/19 and 2/12.. Like I said weird.. He was alittle more compact made than the 842 calf but he was a niagara son, so plenty of grow in the pedigree.. There were three Niagaras in that load, but the big calf was a Sydgen Black Diamond son.

 

[jscunn]

56% is the lowest Dressing percentage we have had this year, but isnt way out of the norm, other than this one we have had a couple at 56.9%.. The 842 was 62% which is on the high end historically, and highest this year so far.

 

[jscunn]

jacob,
these hcw were more in line with live wts
1311 - 774
1319 -780
1324 - 796

average on first 15 head is 779.. the average is about to drop we have 3 steers and 12 heifers left to harvest..

 

[Nkline]

jacob,
these hcw were more in line with live wts
1311 - 774
1319 -780
1324 - 796

average on first 15 head is 779.. the average is about to drop we have 3 steers and 12 heifers left to harvest..

Why are you finishing steers under 1400lbs? Are you afraid of heavys on the grid? At current beef prices it looks like it hardly pays to grid cattle even when we are averaging over 40% prime, when the packer is not afraid of taking 1600lb calves.

 

[jscunn]

our butcher has older facilities and more importantly he charges us $150 a head if the hang over 825#.. i know it sucks but it is what it is. most of the cattle are yg 2 - 3 at 1325 which is my target live wt.. not a bunch primes they way we mange them thru the summer but i would say almost all are mid choice or better.

 

[SBMF 2015]

when the packer is not afraid of taking 1600lb calves.

That's about the top end. 1,700lbs and they'll send them back home with you.

 

[Nkline]

That's about the top end. 1,700lbs and they'll send them back home with you.

True, we usually just direct market. Even if they are big it seems like they will give you a distant kill date sometimes, so how real are their size restrictions?

 

[Nkline]

our butcher has older facilities and more importantly he charges us $150 a head if the hang over 825#.. i know it sucks but it is what it is. most of the cattle are yg 2 - 3 at 1325 which is my target live wt.. not a bunch primes they way we mange them thru the summer but i would say almost all are mid choice or better.

Makes sense, and keeps trim down for the direct consumer market.

 

[SBMF 2015]

True, we usually just direct market. Even if they are big it seems like they will give you a distant kill date sometimes, so how real are their size restrictions?

We always go direct. Our last load weighed 1,607 before the shrink. Ended up with 30% heavy carcasses.
The heaviest load I have ever delivered avg 1,675, and I got out of there before they told me to take them back home.
I have seen them send several pot loads to the sale barn because they were to big to kill at the plant.

There are still to many cattle ready compared to the available work force to get them processed. Our buyer told me that they stayed out of the sale barns for one wk because they were trying to get caught up. They were sued for price fixing. So they went back to buying and "putting them on the shelf" . We've been running at least 3wks out for a year.

 

[jscunn]

Nkline,
Been leaning towards a more marbling type AI bulls in the last few years, vs some of the more ribeye type bulls.. Walking bulls here are now higher marbling types. We sold the older bull last spring he was definitely not a high marbling bull but more of a performance bull (pounds pay the bills) The bulls we have now are unproven but are top 25% for marbling (0.79 and 1.22) and top 40% for ribeye (0.63 and 0.88). I think you can see from the pictures below the marbling bulls worked..


This one was overfed for a bit, but he sure marbled well. (Enhance x connealy cool)


This one is close to perfect imo.. (Enhance x Wake up call)


Better shape and size to the ribeye, less marbling than the enhances..

 

[J+ Cattle]

Really nice looking steaks, fire up the grill. I'm available for taste testing.
The carcass traits are highly heritable and a big difference can be made in one generation with proper bull selection.
Do you make any selections for tenderness?

 

[Nkline]

Nkline,
Been leaning towards a more marbling type AI bulls in the last few years, vs some of the more ribeye type bulls.. Walking bulls here are now higher marbling types. We sold the older bull last spring he was definitely not a high marbling bull but more of a performance bull (pounds pay the bills) The bulls we have now are unproven but are top 25% for marbling (0.79 and 1.22) and top 40% for ribeye (0.63 and 0.88). I think you can see from the pictures below the marbling bulls worked..


This one was overfed for a bit, but he sure marbled well. (Enhance x connealy cool)


This one is close to perfect imo.. (Enhance x Wake up call)


Better shape and size to the ribeye, less marbling than the enhances..

Looks pretty good. My bulls don't have as high of marbling epds as yours, but I have quite a bit of old angus genetics in their pedigrees, and they have been marbling much better than anything we have boughten. I have been not selecting hard towards bigger ribeye as when we sell on the grid we are having a lot get kicked out of cab because of too large of ribeyes. Most of our cows are angus or high percentage angus also.

 

[jscunn]

marbling is
1/3 genetics
2/3 management.. a very true statement imo.
our management towards primes has alot to be desired especially in the summer, limit their feed to limit their gain. lots of repeat customers that dont want their beef until after the holidays at the earliest. our plan is designed to get our steers ready in january feburary and heifers in march/april..

target is a 1350# steer that will grade choice and be yg 2-3.. (with lots of retail product). i think for angus steers they are doing pretty well on "cheap" feed. heifers target is 1300#

 

[SBMF 2015]

target is a 1350# steer that will grade choice and be yg 2-3.. (with lots of retail product). i think for angus steers they are doing pretty well on "cheap" feed. heifers target is 1300#

If your finishing your strs at 1350, you are doing extremely well to stretch your hfrs to 1300.

 

[Jacob]

I'm interested to see how your heifers do compared to steers. I thought about getting a few June dates for those heifers that turn up open.