freezer beef question

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jnm303

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For various reasons (lost my buyer and then my slot at slaughterhouse), I have a steer that will be butchered at ~20 months of age. We were going to make all ground beef but have now been contacted by one of our 'freezer beef " customers. I've never sold one at this age before. Would you be comfortable selling a half to a previous customer?
 
It's not uncommon to butcher a steer at 20 months of age, especially for small producers. I actually do it regularly, though it's not always by choice ... sometimes I have to wait longer to get a kill date at the butcher I use because they are so busy (like this year; my oldest steer will be 20 months when it is butchered). You should have a good quality carcass. If the steer is "grass-fed" waiting a little longer to butcher sometimes pays off with better marbling. I know there is a large grass-fed operation here in Oregon that butchers most of its steers at 18 to 24 months.
 
i had a few 26 month olds butchered in the spring.

they taste amazing. I let them go a little longer as I manly let them on pasture.. grain them when they are weaned, back on pasture, then grain them again for about 60 days until slaughter date.
 
I regularly butcher at 22-28 months. Basically all grass fed jersey and jersey crosses. Butcher here says mine have some of the best marbling. We don't do alot of grain, a few lbs per head per day to keep them coming in the catch pen. Last one was 30 months, heifer that was open. Had beautiful fat/marbling through the steaks and they tasted pretty d....d good. The flavor comes from some maturity and marbling. Marbling comes from maturity.
 
farmerjan":3swrsbnq said:
I regularly butcher at 22-28 months. Basically all grass fed jersey and jersey crosses. Butcher here says mine have some of the best marbling. We don't do alot of grain, a few lbs per head per day to keep them coming in the catch pen. Last one was 30 months, heifer that was open. Had beautiful fat/marbling through the steaks and they tasted pretty d....d good. The flavor comes from some maturity and marbling. Marbling comes from maturity.
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I have a 27 month old heifer who hasn't calved. She's going to be in the freezer if the blood test comes back neg.
 

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