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Gerald Fry and Grassfed beef.
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<blockquote data-quote="SEC" data-source="post: 180475" data-attributes="member: 3241"><p>I am totally intrigued with this as well, though have some reservations for many reasons. </p><p>As a seedstock producer, there are breeders in Canada who breed a smaller frame animal and at this point there is not a lot of people who are looking for a Frame score 4-5 animal.</p><p></p><p>Up here I would guess 6-6.5 would be normal although there are breeders who would breed bigger framed cattle yet.</p><p>So, if I was to start breeding more moderate framed animals and my customers said, "Nice bull, I don't think he is bigger enough to breed my cows" and walks away. Who do you sell these cattle to then?</p><p>As well Western Canada is a large grain area, with the feed grain that's around and the last years there has been a fair bit of it. Farmers will keep calves and feed them for the winter and sell them in the spring hoping to turn their grain into cash. If they were to feed this smaller type calves and market them in the spring they might be a little fleshy for grass.</p><p>Secondly, people up here like the animals to respond to the feed. No doubt the smaller framed ones would respond, but their curve would be a little smaller. </p><p>The FS 4-5 cattle that are thick.......do they actually weigh enough when they are on the rail? To little of an animal is just as costly as there are fixed costs based upon the pounds produced and gain, etc.</p><p></p><p>It also seems like cattle, like wildlife naturally grow a little more frame up here than down south. I have purchased some cows from a few outfits in Montana and when I went through their cows in the summer, very few would rival these cows in frame.</p><p>I don't overfeed, I am a good manager of grass and feeding when it's most needed. When I am feeding cows before they calve they are limited to 30 lbs of hay /day. Every 7-10 days I skip a day forcing them to clean up a little what they haven't already, that is if it's not to cold out.</p><p>Once the cattle calve I feed them more, not to the point of wasting feed but so they just about have every bit gone. Just before I turn the cows onto pasture they are eating 40lbs /day of hay plus 5 lbs of pellets, this is with Jan/Feb calves at side. I turn out to grass on May 1st. Our 1st calf heifers seldom come in looking tough, the good ones come in with a little cover on their backs. I don't overgraze the cattle and I keep mineral on hand constantly, in fact I could graze harder if needed. Our cows would average about 1350-1400lbs, some heavier some lighter. In doing this I am trying to manage the cattle in a way the they would fit into a commercial herd, keeping the purebreds realistic. </p><p></p><p>The grass fed, low input thing goes through my head a lot but am not sure it's logical in my area today! If a person were to sell 2 year old bulls, you need places to hide them for the summer, plus a corral that would be like Alkatraz as they wreck everything.</p><p></p><p>Regardless, I believe there aren't enough "honest"cattle around today and natural fleshing ability is something that can be overlooked and certainly hard to measure depending on management systems.</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="SEC, post: 180475, member: 3241"] I am totally intrigued with this as well, though have some reservations for many reasons. As a seedstock producer, there are breeders in Canada who breed a smaller frame animal and at this point there is not a lot of people who are looking for a Frame score 4-5 animal. Up here I would guess 6-6.5 would be normal although there are breeders who would breed bigger framed cattle yet. So, if I was to start breeding more moderate framed animals and my customers said, "Nice bull, I don't think he is bigger enough to breed my cows" and walks away. Who do you sell these cattle to then? As well Western Canada is a large grain area, with the feed grain that's around and the last years there has been a fair bit of it. Farmers will keep calves and feed them for the winter and sell them in the spring hoping to turn their grain into cash. If they were to feed this smaller type calves and market them in the spring they might be a little fleshy for grass. Secondly, people up here like the animals to respond to the feed. No doubt the smaller framed ones would respond, but their curve would be a little smaller. The FS 4-5 cattle that are thick.......do they actually weigh enough when they are on the rail? To little of an animal is just as costly as there are fixed costs based upon the pounds produced and gain, etc. It also seems like cattle, like wildlife naturally grow a little more frame up here than down south. I have purchased some cows from a few outfits in Montana and when I went through their cows in the summer, very few would rival these cows in frame. I don't overfeed, I am a good manager of grass and feeding when it's most needed. When I am feeding cows before they calve they are limited to 30 lbs of hay /day. Every 7-10 days I skip a day forcing them to clean up a little what they haven't already, that is if it's not to cold out. Once the cattle calve I feed them more, not to the point of wasting feed but so they just about have every bit gone. Just before I turn the cows onto pasture they are eating 40lbs /day of hay plus 5 lbs of pellets, this is with Jan/Feb calves at side. I turn out to grass on May 1st. Our 1st calf heifers seldom come in looking tough, the good ones come in with a little cover on their backs. I don't overgraze the cattle and I keep mineral on hand constantly, in fact I could graze harder if needed. Our cows would average about 1350-1400lbs, some heavier some lighter. In doing this I am trying to manage the cattle in a way the they would fit into a commercial herd, keeping the purebreds realistic. The grass fed, low input thing goes through my head a lot but am not sure it's logical in my area today! If a person were to sell 2 year old bulls, you need places to hide them for the summer, plus a corral that would be like Alkatraz as they wreck everything. Regardless, I believe there aren't enough "honest"cattle around today and natural fleshing ability is something that can be overlooked and certainly hard to measure depending on management systems. [/QUOTE]
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