grass fed beef ?

[3waycross]

HI. I JUST WANT TO THANK DUNN AND ALL THE OTHER WHO POSTED ABOUT FEEDING TO FINISHING A COW. IT IS VERY HELPFULL.
I REALLY INJOY THIS CATTLE BOARD. THANKS TO ALL OF YOU


CHAR

unlock your caps key you are screaming

 

[backhoeboogie]

HI. I JUST WANT TO THANK DUNN AND ALL THE OTHER WHO POSTED ABOUT FEEDING TO FINISHING A COW. IT IS VERY HELPFULL.
I REALLY INJOY THIS CATTLE BOARD. THANKS TO ALL OF YOU


CHAR

unlock your caps key you are screaming

Its okay. Some of us are hard of hearing it seems.

 

[bannedagain]

i wasnt goona post here cuz this is beat to death but here i go..first off yer right..some cows will never be worth crap eating finished on grass..im lucky..mine are awesome...
second..how are you selling a 1500lb animal..i seel mine private and can barely get people to split up a 900 lber cuz they got no place to keep 600 lbs of meat..so i split it among 4 or 5 people that know each other..even then they want more steaks and splittin it 5 ways dont werk very well..
third..i sell mine @3$/lb..thats a good bit of money for a family to lay out for beef only..even at that price...even 5 ways its a good bit for 5 steaks and alotta burger
fourth..i know no other way as ive always done this and have salebarned only culls...but i must be doin it qwrong cuz if i could do what yer doin id have quit my day job 10 yrs ago

gary

Boxing 66% what breed? I'd like to get me some of those.

 

[djinwa]

However, high monounsaturated fat ground beef from grain-fed cattle increased HDL cholesterol, increased LDL particle diameters, and decreased insulin, suggesting that ground beef produced by intensive production practices provides "a healthful, high-quality source of protein."

Something fishy about the study. Almost sounds like grain-fed beef will now be prescribed for heart attacks. I also wonder if there are other effects to consider. I've understood that eating vegetables provides micronutrients like antioxidants that are helpful against cancer, etc. I assume more of those end up in grass fed animals, but I could be wrong.

And feedlots don't always feed just grain. The one of a friend has piles of potato waste laying around to put in the ration - whatever's cheap.

 

[Tod Dague]

thats cool..but i want control over what theyre eating and what (if any) vacc they get.

i cant usually grow mine out to 30 mos cuz people cant take 1000 lbs of wrapped beef. i like to sell ea person a half so they get a good variety of cuts. the fat is yellow..yep.. its a 20 mo steer about 1000 lbs so they get about 300 lbs wrapped per half.

mostly this works for us.

ive never fed one out with grain so i cant bias against it but my biggest advantage is that i know exactly whats goin in that cows belly...once they get to a feedlot of any kind then youve lost that control.

also to me...i think it offsets the costs to the point its not really a cheaper way to get your beef which is also imp to us at this point in time esp. pasture is cheaper than grain fer sure

btw..i think im getting into the hiefer finishing biz for a nieghbor. well see how his do against mine on the same pasture...

gary

Just curious about the cheaper comment, have you factored the lost revenue in pasture being used to finish these calves to 20 months of age instead of cows producing calves?

As for the feedlot, you don't have to send them off to a feedlot to feed them grain. I feed mine grain on a 4 acre grass lot for 5 to 6 months and I control everything that they eat. This cost me about 1/4 of an AU but it is more profitable for me to have them graze the fiber than me buying it even with the loss of 1/4 of an AU and I'm able to market the calves at a 12 months.

 

[backhoeboogie]

Yes, when I stated it took more management, I was referring to the management of their feed - GRASS. Not trying to offend, but IMO, a good grass fed program is finishing cattle at that 1000-1100# range at closer to the 16 month age - not letting them get to 2 1/2 years old. There is an "art" to feeding quality grass fed beef.

You are on track for taking care of the grass period. I am not running a grass fed program. It only makes sense to take care of the pasture. Good grass makes good cows.

We're a long ways from the corn belt here.

 

[Jeanne - Simme Valley]

Backhoe - you are so right. You don't need to be finishing fattened steers to be needing to be a good grass farmer. We, fortunately, have good grass in NY, but it still needs to be managed. My neighbor has WEEDS because he isn't managing his fields yet.

 

[TexasBred]

Backhoe - you are so right. You don't need to be finishing fattened steers to be needing to be a good grass farmer. We, fortunately, have good grass in NY, but it still needs to be managed. My neighbor has WEEDS because he isn't managing his fields yet.

Bet your fertilize it, don't overgraze it and rotate cattle in and out as well. Amazing how much abused or neglected land there is around here. And they wouldn't lease it or sell it for any amount of money.

 

[Brute 23]

also to me...i think it offsets the costs to the point its not really a cheaper way to get your beef which is also imp to us at this point in time esp. pasture is cheaper than grain fer sure
gary

Just curious about the cheaper comment, have you factored the lost revenue in pasture being used to finish these calves to 20 months of age instead of cows producing calves?

Not trying to speak for dieselbeef but I am of the same thinking that it is cheaper to put calves on grass than to feed grain. We don't stock every square inch of property so there is usually an open pasture or two to feed a couple calves. We keep most of our heifers and cull at different stages as the develope. Its nothing to throw in a couple steers for butcher with them. Plus if you factor in your time alone it comes out. On grass you can kick the calves out and check them every so often. When you feed grain you have to walk out and feed them.... what.... once or twice a day?

I understand it doesn't work like this for every one... but understand... not every one has the same amount of expences to produce grass.

 

[dieselbeef]

we have an abundance of pasture..wish i hd more cows but were house/land poor...so we got a lotta grass..and alotta weeds cuz i cant werk 60 hrs a week and keep up

we have braford cows..beefmaster bulls..obese fat cows

plenty of grass to finish w/o worrying bout the cows not gettn enough

 

[Tod Dague]

we have an abundance of pasture..wish i hd more cows but were house/land poor...so we got a lotta grass..and alotta weeds cuz i cant werk 60 hrs a week and keep up

we have braford cows..beefmaster bulls..obese fat cows

plenty of grass to finish w/o worrying bout the cows not gettn enough

Fair enough. :cowboy:

 

[grubbie]

As far as management practices and extra work,...for us it is less work.

The management and extra work is farming the forage properly to provide the leel of nutrition needed for them to finish on grass. Most of us have to scramble to have high qualiry forage, I guess some folks are just lucky enough that ti's available with no effort.

We all have different situations. As I said, for US it is less work. Things are different here than in your part of the world, for sure. As far as the lucky part, seems like some took that the wrong way. Yeah,....I'm a pretty lucky guy in many ways, no reason to be offended by that comment. And Dun is right, there is no effort. As long as we have rain and sun, we have grass. We don't fertilize or work the pastures at all.

 

[Brute 23]

I don't see the "luck" every one refers to. People in the cattle business like to make excuses or pretend like there is some outside force controlling their business. You choose to operate in the area you do, you choose to spend the money you do, you choose to operate in debt, you choose to buy $8K bulls, you choose to overstock your property, you choose not to factor in risk, ect.... People say well so and so is lucky because they have land that is paid for. That is not luck, some one before them worked hard to pay for that land. Their family before them had a plan to pass down paid for land.

 

[VanC]

I don't see the "luck" every one refers to. People in the cattle business like to make excuses or pretend like there is some outside force controlling their business. You choose to operate in the area you do, you choose to spend the money you do, you choose to operate in debt, you choose to buy $8K bulls, you choose to overstock your property, you choose not to factor in risk, ect.... People say well so and so is lucky because they have land that is paid for. That is not luck, some one before them worked hard to pay for that land. Their family before them had a plan to pass down paid for land.

This is a great post. Only thing I would add is that it applies to a lot more than just the cattle business. Most of the time a person makes their own luck, good or bad.

 

[Suzie Q]

That was what I was trying to say.

If you are just going to sit in your lounge chair and hope that good luck comes your way then good luck to you!!!!

Isn't it funny that people tell you how lucky you are when something really bad has happened. Boy you are lucky to still be alive.

The real luck comes in with raffle tickets and winning the lottery. I would call that luck. In that case you want to sit next to me. It always seems to be the person who sits next to me who wins. On Friday my neighbour sitting next to me won the jackpot of $250.00 for the member draw. Her name has come out twice. The person on the other side 3 times. Mine? I just want to check that my number is even in there.!!! :lol2:

Although I am ecstatic about winning a red and white dahlia bulb at the garden club. My ticket was picked out about 12th and I couldn't believe that it was still on the table to be chosen. :banana: Wahooooo!!! Let's hope it grows.

 

[ANAZAZI]

That was what I was trying to say.

If you are just going to sit in your lounge chair and hope that good luck comes your way then good luck to you!!!!

Isn't it funny that people tell you how lucky you are when something really bad has happened. Boy you are lucky to still be alive.

The real luck comes in with raffle tickets and winning the lottery. I would call that luck. In that case you want to sit next to me. It always seems to be the person who sits next to me who wins. On Friday my neighbour sitting next to me won the jackpot of $250.00 for the member draw. Her name has come out twice. The person on the other side 3 times. Mine? I just want to check that my number is even in there.!!! :lol2:

Although I am ecstatic about winning a red and white dahlia bulb at the garden club. My ticket was picked out about 12th and I couldn't believe that it was still on the table to be chosen. :banana: Wahooooo!!! Let's hope it grows.

Well, good luck! :banana:

 

[Suzie Q]

Thank you so much. The good luck will come with not getting enough rain to drown them. Apparently they don't like wet feet. I do know where it is to dig it up if we get too much though.

 

[ANAZAZI]

Around here one needs to keep dahlia bulbs inside the house all winter, like seven months!
(Sorry for hijacking this somewhat worn out thread,)