While grass fed freezer beef is part of my operation, the majority of my operation is feeder calf production. In the past, I've often picked a segment of my feeder calf crop as candidates for freezer beef. Some grain finished (last 45 days), and some grass finished. I usually pick based on things like market acceptance, for example, keeping red calves and trucking black ones. The melting problem I've had recently appears to be related to some particular herd sires, and I'm taking care of that problem. As far as comparing cows that calve in February to those that calve in May, while it is preferable to not calve a cow three months later than normal, sometimes, if you raise cattle long enough, you will find that stuff happens. So if you take a bull off of a herd and put him with a different herd, and then you put a new bull on that herd, and then he gets struck by lightning about a week after you put him in, while you are on vacation, and you finally bring the original bull back, after finding a replacement from the other herd, you will find that it is very possible to calve a cow bred to the same bull in February one year and May the next. Not optimal, but it can happen. Through the use of pencil and paper, you can compare notes on things like that. In my area, for my cattle, calves will be smaller in the late winter compared to calves that come in late spring, this based on much observation, and in some cases, actual records. Cattle here are at their lowest nutritional point when the grass starts greening up. They will starve themselves on spring grass and leave hay laying, if you let them. In the dead of winter, they are still eating hay good, so they are a little better shape. And another thing, if I had to wait on my grass to get 8 inches high to start calving, that would be a problem, most of my pasture is bluegrass and white clover it gets 4 inches high and stays there, but it gets there really quick. We like to calve in March and April. Doesn't always work out that way, but that is what we shoot for.It might not work out the same for everyone, but we have had cattle on this place for about 300 years, and this is how we do it.