mwj
Well-known member
Those calves will make good beef.
You are right, Simme, and I knew that. Just another senile brain fart on my part! I was carrying on another conversation with someone about the program Mike, Clay's boss , raises beef for, and that buyer requires CAB Prime or Prime +I don't think that a carcass has to grade USDA prime to qualify for CAB. CAB Prime and CAB natural are small segments of the overall CAB program. There are 3 types/labels of CAB - CAB, CAB Prime and CAB Natural. "Standard" CAB requirement on marbling is modest or higher. USDA choice grade is subdivided into 3 marbling types - small, modest and moderate. So, the "low" choice does not qualify for CAB, but the modest and moderate Choice will qualify for CAB. That is my understanding.
No at that time I wasn't feeding out any.Ky Hills, did you ever butcher one of the Holstein cross calves? I wonder what you thought of the meat as well? This is really interesting.
Quite a while ago there was a study done at an Ag College that tested taste and cutability of all the major breeds represented in the U.S. at that time. They included Hereford, Angus, Charolais, Limousin, and two dairy breeds, Holstein and Jersey. There may have been others but I don't remember them if there were. I also don't remember how many animals were fed out, but it was more than one of each breed. The animals were all fed in side by side pens, similar ages, identical feeds, and for the same amount of time, and slaughtered in the same facility and hung for the same amount of time... and then prepared for eating by identical methods.That is exactly what the Mennonite preacher told me. He said if you get used to that sweet beef from a Holstein or a Jersey, then you are hooked. He said he and his wife decided to butcher an Angus and put it in the freezer. He said they started eating it, and the flavor was so strong they gave it away. They did not even try to sell it. He said if he had rather eat chicken if he could not have Holstein or Jersey beef. And I was surprised when he said that because I have never eaten a 100% Jersey steer. I have had Piedmontese that had a slight percentage of Jersey but not even 25% and the meat was really good. So, that is why I have decided to raise Piedmontese and mix as much Jersey as I can and get a 2 copy animal as they grow fast once they start eating grain.
But I am used to Angus beef, and in a year or so down the line, I will know what Jersey beef tastes like.
I wanted to add that these are not my pictures and are calves raised by Dan Oberschlake in Wisconsin. But it was amazing to see how fast they developed each month just being half Piedmontese and Half Jersey. They now look like regular beef stock. I guess that is what won me over and having eat the steaks of the Jersey cross.I ask this because I am curious to what a Piedmontese bull bred to a Corriente cow would do. You know how thin a Jersey cow is? But they have a real sweet great tasting beef. Here is a picture of a 50/50 Piedmontese Jersey Calf at 2 months old and I will skip to when they are 7 months old.View attachment 39270View attachment 39271
Got a neighbor trying to convince me to put a Waygu bull on my cows come fall. He says he will provide the bull and he will buy the calves at #1 prices from me.Wow Travlr, that is so interesting to know. Thank you for telling us about it. Sometimes we just don't know. I used to talk to my husband about these things. I just remember him telling me about a Brahman steer. I hope someone throws in some information about that breed as well. I have never heard of anyone that has butchered a full blooded animal.
I found a Wagyu steak at the store about a month ago, and bought it. Brought it home and cooked it, and it was tender. It had sort of a feeling of...well, you know when you have a plate that has a hamburger steak on it and the works, with onions and such as it leaves grease on the top of the plate when you are finished eating? That is what my tongue sort of felt like; was the plate as it leaves a bit of a fatty skim across the top. But the flavor has a light liver taste to me, which I love liver, so I was good with the streak. I do eat my steaks very rare, so it was not over cooked and red on the inside. I let it warm up to room temperature before I cooked it and it sat out for a good bit. But, for the same price and a tender piece of Angus and Wagyu, I would choose the Angus because. one, I know the cholesterol is out the roof on that Wagyu, and why start messing with that problem. And, I did not care for the grease coating on my tongue. The steak was only $19.00 as I have seen them a lot higher. I was surprised when I saw it.
Good questions... Smart questions.Got a neighbor trying to convince me to put a Waygu bull on my cows come fall. He says he will provide the bull and he will buy the calves at #1 prices from me.
Anybody know what the catch is here? Do the calves only wean at half of what the other calves wean at?