Yearly Weight

[tenmile]

Fescue pasture fed in the spring, summer, and fall. Hay and a little corn in the winter. North Missouri. My question is this. If I have a steer butchered in March at 1000 lbs and want to buy another steer or heifer to replace him so I can have it butchered in 3 years, what weight should I buy? My plan is to have 3 on the farm and every spring butcher one and then replace it with another. Kind of a 3 cow rotation. My thoughts are to winter the 3 and then butcher the 1000lbs steer in the spring and buy a new young steer/heifer in the spring instead of doing it in the fall and have to winter a very young cow/calf.
1000 lbs. now
? lbs. a year earlier
? lbs. a year earlier
? lbs. when I purchase for replacment.
I realize yearly gains will vary and I will have to adjust as time goes on. I have no past records to go by so I at least need an educated quess to start with. Thank you.

 

[backhoeboogie]

My question is this. If I have a steer butchered in March at 1000 lbs and want to buy another steer or heifer to replace him so I can have it butchered in 3 years, what weight should I buy?

Either I am reading this wrong, or I don't understand.

If I were to buy a weaned 500 lb steer now, I would expect him to be well over 1000 lbs within a year's time, no matter what I fed him. Hence, I would buy a steer a little over two years later in order to have him ready to butcher 3 years from now.

 

[SRBeef]

The key number for what you want to do is that the "best" age to butcher a steer is generally 14-18 months of age. Depends a bit on the breed. However I have found there is nothing wrong with harvesting a steer before he is fully "ready". Veal comes from younger steers. It tends to be tender but less fat and marbling than conventional feedlot 18-20 month old beef. But it tastes outstanding if you finish them with a significant portion of their diet as corn the last few months. Just don't overcook it.

In your plan above I would buy a good 600-800 lb weaned and preconditioned (dewormed and fall shots) early spring born steer in September or October when lots are going to market and harvest him in May at 15-16 months.

Buying about Oct 1 and harvesting about May 1 gives you about 210 days feeding him. at a conservative gain of 2 lb/day he should put on 420 lb or probably more. A steer purchased at 700 lb will them weigh a little over 1100 lb by May 1 and make very good eating if you have him on a high corn feed the last 2-3 months.

The key element here is buying a quick-maturing breed and a preconditioned calf - not the sick culls. You might want to strike up a relationship with a local Angus or Hereford cow/calf cattleman and work a regular plan. That would work well for both of you. You will also know where your steer came from and how it was raised. Weaned and pre-conditioned is the key. you will be well past the withdrawal period at harvest and have a healthy steer who should put on more than 2 lb a day. jmho.

Maybe Angus Cowman here or other folks from Missouri would be a possible supplier.

Your post by the way is one of the few initial posts that provide enough information so folks can offer a meaningful reply. Best of luck to you.

Jim

 

[JHH]

My question is this. If I have a steer butchered in March at 1000 lbs and want to buy another steer or heifer to replace him so I can have it butchered in 3 years, what weight should I buy?

Either I am reading this wrong, or I don't understand.

If I were to buy a weaned 500 lb steer now, I would expect him to be well over 1000 lbs within a year's time, no matter what I fed him. Hence, I would buy a steer a little over two years later in order to have him ready to butcher 3 years from now.

I think if you fed a weaned steer he would be over 1000 lb. BUT on just hay and grass and very little corn I suspect it would take 24 28 months.

 

[tsmaxx47]

just out of curiosoty, why are you choosing to butcher in the Spring as opposed to the Fall?

 

[3waycross]

Seems pretty simple to me. If you want to butcher a steer a year BUY a steer a year.

 

[Angus Cowman]

just out of curiosoty, why are you choosing to butcher in the Spring as opposed to the Fall?

Why Not ????

 

[dun]

just out of curiosoty, why are you choosing to butcher in the Spring as opposed to the Fall?

Why Not ????

The only why not I can think of is the need to feed through the winter

 

[tenmile]

Hello and I thank every one for their input and info.
Yes, if I butcher a steer once a year I need to replace it with another to keep a rotation going. The steer that I just had butchered scale right at 1000 lbs. I bought it in June of 09 at a weight of 585 lbs the best that I can remember. ( I need to add in "keeping records" into my cattle education.) It did not gain 2 lbs. a day. On grass I didn't think it would. I've been told that it would have gain better had it had more ample shade in the summer and a more aggresive fly retardent.
The time of year for the butching I prefer would be in Oct. I was thinking before if it was in the spring I would not have to buy a replacement 500 lbs steer and winter it. From what I have read so far from everyones post maybe a "jump in and try schedule" would be 18 months for a 500 lbs steer to reach 1000lbs on grass in the summer and light corn and hay in the winter. If so in order for me to have another steer finished at aprox. 1000 lbs. by Oct 2011 I would have had to bought it in March of 2010. If I buy a 500 lbs. steer in March of 2011 it would finish by Oct. 2012. If not, I am listening to everyones opinion.
If I can bend everyones ear for a moment I will explain the situation. My land is 150 miles away. The person that cuts the hay off of it didn't what to cut my front field for hay anymore. Just the back pasture. He bought a new mower and he felt he could not cut as fast as he wanted to since the pasture had a few rough spots in it. Since it was fenced I told my Amish neighbor he could graze some cattle there in the summer. I already allow the Amish man to cut hay off of one of the other fields for free. ( 10 acres ) So you see he is getting a good deal. Free hay in the barn and free grazing ground. After the first year he and I were comfortable with the arrangement. The second year I asked him if I bought a steer and put it in the pasture with his if he would look after it also. ( a no brainer since his daughters are over there everyday watering their cows.) He puts his cows in the pasture in April and removes them back to his barn lot in Nov.. Last winter he took my steer to his barn lot also and looked after it for the winter. Now I want to increase what I have so I can have a 1000 lbs steer butchered once a year. In order to do that I need to set a buying schedule and to know what weight. The Amish man, like most Amish, won't stick their neck out when you ask them for information.

 

[Angus Cowman]

just out of curiosoty, why are you choosing to butcher in the Spring as opposed to the Fall?

Why Not ????

The only why not I can think of is the need to feed through the winter

either way the animal has to be fed thru the winter I haven't seen any spring calved beef that is ready to butcher by fall unless they are butchering 6wts
and if it is bought at 5-600lbs in the spring then it was calved in the fall and was fed thru the winter to get to spring
and I have better luck putting weight on a 5-6wt in the winter than I do a 5-6wt in the summer especially for butchering as the heat really knocks them off feed

 

[SRBeef]

One benefit of spring butchering is you have the beef during the summer grill-out time rather than over the winter.

 

[tsmaxx47]

just out of curiosoty, why are you choosing to butcher in the Spring as opposed to the Fall?

Why Not ????

The only why not I can think of is the need to feed through the winter

those were my thoughts exactly. some people, old timers i guess, are locked into fall butchering (tradition), i guess it has its origins in times when feed wasn't abundant and/or available during the winter. i was just wondering if ten mile had another reason as i've never heard of a reason one way or the other!!
AC makes the best point for spring butchering. the summer heat is pretty rough on beef in the South and it takes awhile to bring them back to peak condition. we are sending two steers to the butcherbarn in January. thanx to all for the insight..

 

[Angus Cowman]

[

those were my thoughts exactly. some people, old timers i guess, are locked into fall butchering (tradition), i guess it has its origins in times when feed wasn't abundant and/or available during the winter. i was just wondering if ten mile had another reason as i've never heard of a reason one way or the other!!
AC makes the best point for spring butchering. the summer heat is pretty rough on beef in the South and it takes awhile to bring them back to peak condition. we are sending two steers to the butcherbarn in January. thanx to all for the insight..

years ago they butchered in the Fall so it was easier to preserve the meat because of the cooloer temps