Anyone a cattle farmer?

[mattwithcats]

This guy really raised the steaks...

Meet Knickers, the Internet's favorite giant Australian steer heftier than some cars
6 foot, 4 inches, 3000 pounds...

https://www.usatoday.com/story/news...nternet-twitter-holstein-friesian/2125889002/

 

[G.rid]

Sorry, all I can think about is .....

.....Mmmmmmmmm T bones!


Followed by " The old 96er " in The Great Outdoors!

https://youtu.be/q_215iQ7KDs

I appreciate good beef!

 

[SidecarFlip]

I run some steers. Not too many though. I try to keep the herd around 15 and yes, we butcher for the freezer.

 

[skeets]

Good Lord thats a bunch of beef

 

[SidecarFlip]

Good Lord thats a bunch of beef

Not really. My largest hay customer runs 200 plus a herd of bucking bulls. Has his own Rodeo company too.

15 is very manageable. 200 isn't, at least for me and the wife. Cattle and turkeys have about the same brain power.....none.

 

[Dexter]

Wow. Way too big of a steer for me. The last 2 I sent to the butcher were 650 pounds each live weight. But mine are small. Couple pictures for reference. Bale feeder is about 45 inches tall. The dumbazz bull had a habit of getting himself trapped in the feeder, that’s why I had to get one with the bottom skirting.

 

[bgk]

Don’t farm them but all of my beef is local, and extremely well marbled.

When the bottom round london broils look like this, and the top rounds weren’t much different you know you’re in for a treat!

 

[skeets]

Not really. My largest hay customer runs 200 plus a herd of bucking bulls. Has his own Rodeo company too.

15 is very manageable. 200 isn't, at least for me and the wife. Cattle and turkeys have about the same brain power.....none.

OK weighs say 3000 pounds, loose 1/3 for head hide and viscera leaves about 2000 pounds loose say 1/3 for bones still leaves 1000 pounds of meat,, yep thats still a lot of beef

 

[armylifer]

For the reason that Skeets mentions above, there are some ranchers that have started raising miniature cattle of various breeds. From what I have read, there is less waste with the miniature cattle than larger breeds, and more can be raised per acre.

As a side note, I have been reading that more ranchers are raising Wagyu cattle now. They supposedly produce a more tender meat than other breeds. I tried some a few times but I did not discern any important difference between Wagyu and my favored Black Angus steaks.

 

[DaveFromMi]

My cousin has a cattle factory, where most of the tasks are automated. He feeds large bales of hay, ground corn/cobs and some mineral supplements. Getting ready to order another 1/2 cow from him. They are about 900 lbs on the hoof.

 

[JimmyJazz]

For a while I contemplated raising cattle. For those curious the book Knowledge Rich Ranching by Allan Nations is worth reading. Also the Stockman Grass Farmer newspaper is worth subscribing to. I learned a lot. In the end I didn't have the heart to raise them and send them to slaughter. A sissy perhaps. There are some estimates that plant based protein , like the impossible burger, will supplant over half of the current animal based food in the coming decades. I don't know anyone 50-60 years old that thinks they should be eating more meat. Yes I eat meat.

 

[Daylight]

I'm not a cattle farmer, but this being cattle country, they are all around (and sometimes get in the garden).

I like them as neighbors: they walk over and watch when I'm working outside, and their mooing and munching noises are very soothing.

 

[RCW]

I like them as neighbors: they walk over and watch when I'm working outside, and their mooing and munching noises are very soothing.

I love the sound of cows grazing...

However, if that big-ol-boy was in my yard, I'd pay attention.

Can't see if there's anything swingin' 'tween his legs, but there's been several folks killed by bulls around here over the years.

A friend was beaten up real bad by a "little" Jersey bull 20 years ago.

That animal doesn't have the body form of a steer, to me anyway.

 

[jimh406]

I know it’s an old thread, but I’ve thought about cattle farming. The problem is that I can deer/elk farm with the cost of a license and processing and a lot less risk. Sure, I’ve planted some fields for hay, but with the drought, they are barely going come hunting season. Still, I planted grazing type alfalfa in my hayfield just in case I decide to raise a few steers. I’m not feeling that keeping cows during the Winter is a good idea for me. I can’t ensure that I will have enough hay unless I only kept a cow or two.

I was able to get 23 very large bales off about 10 acres two years ago, but last year was 2 since I mercibly let the hayer off the hook and this year told him not to bother. On some of my other 120 acres I’ve experimented and this year cut trails through some of the sagebrush. That really stimulatedly the Elk/Deer to use those areas this Spring. Time will tell if it causes more traffic come deer/elk season. I saw a lot more Whitetail this spring when I usually just see Mule Deer and our one Antelope.

A youtube the other day said only ever plant perenniels in the fall. I wish I had run across similar information a couple of years ago. I wouldn’t have bothered to spring plant some of what I’ve done although my first two attempts were great. I guess we had abnormal moisture that year.

 

[Daylight]

I love the sound of cows grazing... However, if that big-ol-boy was in my yard, I'd pay attention.
Can't see if there's anything swingin' 'tween his legs, but there's been several folks killed by bulls around here over the years. A friend was beaten up real bad by a "little" Jersey bull 20 years ago.
To put you at ease: he doesn't get there, and neither do the ladies, but the calves sometimes manage to slip through the hawthorn hedges (something they do only once...). I can deal with them, but the day anything bigger shows up, I'll call the neighbor to come and recover his property...


That animal doesn't have the body form of a steer, to me anyway.
It's a local race, the Belgian Blue. Partial quote from Wikipedia: The Belgian Blue is a breed of beef cattle from Belgium. Alternative names for this breed include Belgian Blue-White; Belgian White and Blue Pied; Belgian White Blue; Blue; and Blue Belgian. The Belgian Blue's extremely lean, hyper-sculpted, ultra-muscular physique is termed "double-muscling". The double-muscling phenotype is a heritable condition resulting in an increased number of muscle fibers (hyperplasia), instead of the (normal) enlargement of individual muscle fibers (hypertrophy). This particular trait is shared with another breed of cattle known as Piedmontese.
Both of these breeds have an increased ability to convert feed into lean muscle, which causes these particular breeds' meat to have a reduced fat content and reduced tenderness. The Belgian Blue is named after their typically blue-grey mottled hair colour; however, its actual colour can vary from white to black.

 

[RCW]

Thanks for the information. Nice looking animal.

 

[Daylight]

You are most welcome. My neighbors are two single brothers, both retired from farming, who still raise some cattle just for the fun and love of doing it. The cows are strictly grass and hay fed, and taste delicious...

Thanks for the information. Nice looking animal.

 

[Ikc1990]

Well that is a big beefier lol. We raise beef all cross breed steers. There average weight at 14 months is about 700 hanging weight. At 18 months is about 800 to 850 hanging weight. Most are Jersey angus or Jersey Hereford crosses. We have played with other breeds too right now we have a swiss Angus cross too. And we have about 20 we have been butchering about 8 to 10 per year. With materials high this year we didn't expand but this fall will add on our sawdust shed and several small free stalls in calf barn.

 

[lugbolt]

every cattle farmer I ever talked to says there ain't no money in it. Most of them have larger farms with maybe 50-200 head, and they'll raise/cut their own hay. What's left they sell. There IS money in hay.

Talked to a guy last week actually, he's got 600 acres even. 66 head mixed brangus and Angus that graze on 152 of his 600 acres. The rest is 2 ea 200 acre pastures for hay cutting and the rest is pine timber. The timber is valued at roughly $700,000. He makes about $90k/yr on hay (or so he says). THat's on a good year. This year may not get a second cut. Had 3 cuts last year and in 2019.

I told my friend who owns that 600 acres that is my dream job. He said come work for me. I may do it. I am over there about once a week anyway fixing or servicing his tractors and other equipment. Tomorrow I gotta go service the kawasaki mule. Beautiful place out there and every inch of it has a story to tell.

 

[RCW]

Well that is a big beefier lol. We raise beef all cross breed steers. There average weight at 14 months is about 700 hanging weight. At 18 months is about 800 to 850 hanging weight. Most are Jersey angus or Jersey Hereford crosses. We have played with other breeds too right now we have a swiss Angus cross too. And we have about 20 we have been butchering about 8 to 10 per year. With materials high this year we didn't expand but this fall will add on our sawdust shed and several small free stalls in calf barn.

Was talking to a small-time beef farmer the other day.

They were working on a pilot program with a big-time holstein dairy that breeds first-calf heifers to Angus.

They were looking to get one of the HolsteinxAngus crosses for beef purposes.

Don't know much about Angus calves, but we always bred heifers to Jersey for small calving.

The fellow I buy beef from has been doing Shetland crosses. Good stuff.