Beef gain on alfalfa...how will they taste

I have 4 heifers that I slowly took off grain and put on a pure alfalfa diet, I was thinking I will get more money selling as heiferettes or bred heifers. They "appear" to be gaining weight faster than when they were on feed, and are getting very fleshy. Mean while I had 4 people call and ask for 1/4's, we always have finished the butchers on full feed. I pulled these 4 back about 6 weeks ago and went to the hay. Question one..will they taste any worse or be tougher? 2nd..has any one finished beef on alfalfa and if so what weights could you reach by what age, and is the beef any more or less desireable than on grain. We ussually hit 1050-1200# live weight by 10-14 months depneding on the calves mother, creep fed as calves, and full corn and pellets 2 months after weaning.

My target weights are same as yours at the same ages. Right now for the last several months I went down to 1/4 corn and then alfalfa. They end up getting to target a month or two later seems. Don't have any on full alfalfa. But the big mistake I hear about poorly forage finished beef is not putting the full finish on them, i.e. backfat and the like. I would think the taste would be fine since I have had some grass fed from out west that was good but leaner, finished in summer. By fall the guy told me they better be on grain or high quality hay like alfalfa to taste good.

My experience raising beef (which I no longer do)it that to be tender the critters need to be confined. They need to be couch potatoes.

Dave check in the cities. Grass fed is getting to be in demand as being healthier. Guy up here east of Henning MN is selling a bunch of grass fed that way. Gets better money for em and they don't cost as much to raise. We do our own. Flovor if anything I think is better as grass fed. I do think they area little tougher but not much.

Also check out the standard for selling as grass fed. Kinda interesting!

Rick

back in the day all beef was grass fed,and most cattle we ate came right off pasture into the locker,and since we old guys grew up with it some still prefer it.But it will have a different taste than one thats been fed up in a lot.Grass fed will lots of times be tougher simply because a old steer has to get out and scramble for its meal.Leaner means less marbling,so less taste( or at least the taste most folks have grown used to),dry leaner cuts,but at a cost.Believe it or not,you CAN tell to a certain extent,what type of pasture a grass fed beef has been on.Alfalfa will to acertain extent flavor the meat,same as it will flavor the milk in a old dairy cow.I personally dont like one fed on soley on alfalfa myself,i would rather have one that came off straight grass pasture,but thats what i grew up on.Feed will flavor the meat without a doubt,this is why there are so many old feed recipes out there for feeding one out.If youve had good success with your fed beef and you feed them a certain way,and thats what your customers like,i would suggest (and its none of my buisness) you dont change,or offer your grass fed beef as another line,i wouldnt just fill your orders with them.they are a different type of meat all together.my opinion of course.

Just don't tell the customers that corn is a grass, but alfalfa isn't

Also, if you're advertising, don't use the term "Grass Fed" since that's a USDA marketing program now. You'll surely get people who pay to participate in the program riled up. Same goes for advertising things as "Organic" when you're not certified Organic.

I tried feeding alfalfa once. The beef had a herb like flavor. I happened to like the flavor, other didn't. I think more grass in the diet makes a milder tasting beef that more people will like as compared to alfalfa fed beef.

The only difference should be the amount of marbling which does affect the flavor but dependent on the breed does not affect the tenderness of the meat if it is cooked correctly to compensate for less fat. You said the heifers look to be growing faster on the straight alfalfa than on grain, this is normal if feeding alfalfa free choice because while alfalfa supplies approximately 2/3rds the T.D.N. of corn it averages twice the protein of corn and young animals grow on high protein feeds and finish on high energy feeds. As far as a slaughter cattle rations 50/50 ground corn and alfalfa is hard to beat. You must have a cheap source of Alfalfa if it is more economical to feed straight hay with no grain.

I finished my last batch of Holstein bottle calves on lespedeza and red clover pastures. They finished out great with good marbling and backfat, at 1400# at 16 months (which I think was good for the steins). However, the federal meat inspector came to see me after picking out my 4 carcasses from the fifty-some the plant processed that day. The fat was very yellow. He said it had been many years since he had observed that, but it was normal for animals finished on legumes. (I did feed 3 - 4 lbs. shelled corn per day to keep them coming up to the trough each evening; makes it easier when they come to me for the daily check.)

The meat was some of the best I've ever tasted. But the yellow fat might be a problem for the customers used to the creamy white fat of animals finished on feed.

I'm finishing this year's calves on lespedeza again.

The better the forage (alfalfa/grass /clover) the better it will taste...and yes the fat is yellow instead of white...our pastured broilers are the same way...yellow broth instead of white/clear...but dont expect the same finish on wore out pastre you wouldn't cut for hay , as a fresh stand of pure alfalfa...Shawn

I'm in a rural area but probably count as a city
since we're surrounded by a sea of blue.

Anyway, I've noticed in the last couple years the
"local foods" has really started to gain traction
in my area. I think it has the critical mass now
not to be a simple fad, might never be a huge
market, but I think they'll do fine for the
foreseeable future.

Oh, it was always there -- but if you wanted local
beef, you had to buy it a 1/4 at a time (not very
practical for a bachelor like me, plus I don't
have a freezer). Some local vegetable stands that
were good market gardeners but poor business folk.

For a couple years I've been buying local backyard
raised eggs from the co-op I buy most of my garden
supplies and dog food from.

Little bakery/deli in town owned by a well-
established local businessman now carries beef &
burger from a farm a mile as the crow flies from
me.

A young couple who bought a large but kind of
stuck in a rut orchard about 8 years ago have been
steadily improving their business and expanding
their gardens...they have been July (Peaches) --
Christmas on their farmstand, next year they
should have strawberries and blueberry pick-your-
own so they'll be opening in June.

The Agway carries raw milk from a local farm (as
well as pasteurized from another, and local eggs,
and even currant juice), and I've found a farm
stand a reasonable drive away that sells their own
beef and pork along with chicken from another
local farm.

Better quality, better tasting, keeps longer, and
keeps more money local. And frankly, I find when
I'm eating "the good stuff" from my garden or
locally raised meats, I eat less. There's
something about it that leaves me satisfied sooner
then supermarket bought food.