beef halves

dmiller

Member
Am I correct to assume that I will get about a 500-550 hanging weight from yearling heifers weighing about 1,000. These are grass fed (not necessarily by preference but by circumstance/opportunity). Averaging 750 in mid May when they went to pasture, plan to sell/kill end of Oct.
Original plan was to sell halves, but now prices are so high might be easier to just take them to the sales. I was planning to ask $3.50/lb hanging weight at the local packer.
 
I just butchered a black angus steer. The hoof weight was 1084 and the hanging weight was 660.
 
You're probably on the edge of being right at that price,top price for sure. That being said,grass fed? Not at that price. I'm sure you'll get complaints if somebody pays that kind of money and has to boil the meat to make it edible.
 
We finish black steers, a good rule of thumb is they will hang about 63% of live weight. Every animal is a little different. Remember if they go to the butch shop they usually stand overnight before processing. Losing up to hundred pounds... Because the prices are good we have sold to the market.... Can't afford to drive the tires off the truck collecting money from people... Good Luck...
 
Some people will actually pay more for grass fed in south west Ohio my wife used to run a farmers market where she worked and I think the ground beef went for like 9.99 a pound! Would sell out too. Was pretty darn good to had a lot of fat to I was surprised the way it looked. Cooked a lot faster on the grill as well but kind of gamey tasting for the wife... We never got agin Note she is from Mi.
 
Heifers ready for bulls are bringing average of $2,000 a piece right now, private treaty, depending on breed, maybe more. If you have some black or whiteface heifers that weigh 850-1000 they will be in that money.
 
That's just it,burger. It's fine for that,but if somebody pays $3.50 a pound hanging and thinks they'll be getting some good steaks and roasts,they'll be sorely disappointed.
 
They need to be still "on the gain" when butchered, especially grass fed- around here, no later than mid-August, unless you have irrigated pasture, because pastures dry up.

Beef is so expensive now, I wouldn't risk unhappy customers- just sell on the hoof.
 
(quoted from post at 18:11:58 07/25/14) You're probably on the edge of being right at that price,top price for sure. That being said[b:319ac0382b],grass fed[/b:319ac0382b]? Not at that price. [b:319ac0382b]I'm sure you'll get complaints if somebody pays that kind of money and has to boil the meat to make it edible.[/b:319ac0382b]
don't agree.
There's plenty grain fed that sport that latter quality and there's plenty grass fed that's so tender one can cut it with a fork.

Now for taste!, nothing compares to bison,....grass or grain fed. :wink:
 
That's what I'm afraid of, but these people claim that is what they want and are used to. Basically the lady who owns the pasture wanted one for her freezer, her husband and she used to do this all the time. So one was the rent. She then told a few friends that she new where they could get a whole/half and now I have 3 of 5 sold if I follow through with it. I was trying to figure out what to sell them for as hanging halves that would be comparable to the market plus my extra hassle.
 
Yes, water, stress,manure, some of the other posts are correct, its hard (not impossible) to get steers or heifers (beef)finished 1250-1350 pounds without some type of grain. That does not mean they need to be in a feed lot. Our steers are out on grass pasture all summer. They will gain around a pound per day. In the fall we start a 120 day finish, we start with about 4 pounds a day, ground cob corn and slowly increase until they are eating about 25 pounds of corn (5 gallon bucket) when finished.We feed quality hay the entire time. It takes a lot to get those last 200 pounds on the animal. Its a matter of changing their diet remember the 3 % of their body weight rule. I have been around finishing cattle my whole life, it is a little bit of a art to pull it off effectively. Lot of people put way to much gain into animals. Start with 4 pounds and increase every 15 day until they hit 25 pounds a day. They usually will show you when they have had enough corn by leaving some in the feeder, hold them at that rate, increase if needed. ...... I know way to much information.....sorry......
 

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