Feeding Facts

FINISHED CATTLE

GETTING CATTLE READY FOR HARVEST

BY JIMMY PARKER

With the pandemic, inflation hitting near record levels and a multitude of issues in our national supply chain, we have seen empty shelves in grocery stores from time to time in the last couple of years. These factors have made a number of producers decide to finish cattle and hogs locally for at-home use or to sell directly to local consumers. Recently, there are more questions asked about the best way to get cattle ready for harvest than any other feeding question we hear.

So, what is the best way to get cattle fat enough to make a good steak? There really is no one answer. Some people are looking for a “grass fed” option and that is a good niche but will require excellent forages and a long time to reach an acceptable product. Other are looking for locally grown products that are at least finished with some grain. While the grass-fed option was likely the most popular on farm product a few years ago, when the grocery store shelves emptied out, the demand for

locally-grown grain-finished product seems to have retaken the lead in local demand. Higher retail prices may have contributed to that as many people don’t have as much disposable income to put toward a grass-fed product.

Typically, in the Southeast, we wean calves at around six to eight months of age weighing from four hundred to six hundred pounds depending on the breed and management of the producer. These cattle are often grazed and fed a little until they reach seven to nine hundred pounds, again depending on genetics of the animal, anticipated harvest weight and frankly when you can get your animal worked into a local processor.

How long you should feed your animal on a high-grain diet to achieve the desired level of finish also depends on many factors. Early-maturing body types will likely need to be fed for less days than the larger-framed and later-maturing types that will reach a heavier weight before being ready to produce a top end steak. A good estimate is that they will need to be fed a heavier grain diet for 100 to 150 days to be truly ready and once you call and get an appointment for the animal at the processor, you can count backward however many days you want to feed a high-grain diet and it is a pretty simple process.

The number of days on high grain/higher energy diets will be less if the weaned cattle are getting some feed and are fleshier when you move them to a diet with more calories. By feeding the calves from weaning to the final fattening phase, they will be in better condition and the transition of their rumens from a more fibrous diet to a heavier grain diet will be easier and faster. Typically, about two to three weeks before you want your animal on the high energy diet, you will begin to increase the level of grain in their diet and increase the quantity of grain offered as well.

A typical calf in the backgrounding phase (time between weaning and finishing) should receive one to one and a half percent of its body weight in a grain-type feed and the rest of its diet should be forage-based. Good hay or good grazing will work. During the two to three weeks of transition to a finishing phase, the cattle should be worked up to 2 1/2 and a half to 3% of body weight in feed while still having access to high-quality hay or grazing. This is generally done by adding a little more feed to the trough each day until they begin to leave feed in the trough, while keeping in mind that the animal is growing and the amount of feed they consume will continue to increase throughout the finishing phase. Generally during the backgrounding phase, a feed with a 12 to 14% protein and a medium level of energy is

How long you should feed your animal on a high-grain diet to achieve the deused. This will grow frame and muscle and get the animal ready to add the finishing sired level of finish also depends on many levels of fat and be ready for factors. Early-maturing body types will the finishing phase. A typical likely need to be fed for less days than the finishing feed will be a bit lowlarger-framed and later-maturing types that will reach a heavier weight before er in protein and much higher in calories and will be fed at a much higher rate or more being ready to produce a top end steak. pounds per head per day. Normally we see these finishing feeds being higher in corn and lower in things that are not as rich in calories. One simple way of doing this is simply to continue to feed the same backgrounding feed at the levels you were feeding and just add increasing levels of cracked corn each day until the desired level is reached. In our area, we often see finishing feeds that are around 60% corn. Again, keep in mind that as the animal grows the total amount of feed will have to be increased to reach the desired level of finish.