5 minute read
Finishing Your Own Cattle
With the recent retail shortages in the meat cases, we have seen a resurgence in interest in growing and finishing your own cattle. Not too many decades ago, this was something that almost every farm did every year. Time and efficiency of scale have pushed most all of the beef finishing outside our region, but it can still be done on a local basis and is a good way to ensure that you have plenty of beef to eat when we see national or regional shortages due to outside influences such as the COVID-19 pandemic.
There are several things to consider when finishing cattle, whether for your own consumption or maybe to sell to family, friends and neighbors. There have been numerous studies done and there is an endless array of theories on what breed, size, age and finishing system is best, and hopefully we can keep the lid on that Pandora’s box firmly closed by not endorsing one breed or system over the other.
There are vast differences in breeds and body styles that will affect the age and weight that they finish. The finishing system that you plan to utilize should be tailored to the breed you have or chose to purchase. Some types of cattle do better than others on a grass-based system, while most any breed will do well with enough on grain, when fed to the proper weight and maturity.
Some common sense-type things to consider: smaller-framed cattle finish at a lighter weight and often suit local consumers better. For example, if the steer or heifer is headed for your own freezer and you have plenty of space, you may not mind that 1,900 pound fat Holstein, but cousin Joe might rather pay you for a 900 pound fat steer that won’t take the entire month’s paycheck and an extra trip to town to buy a second freezer. Another point that is often discussed is grass-fed/finished versus grain-finished versus some hybrid of the two, which is most common in locally finished cattle. Some extremely health-conscious people will want a grass-fed/grass-finished product. Many others will want something that they are more familiar with or a product that is similar to the one that they generally purchase at a local retail store. The take-home here is to know what your goals are before you start.
What type finishing system do you need? Two major factors besides consumer preference are space and time. It generally takes more space and time to finish cattle on grass. Cattle that get all the nutrition they need to fatten off grass need lots and lots of grass. It has to be a fairly high-quality grass to fatten young cattle or the cattle have to be considerably older to achieve a level of fatness that is enough to cause the meat to marble and achieve a higher quality. Unlike grain-finished calves, which normally takes 18 months or less, truly grass-finished cattle will often take two to two and a half years to achieve an acceptable level of finish.
Grain-finished or grass/grain hybrid systems vary. Cattle that are weaned and several months old can be confined and fed a high grain diet for two to five months and be ready for harvest. Most extension publications that I have seen recommend a minimum of 185 square feet per calf. Most producers in Alabama don’t have small feeding pens that are truly dry lots but will finish their cattle on small pastures with lots of high-quality grain. This is truly a hybrid grain finishing system and one that can be efficient and effective. These cattle are sometimes referred to as grass-fed, grain-finished.
Cattle that are to be grain finished need to be started on feed/grain fairly slowly (three to four pounds per head, per day for a few days) and then generally the amounts are increased slowly until they are eating over 2.5% of their body weight in grain each day. Keep in mind that while protein is very important for growing cattle, calories are what drive finishing cattle, so the grain-finishing diets tend to be a bit lower in protein, but much higher in starches, which typically come from grains.
Grain-finished cattle will need to be fed for a minimum of 60 days, not counting the time it takes to get them acclimated to the feed, and most are fed much longer than that. Many cattle will be fed well over 100 days on a high-grain diet, with some eating a calorie-dense ration for 150 to 200 days. Obviously the longer a calf is fed, the heavier it will get, the fatter it will get, the better it will grade and most likely the better it will taste.
There are a few more final points to consider. Local processors are backed up and, if you want to grow out your own animals, you will need to make your steer or heifer a harvest appointment well in advance. These days, six months in advance is not too much. To grain finish cattle correctly takes months and a great deal of feed. If you consider that a big calf will need 20- 30 pounds of feed every day and we think about a four-month feeding program, it will take roughly a ton and a half of feed. One hundred and twenty days X 25 pounds per day = 3,000 pounds. Don’t skimp on the hay. Access to good-quality dry hay, even if they have access to pasture, will help the cattle adjust to the feed, utilize the feed more efficiently and help them maintain overall health. Finally, clean water is a must. Heavy-weight finishing cattle will consume over 20 gallons of water each day and, if water quantity or quality is insufficient, feed intake will drop.
Finishing your own livestock can be as rewarding as anything you do on your farm and many producers take great pride in the products that they produce. It will be a fairly expensive endeavor if done correctly both in money and time but the end results and the knowledge that you have a secure supply of high-quality meat makes it well worth the investment.
