G8 Summit

[cswilson]

Grass vs Grain is a hard paradim for most people to deal with. We calve late-wean early(120 days) and winter our calves on straight hay then grass our yearlings. With this system our cost of production is less than when we calved early and fed more grain. Compensatory gain is a wonderful thing. Will grass finished beef become the norm I highly doubt it-will it become a profitable niche for top grass managers-IT ALREADY HAS. It does take the proper genetics and very good forage management-not the pasture is toast we better kill these steers sort of thing. Now with bloat management improving with the new products I can see it expanding somewhat. We've had steers gain 4 pounds a day over the entire grazing season and groups go over 21/2 so you can get some finish on.

[kato]

Then again, we calve early, send calves to pasture who can make use of the grass themselves, along with their mothers, wean early, feed hard, and by the time backgrounded calves are heading to pasture, ours are finished, or nearly so.

For us, we can't wait an extra year for the income, and don't have the land to grass those calves anyway. Our forage supply is just enough for the cows. Not a problem for steers on feed, though because they get straw.

It's whatever works for you.