Adding Value - Demand Pull

[grassfarmer]

VS,"...we have done the odd grass fed for certain friends/customers...but they seem to come back to preferring the grain fed..." I guess that depends on your friends and your grass-fed beef product.
We process ours at 18 months max - but that is tough to accomplish. Ideally if we calved a month earlier it would make it easier. You won't make a job of grass fattening at less than 18 months because you need that maturity to get the finish. I eyeball finish - we grass-fed plenty in Scotland so can tell by the brisket "fill" and the cover over the tail if they are ready.

Really if you have the right genetics it is pretty easy - wrong genetics and it is damn near impossible. Sadly there are very few cattle with the right genetics in North America. With the right genetics your cattle will be almost fat, certainly well fleshed almost all their lives. A friend slaughtered a couple of steers off a bull I sold him. They were too young - they were late born and so weren't big enough by estimation to process but he did it anyway. One steer was about 900lbs the other about 800lb liveweight and they really surprised us - the beef was well marbled and tasted remarkably good. I would be real leery of doing that as a policy though especially if you don't know the genetics.

[greybeard]

When in Argentina it was easy to see the finish on the animals on their way to market as they hauled them on open trailers suited to their moderate climate. They certainly didn’t look like 4H steers, but looked about like a perfectly fleshed bred heifer coming off good grass in late fall. I was a bit surprised that their cattle weren’t wide and deeper bodied. Real moderate cattle from what I saw as a tourist.
Grass fed can produce some very tasty product, with no apologies necessary. Unfortunately, it will be a steep learning curve to provide a consistently good quality product.
I think the comparison to a purebred breeder is appropriate, as all management must be exceptional. The guy’s who can make it work will reap some real rewards, but many more will never make the whole deal happen.
Some of the best direct marketers I have talked to claim there is no “pull” for the product most areas?

[per]

We started our grass finishing program as a way to add value to our Hfs. We still don't market out strs this way as the hfs fill my demand. They do look like slightly over conditioned bred hfs. Almost all we have processed have graded AA and had enough fat to hang a full 21 days. Not all of my cattle can do this Yet. We are only buying bulls that are ultrasound to eventually have all of them "grass capable". With that and the fact the cows are expected to earn their keep without much mechanical help, improvement is expected every year.

[grassfarmer]

Not much "pull" in the rural areas maybe, plenty in the city though where all the population is.

[vagabonddreamer]

"We are only buying bulls that are ultrasound to eventually have all of them "grass capable".

Hey Per...do you mind expanding on what you mean by this???thx..vs

[per]

Well vega it might all nonsense but it makes sense to me to buy bulls that have been ultrasounded to try to determine bulls that might pass these traits on. The rib eye size and the marbling are what I am interested in. Then all the rest is the same common sense criteria that most of us use. EPDs, how they were fed, how the cows live etc. So far I am dealing with the Muntons in Lethbridge as they have been supplying several restaurants with their own beef and tracking data back to these UT traits. Their cows live on native grass most of the year like mine and as far as my own anecdotal evidence goes, their bulls survive my environment and husbandry. This was not meant to be a commercial, just one of the few that use UT on all their bulls.

[vagabonddreamer]

per thank you for the explanation...NOTHING is nonesense in this business anymore...i WISH..upon WISH...it was still just "tie em down and burn their hides"...the science of it is a bit daunting for an old time cowboy...

and it didnt come across as a commercial...its factually what you do in your operation and i appreciate the info..thx..vs