Grass Fed Beef programs...

Interested in some of your thoughts on Grass Fed Beef and if you think this program has a significant future in how we market beef. What do you think with regards to health benefits, palatable issues and how we cook this product? Will it have an impact? Also, will Show Steer selection change if Grass Fed becomes more demanding? Etc., etc..

I don't see the selection of show steers, especially club cavles or crosses, changing.  You will always want that chubby, bug assed steer, atleast in my opinion.  If there is more grass fed beef, I think more people will want to go back to grain fed- The tenderness of brass fed beef isn't usually as high as grain or corn fed.

I think grass fed beef taste like crap. Thats just my opinion. I want my beef to be grain fed the last few months prior to butcher.

Telos. Thats what we do here all grass fed. This is a web site for the packer I buy for http://www.capegrimbeef.com.au/home.html the demand is good domestically and internationally. The cattle we breed are no different to the feed lot industry they are not smaller frame but frame 5.5 to 6.5 British bred cows with using a British or Euro bull

RankeCattleCo said:

If there is more grass fed beef, I think more people will want to go back to grain fed- The tenderness of brass fed beef isn't usually as high as grain or corn fed.

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The flavor is different ( I think better not bland ) but all cattle on a consistently high and rising nutritional plain before slaughter are tender

What is the going rate for a grass fed heifer? We have a freemartin yearling heifer that is a year old and about 800 pounds. Thinking of selling her, so I was wondering how much she is worth...as grass fed beef that is 

How many acres are out there to sustain a large amount of grass fed beef. Many parts of the country can sustain a cow calf operation but can they carry last years calves as well. Did they not start feeding grain because they could finish cattle faster, it took less acres per head, and at the time corn was cheap. I know where I live the grass is good for cow calf operations, will not finish a calf out very well. There are places in the west were it can take 80 acres per cow calf, I am not sure you can finish a calf out very fast on that, nor would it have the flavor (unless you like sage beef) most would want.

These are just some of my thoughts and questions on the matter.

I think there's a good future for grass fed beef. I think its important that we start to question the food that we eat, to try eat as healthy as possible.  Grass fed beef is more healthy in every aspect than grain finished beef, it might not taste as good in some peoples mind, but its certainly healthier.

However, seeing as I only have show cattle, grass fed just isn't going to bring me home any ribbons. So i pump the grain to them and get them too fat, then they are hard to get bred and harder to calve out. I love showing as much as the next person, but its hard not question our tactics sometimes.

I do keep keep a grass fed steer for my own personal consumption though.

for a period of time, i used to hang out at whole foods which sells grass-fed beef.  

i have yet to see anyone purchase any.  but they must sell some.

also, all cattle are not tender fed on a consistently high and rising nutritional plane.

if they were, no one would have investigated tenderness.

What are your thoughts with this ad.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6J2K2tsNQyA&feature=relmfu

To each their own but grain fed hold the hormones please, for me and my customers.  (clapping)

grass fed has hit hard in our area, honestly I don't know of any farmer who can keep it in stock. We now have a farmers market in every town, with some of the larger towns having multiple markets. As far as taste, not all breeds will work on a grass diet, or even in certain areas. I myself raise two breeds, I focus on Maine an jous/composite cattle for grain fed/ show stock and Murray greys for our grass fed beef. On my grass fed steers whole sale I get $800 a 1/4 after processing costs. I recently started doing the farmers markets, I'm selling 2# burger for $12, steaks are $15-$19 and various cuts range from $7lb on up. This past sat I sold out in an hour 1/2 on my grass fed steaks versus my composites. Moral of my rant is this, as a farmer you have to diversify, even if it seems silly if the public is willing to pay the cost of it, you should market it.

Telos said:

What are your thoughts with this ad.

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Lots of emotion, short on facts.

vc said:

How many acres are out there to sustain a large amount of grass fed beef. Many parts of the country can sustain a cow calf operation but can they carry last years calves as well. Did they not start feeding grain because they could finish cattle faster, it took less acres per head, and at the time corn was cheap. I know where I live the grass is good for cow calf operations, will not finish a calf out very well. There are places in the west were it can take 80 acres per cow calf, I am not sure you can finish a calf out very fast on that, nor would it have the flavor (unless you like sage beef) most would want.

These are just some of my thoughts and questions on the matter.

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Well put.

knabe said:

also, all cattle are not tender fed on a consistently high and rising nutritional plane.

if they were, no one would have investigated tenderness.

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knabe obviously I should not of said all cattle depends on breed and to a certain point genetics.  
FYI Here is the link to the grading system we use in Aust based on eating quality http://www.mla.com.au/Marketing-red-meat/Guaranteeing-eating-quality/MSA-beef-on-farm/Grading In our state we take eating quality so seriously HGP's are illegal.
I agree you need good quality grass and/or fodder and plenty of it for most of the year for grass fed to work.

A large number of Beltie breeders sell grass fed beef, with great demand and profit.

I am too small to make that happen, don't have the pasture.

I think the Belties even had a grass-fed steer class at Louisville last year.  Didn't get to see it, but would have been interesting to me.

Telos said:

What are your thoughts with this ad.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6J2K2tsNQyA&feature=relmfu

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Where's the steers?  All I saw was old cows grazing?  No calves even...  I've never seen a cattle operation with matures cows on drylot all year and not eating grass.

Interesting hockey puck fact-- will have to try that next time I grill.

Has our chef, ever seen sunlight?

The Texas and Southwestern Cattle Raisers Association is on a tear right now in their message to cattle producers to not let uninformed urbanites dictate to our consumers what's good and bad.  The recent pink slime debate really came to the forefront because of a Harvard-eductated lawyer-turned-stay at home mom had too much time on her hands and decided to investigate exactly what was being served to her kids at school.  End result - the average public school will have to spend more money (that they don't have) to get adequate protein to their kids.  Probably in the form of more soy than beef.

Agriculture isn't a game in the real world, it's a life and death business.  We are only slightly more than a century removed from widespread famines in Europe.  People did starve to death in this country during the Depression.  What did the cattle industry look like prior to the 1940s - A WHOLE LOT OF GRASS FED BEEF.  How many of your grandparents could afford to eat beef routinely?  Not many. There is a reason red beans and corn bread was such a staple of the south - its because that's the cheapest way to get all of the necessary proteins and vitamins/minerals in a daily diet.  We have time to peck at a computer because we aren't worried where our next meal is coming from.

Land is the most expensive input to cattle ranching by a longshot.  It's why big business hasn't taken over the cattle business - it requires to much capital to be tied up long-term.  Grass fed beef requires dramatically more land than any other method - that's why it will never be a significant component of the beef industry.  It does not make economic sense in any way fashion or form.  People can play at it as a hobby and make a little money on a local scale if you do your own butchering, etc - but it is not a method that is sustainable long term on a large scale.

"Natural" beef is a different deal.  The addition of hormones via implants ekes out a few percentage points of performance that is not necessary in a commercial feedlot operation.  Really, for beef to qualify for most natural programs - you just have to implement a vigorous vaccination program which all but eliminates the need for antibiotics; avoid the use implants, and wean the animals yourself before sending them to the feedlot.  That approach satisfies most of the semi-valid concerns the general public has about health issues related to beef.