Grass fed cows

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My brother didn't do too bad at it. His daughter didn't hit puberty until 16 eating that clean beef, too.
 
this day in age Corn is the enemy. Around here if you buy hay for winter time you pay a premium due to a shortage. (drought in early spring)

The corn price is so high people are afraid to buy the feed.

This all translates into a dollar per pound.

However if its a cow or two for yourself then let them graze away and fill your freezer in the fall. A good beef cow can be fattened up in a year.
 
maybe you can snag a few heffers or some beefalo around closin time
 
I miss good beef:( One of the only things I miss about the Mid-West. Desert grazed beef sucks.
 
I've got a rancher I deal with a few miles from my house (I live in Redmond, WA, he is in Duvall). Grass fed, charges me $3 a pound. Not a single complaint, I pre-pay and this year P/U is the 10th of November.
 
This time of the year isn't the time to buy cattle unless you have already obtained enough hay for the winter. With the drought we have been in here all feed is very expensive. The normal round bail normally sells for $35 to $40 a bail and now the cheap ones are $95 a bail. On what you can do would depend on what your quality and yield of grass is. This link might help you.

[ame]http://www.ri.nrcs.usda.gov/technical/PDF/Small_Scale_Farm_Practices/Balancing_Animals_w_Forage.pdf[/ame]
 
Not a big fan of grass fed. Gives the meat a dairy cow taste. Give me a Black Angus which has been grain fed and you've got some good beef. With grain prices as high as they are we will all be eating desert grazed beef. If you have the land to raise a few head go for it. The market price will be high because of the drought. Hopefully no drought next year. tmm
 
toolmanmike said:
Not a big fan of grass fed. Gives the meat a dairy cow taste. Give me a Black Angus which has been grain fed and you've got some good beef. With grain prices as high as they are we will all be eating desert grazed beef. If you have the land to raise a few head go for it. The market price will be high because of the drought. Hopefully no drought next year. tmm
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My nephew says certified Angus is the way to go and feels that grass feeding them will be just fine. His grand father raised Angus on 400 acres with about 20 acres growing alfalfa for the cows to eat... they were delicious.
 
My Dad and I tried that back around 92 or so. Ran 70 head on 40 acres. Was not to long before they turned it all to dirt. Had to buy loads of hay to feed them after long. My neighbors seen all that hay and would buy some here and there. Sold the cows and lost money but seen that hay sales were keeping things going. So in 94 we opened a feed store.


But thats here in SoCal were we don't get much rain. Only have 3 horses out there now and still have to feed them a few months out of the year.



I know PA gets a lot of rain and every thing stays nice and green but I don't know if 12 is enough for even one cow. They can put down over 100lb of hay every 4 days or so.
 
My neighbor across the road knocks one in the head every year. Usually they are about 1 year old. I just had a steak he cooked after he went up in the woods in his f100 4x4 factory 390 4 speed and dragged a manzanita tree out with a cable and setup a a proper bar-b-q. I think it was the best tasting steak I ever had. The meat from his cows is excellent. Oh yea, he talks to them too, mostly tells them to stop bitching and shut up, I think that helps :)

He does a combo feeding process. Has 3 -4 cows or what ever they are heffers. Has 5 acres. Lets them just eat it till grass is mostly gone each year, during that time he gives them a little grain mixture occasionally. Then when the grass is gone, he uses alfhalpha hay and grass hay with more grain. The cow he will butcher, he gives more grain for the month before butchering.

I reckon he prefers keeping 2 cows and one calf for butchering each year as they dont go thru the the grass on the land and hay as fast.
 
I was in the cattle/calf business for a few years in the mid 90's. Had 40 acres and when we had rain and a small feed bill I did okay. I ran about 20 head on the 40 acres plus three horses grass got pretty thin in winter and I'm in Florida. Would I do it again? Not unless I had a few hundred acres and at least a 100 or so head.

On your 12 acres you might be able to feed 4 maybe 5 head and don't get a bull of your own. Just borrow or lease one if you want to raise a calf or two and rotate your helfers to breed every other year. It isn't as easy as most folks think. On your land you can feed your family but you won't make any money.
 
Burntorange70 said:
My Dad and I tried that back around 92 or so. Ran 70 head on 40 acres. Was not to long before they turned it all to dirt. Had to buy loads of hay to feed them after long. My neighbors seen all that hay and would buy some here and there. Sold the cows and lost money but seen that hay sales were keeping things going. So in 94 we opened a feed store.


But thats here in SoCal were we don't get much rain. Only have 3 horses out there now and still have to feed them a few months out of the year.



I know PA gets a lot of rain and every thing stays nice and green but I don't know if 12 is enough for even one cow. They can put down over 100lb of hay every 4 days or so.
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my nephew says 1 1200lb to 1500lb cow per acre. I should stick to A bodies!
 
We raise our own beef at home.. I have 4 acres of grass and I usually keep 2 to 4 head for this size... I like to average 1 cow per acre.

With water full time to trough they graze the field fine but honestly will not get to the full potential of size in one year for slaughter just on grass alone..

I bring them in at around 450 to 550 lbs and when they head out they are close to 1100 to 1400.

Red Angus cross short horn is usualy what we have...

Feed as I said is grazing plus a oats clean or dirty don't matter... from spring to Aug... once Sept rolls around my friend makes me some feed that consists of vitamins and minerals , grains , crush corn and molasses and filler

This process aids to fattening them up and the onset of the colder weather..

Late Decemeber they go for slaughter...

Been doing this since about s 2005 and haven't returned to the store yet for Beef...
 
The old way/I was told is 2 head per acre, but I am sure that has changed
with all the updated feed, but a molasses and a filler like good grain at the end of a good growing season, clover and alfalfa makes for a good harvest
Black Angus is the go to meat on the hoof here.
 
Hay around here is a small fortune. Neighbor was going to give it a go but changed his mind, worried about the $$$ end of it....
 
Many farmers in my area have gone to scrub cows to keep the field clean or are go0ing to dairy goats and small breed live stock. I have 25 acres and it hasn't had a hoof on it in 15 years. If you have a nice barn here you can make more money storing and feeding peoples pet horses. As for now I use the barn to store car parts and one old ground hog.
I must confess I do want some of the small breed cows. ( I have a short bed truck)
 
If you're serious about raising cows and want to know how many acres per cow check with your counties agricultural extension agency.
It's usually run by your state university.

You should be able to get a lot of your answers there.
I believe that the counties have their own requirements.

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Grass fed ? Theres gotta be a Cheech and Chong joke in there some place.
 
Lol Norshor. I wouldnt do it unless you want to save money on meat just get a couple for a year. You can get a few people to pre pay into one for meat to help with feed cost. My friends hay farm made more money for thier hay but he had less hay so it really wasnt a better year.
 
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