Another educate me

When I raised cattle back in the 90s,corn/feed fed beef would bring better prices.mine were grass fed.my question is it takes longer for grass fed steers to reach selling size.so in todays market who makes more on a steer- grass fed or corn fed?

No easy answer to that.....lot less overhead on grass fed cattle.Maybe the rate of gain is a little slower, but grass fed cattle tend to look less nutty and get bring a higher price from a sharp buyer. Then again if you can buy grain for less than the cost of production, or feed your own grown grain instead of selling into a depressed market, you might come out ahead as well. Everyone's profit margin and market opportunities for both cattle and grains will be different.

Ben

I remember grass fed beef we had in the 60's meant pastured animals and pretty tough meat to eat. Farmers must do something different these days or no one would want it.

Define NUTTY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

If the feeders are purchased from a rancher or from the sale barn and there is a big bank note against them I doubt if they will be grass fed for a year VS corn fed for six months.

The big difference is that, in general, grass fed is leaner than corn fed, and if you overcook grass fed, it dries out due to lack of fat and you might as well chew on your boot. True grass fed also tastes different, to the consumer used to grain fed, they will tell you it tastes wild or gamey. To me, corn fed has a very mild flavor and kind of sweet.

It may not be which is better, grass or grain.
It may be more like what grows best where I live.
Don't think SV can grow corn, yet he can still raise cows on grass.
Some places around me, the ground is too hilly to till, yet it can grow grass.
When we had a bad corn year, we made silage out of it.

Any place where the land is good for growing row crops, corn, wheat or soy, is far too expensive to graze cattle on. You can even get a better rate of return doing cash rent on top quality land, then you can get doing grass fed beef. That being said, there are exceptions to every rule. If you are doing organic, or selling directly to folks that are willing to pay extra, sure it could work. For the average Joe, trying to finish cattle on grass, you had better have access to some land that can only grow grass. Either to hilly, rocky, to thin of soil, not enough annual rain, but will grow a bit of grass, have at it. Most of the pasture land is used for brood cows to raise calves, which go into feed lots and eat corn. Its the fat in the meat that gives it the flavour humans crave.

Well, long story short, if a grass fed steer producer is marketing the meat as such, they may be seeing some premium market dollars for it. But that consumer market, especially where premium dollars can be seen, is pretty much limited to the all natural or organic world. Which may or may not be implementing grass fed (I don't know, I don't shop in those stores). Those producers may or may not be feeding all natural or organic grown corn to the steers.
But, if sold to the packing plant where all the other corn fed steers end up, there is no way they are seeing any premium dollars, and thier operation is penciling out a much less profit margin. If not, its penciling out at a loss, and no income at all.
So basically, if the meat is not marketed as grass fed in the end, it is pointless to do.
Corn fed adds flavor to the meat. But more importantly, it aids in marbling fat within the meat, which makes the meat way more tender.
Only health watch eaters who are watching thier fat intake, are going to buy this grass fed stuff. So, that highly limits the marketing of it. And this meat has to be processed, marketed, and kept seperatly through all phases, and labeled to target that consumer.
I raise cattle. And would never even think about trying to finish feed steers on grass. My pocket book sure aint big enough for that.

Just how long to get a grass fed steer to 1200 he will be so old he can vote

Dang auto correct....should be gutty!!,

BEN