quote:

Originally posted by Norseman:
I want to raise my own.

quote:

Originally posted by p dog shooter:
All those Holstein bull calf's go some place right now the market is very hot for them.

Had friend the raise Black angus the beef we got from him was very good. Herefords are another good breed.

A lot of the dairy farmers I know well do a Holstein angus or Hereford cross.

They have tasted good to me.

quote:

Originally posted by K Evans:
I don't know what part of the country you are in but Angus and Hereford are probably the most popular in my area along with a cross between Angus and something else.
P dog shooter is correct about the dairy bulls, if you have the time you can buy day old calves and bottle feed them for a few weeks and then they can eat on their own and if you have the grass they are cheap to raise (but that goes for any calf you buy), but it is pretty time consuming for a couple of weeks. Castrating at a few weeks of age (either banding or cutting) makes them a bit gentler but but I read somewhere that more people are hurt and killed every year by dairy breed bulls than any other kind. They just sometimes go crazy. I had one that my kids bottle fed and was as gentle as a pet dog until one day he just went bat shit crazy and tried to stomp me into the mud in my barn. He wouldn't let me leave the barn for a long time. I sold him as soon as it was dry enough to get a trailer into the pasture and he tried to get any human that got anywhere near the fence. Last one of those that I'll ever raise.
Cattle are pretty high around my area as well and the "experts" project it will stay that way for at least two more years. If you will look at the link below you can look at the market report for a lot of cattle auctions across Texas. Look at the prices for pairs (a mama cow with a calf and probably pregnant again), the last pairs I bought 2 years ago averaged $780.00 a pair.
I think you can get good meat out of just about any breed you can get and take care of, you don't have to feed a lot of expensive feed or give them hormones to have them gain weight; it just takes grass and time.

https://www.texasagriculture.g...vestockAuctions.aspx

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Originally posted by Grizzly Adams:
[QUOTE]Originally posted by Norseman:
I am not into dairy breeds, strictly beef breeds.
I want a decent steak that is tender and flavorful.
I am sitting on the porch and looking at all these alfalfa and orchard grass fields in my backyard and asking myself why can't I get a decent steak with all of this feed I have?[/QUOTE

Cause it takes grain to make a good steak.

Grizz ]

quote:

Originally posted by muzza:
We have a few acres here in New Zealand , and we run a few beef animals . But we on-sell them , and use the money to buy the cuts of beef we prefer. That way we dont have a freezer full of cuts we dont like much , and we never end up throwing out old , freezer-burnt meat.

Just something to consider .

quote:

How Much Meat Can You Expect from a Fed Steer?
Rosie Nold – 1/2/2013
iGrow HomeLivestockBeef

The yield of edible meat from a beef carcass often comes as a bit of a surprise, even to those that have had their own meat processed for years. A previous iGrow article covered dressing percent—the percent of the live animal weight that becomes carcass weight, which for fed beef is usually around 62-64%.

In other words, from a 1200 pound steer, you can expect a 740 – 770 pound carcass. But from that carcass there is another significant portion that will not end up in your freezer or in the meat case for consumers. The expected yield of retail cuts from beef carcasses ranges from approximately 55% to 75%, depending on the fatness and muscling of the animal, and the type of cuts produced. A typical 750 carcass with ½ inch of fat over the rib eye and average muscling of a 12-13 square inch rib eye will yield about 65% of the carcass weight as retail cuts (roasts and steaks) and lean trim.

So, in other words, you start with a 1200 pound steer, which has a dressing percent of 63%, so that you have a 750 pound carcass. From that you will get about 65% of the carcass weight, or roughly 490 pounds, as boneless, trimmed beef. If you look at that as a percentage of the live weight of the steer you started with, it is approximately 40% of the live weight. Remaining components of the weight are fat trim and bone. Fat can be highly variable, but in the example used, fat would account for approximately 20% of the carcass weight or 12% of the live weight. Bone accounts for the other 15% of carcass weight. Recognize that these are average figures! These can vary considerably due to the fat and lean composition of the animal, as well as the trim level and methods of cutting the meat.

However, it does demonstrate that it is a relatively small percentage of the live animal that ends up in the retail meat case as high quality edible meat. This is one factor that helps explain the difference between price per pound of a live animal and price per pound of retail beef.

If you look further at specific cuts of beef, it becomes even more apparent why some cuts are significantly higher priced in the retail meat case. Again using the example above, and cutting the carcass into primarily boneless steaks and roasts, the highest percentage of carcass weight, or 20-25%, actually ends up as lean trim. This 150 -185 pounds of lean trim would likely be packaged as ground beef. The next highest percentages would come from the chuck and round portions of the carcass. Boneless chuck roasts and steaks would typically account for 10-12% of carcass weight. Round roasts and steaks, including top round, eye of round, knuckle or sirloin tip, and bottom round would account for another 10-12%. However, it is when we look at the “middle meats”, those from the loin and rib, that the percentages are much less. Using a primarily boneless cutting method, you could take home strip loin, tenderloin, sirloin and rib eye steaks. All together, these steaks may add up to 10-12 % of carcass weight. But if you look at individual types of steaks, each one would be less than 3%, with tenderloins even less, at about 1.5% or less of carcass weight. What does that translate to? With a yield of 2.5% for strip loin steaks, that would be 18 pounds of strip steaks. For tenderloin steaks, or filets, a yield of 1.25% would give us 9 pounds of tenderloin steaks. Ever had a great grilled tri-tip? You’ll only get two tri-tip roasts, each weighing about 1 ½ pounds from that 750 pound carcass.

So, to summarize: A 1200 steer, ½ inch fat, average muscling, yields a 750 pound carcass. The 750 pound carcass yields approximately:
490 pounds boneless trimmed beef
150 pounds fat trim
110 pounds bone
A specific example of how the 490 pounds of boneless, trimmed beef could break out includes:
185 pounds lean trim, or ground beef
85 pounds round roasts and steaks
90 pounds chuck roasts and steaks
80 pounds rib and loin steaks
50 pounds other cuts (brisket, flank, short ribs, skirt steak)
Maybe this helps explain how the products from a 1200 pound steer to fit in your freezer!