A friend just purchased a home on 30 acres. The property is about 1/3 -1/2 coastal pasture with water available. He plans on buying a calf to raise and has offered to let me put one on the pasture also. My question is: is it cost effective to raise a single calf like this and have it butchered or should I stick to buying my beef from Brookshire's?

A lot depends on what kind of beef you like. To be honest, just sticking a calf out in a pasture and letting him eat and grow isnt going to guarantee a great beef cattle. In fact, there is a good chance that you'll end up with lower quality meat than you are used to if you usually get choice or prime. Remember you will also incur vet bills and such. I'd see how your buddy does with his first. Try some of his out and see if it is the quality you like. Also, a full steer is a lot of beef and a lot of random cuts that you normally may not eat.

Long story, if you just go to the store and buy the cheapest steak then you'll be fine with the quality but it probably will cost more and you'll end up with a bunch of random cuts you won't usually use. If you are more discerning and get better meat, I'm being the fat content on this one won't be up to what you normally like. I won't get into the health side of it because that is a completely different debate.

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you'll end up with a bunch of random cuts you won't usually use.

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This happens to a lot of people. "I'd like it all ribeye, please."

Given your scenario, I'd continue kicking the can down the road

Easiest recommendation if you want multiple cuts of beef. You and your friend may enjoy the thought of raising and having butchered your own calf but it will be tough--very tough. Go to feedlot near you and pick out " finished " calf and have them take it to butcher. Many times others want to do same thing so you can split cost of calf and cost of butchering. Get cuts as you desire and eliminate cuts you don't want ( have them made into hamburger meat ) They do this at Graham Feedlot in Gonzales and I would think many others would also. Odds of getting better steaks goes up. Good luck

Log cabin is right... get a grain - finished calf. Pick out a good charolais cross "smoke" calf (black ones probably more expensive - you don't eat the hide). If you can get it at Graham in Gonzales, just take it up the road to Buchholtz.

Even turning a large part to hamburger, you're still going to have soup bones, tongue, organ meats, etc. You will likely need a completely empty freezer. It will also be the most expensive meat you've ever eaten.

If you like barbacoa, lengua, tripas, mojejas and brains more than you like steak, go ahead and do it. But if, like most people, you like the beef part of a cow, your gonna end up with a bunch of stuff you wont eat.

No one answered the question. Yes it is cost effective. The meat will be fine.

500# steer = $1100
Grass til he's 900# = free
Finishing ration for 3 months = $800
Processing = $1000

Say 750#'s beef @$6/# = $4500

we have been purchasing finished steers from local FFA show auctions for 6 years. depending on the size of the steer, we usually get 650-750 lbs of meat. purchase price varies depending on the auction but anywhere from $1800-2500. another $500-$600 for processing or roughly $.55 per pound on hoof. the meat has always been great and we alway have guests ask about it when eating over. very convenient to not worry about buying meat at the store. avg $4-5 per pound for steaks, roasts, filet, and ground beef.

Here's another idea:

Find someone to buy 1/2 the beef for $6 or $7 per pound. Your 1/2 is pretty much free.

1000 to process is high.

Make sure you put a couple out there at a time. Cows are a herd animal so need friends as my aunt says.

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No one answered the question. Yes it is cost effective. The meat will be fine.

500# steer = $1100
Grass til he's 900# = free
Finishing ration for 3 months = $800
Processing = $1000

Say 750#'s beef @$6/# = $4500

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500 lb steer would not be $1,100. Auction prices are not that high. Sold several to mid-tex last week @ $1.85 and that is pretty high. Also don't need to put on feed for 3 months. Have eaten some straight off the pasture. Taste just as good. Processing fee is also too high.

Um, 500lb #1 steers are bringing $220/cwt and rising.

I would be glad to take as many semi truck loads of 500wt large frame #1's as you can send me at $185!

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No one answered the question. Yes it is cost effective. The meat will be fine.

500# steer = $1100
Grass til he's 900# = free
Finishing ration for 3 months = $800
Processing = $1000

Say 750#'s beef @$6/# = $4500

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500 lb steer would not be $1,100. Auction prices are not that high. Sold several to mid-tex last week @ $1.85 and that is pretty high. Also don't need to put on feed for 3 months. Have eaten some straight off the pasture. Taste just as good. Processing fee is also too high.

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925 to auction + cost of paying someone to haul one cow because these guys dont have a trailer might get you close to 1100. Same on processing. Still cheaper than grocery stores

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Um, 500lb #1 steers are bringing $220/cwt and rising.

I would be glad to take as many semi truck loads of 500wt large frame #1's as you can send me at $185!

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Where are they bringing $2.20 lb?

Brought that at Gonzales. Of course, those were #1's.

I've never been to a sale barn in my life where they grade livestock. Every one I've been to the heifer walks in and the auctioneer starts it off at whatever price they choose based on a 5 second glance.

I want some of that $1.85 action, too. I have seen $2.50 and more on good steers at that weight lately.

Go buy a whole ribeye for $221, whole Top Sirloin $161 and a whole tender $80. All prime! Cut them into 1.25" steaks ... vacumn seal in a food saver and..


All done at Costco. $400 and 39 steaks later...

Sorry... $12.40 for the strips, $14.70 for the ribeyes,and $8.80 for each of the filets!
AND..... no hassel/bull****!

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I want some of that $1.85 action, too. I have seen $2.50 and more on good steers at that weight lately.

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Go to Mid Tex in Navasota and load your trailer. 99% are selling from 1.80-2.05. What sale barn are you seeing $2.50?

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A lot depends on what kind of beef you like.To be honest, just sticking a calf out in a pasture and letting him eat and grow isnt going to guarantee a great beef cattle.In fact, there is a good chance that you'll end up with lower quality meat than you are used to if you usually get choice or prime.

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If he doesn't know how to cook grass-fed beef, then he probably will think it is lower quality beef. Grass fed beef is usually leaner and must be cooked at a lower temperature, but if you cook it correctly, it is easily worth the effort.

Remember that grain fed beef is not about quality, but about the cost saved by bringing it up to slaughter weight faster.

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A lot depends on what kind of beef you like.To be honest, just sticking a calf out in a pasture and letting him eat and grow isnt going to guarantee a great beef cattle.In fact, there is a good chance that you'll end up with lower quality meat than you are used to if you usually get choice or prime.

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If he doesn't know how to cook grass-fed beef, then he probably will think it is lower quality beef. Grass fed beef is usually leaner and must be cooked at a lower temperature, but if you cook it correctly, it is easily worth the effort.

Remember that grain fed beef is not about quality, but about the cost saved by bringing it up to slaughter weight faster.

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Bingo

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No one answered the question. Yes it is cost effective. The meat will be fine.

500# steer = $1100
Grass til he's 900# = free
Finishing ration for 3 months = $800
Processing = $1000

Say 750#'s beef @$6/# = $4500

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500 lb steer would not be $1,100. Auction prices are not that high. Sold several to mid-tex last week @ $1.85 and that is pretty high. Also don't need to put on feed for 3 months. Have eaten some straight off the pasture. Taste just as good. Processing fee is also too high.

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I wouldn't put it on feed, either. Finishing on grain is all about bringing it up to slaughter weight quickly.

When I was a kid, we always saved a calf or two each year for our own consumption. Instead of going to a feedlot, it was kept on pasture until time to the butcher -- about another year. The resulting beef was far better than grain fed beef.

When I was in high school, there was a steakhouse in Dalhart that had a great reputation in the Panhandle. Some friends of mine and I ate there one evening. The friends who grew up on store-bought beef thought it was good, but being used to grass-fed beef from the farm that was cooked properly, that steakhouse beef couldn't even compete.

I can't fathom anyone going through this much ass pain. I know chickens aren't like cows, but I have a whole yard of them and still prefer to just buy it in store. Yard raised birds are tough, expensive and a lot of work when you can stop by HEB and get a bird ready To go for 5 bucks. I can't even raise a bird for twice that.

Maybe beef is different but there is more to getting a good eating bird than throwing it in the yard and hoping for the best.

One thing to remember about beef is that the flavor gets beefier as it ages.

It may take an extra year or so to get a steer up to slaughter weight on grass than it would on grain, but what that really means is that the meat from a grass-fed steer has an extra year's worth of flavor.

Chickens IMHO are not worth the effort. Beef is entirely different.

My family has raised cattle for commercial & show ring since 1947. We all showed cattle in Texas & have had many steers win at the county & major show levels. There are to factors on beef quality. Type of breed of cattle & marbling. The British & European breeds like Angus, Maine Anjou, Limousin, Charolais & so on have a high yield of fat then the other breeds. Grass feed beef can't delivery the marbling required to yield quality beef that would score Choice & Prime grades. Grass fed beef also has to be cooked different than grain fed beef due to the lack of marbling but also the flavor that grass fed beef has.

Grass-fed beef will usually be leaner with less fat in the edible portion than grain-fed beef, and this is due to less marbling, or the intramuscular flecks of fat measured in the ribeye steak. The conflict for beef customers and producers is that consumer studies indicate the desirable factors of tenderness, juiciness, and flavor-generally described as "quality" by consumers-are highly related to marbling content. One has to be careful what is described as "lean" because leanness will be relative to marbling content in the edible portion of the meat. Consumers generally describe a steak as "fat" when it has a large amount of exterior or subcutaneous fat left on it. Since the consumer seldom eats this fat or it is cut off in the processing phase, little attention is given to the real source of fat in beef steaks-marbling. As the marbling content is increased, we increase the amount of saturated and other fats in the edible portion. Studies & personal experience also show steaks can be too lean because it will not be as desirable to consumers. We walk a fine line between keeping the product lean and making it a desirable eating experience. Premium grain-fed beef such as Certified Angus Beef must meet a high standard of marbling content, and few grass-fed cattle can meet this standard. We have no idea if the higher levels of marbling-resulting in high Choice and Prime quality grades-in grass-fed meat have a positive relationship to eating satisfaction. One study showed it may actually be negative because of the influence on meat flavor (Steinberg, 2009).

If it was me first make sure you buy a breed of cattle that gives you a chance to yield a well marbled steer like a Angus or Maine Anjou or Maine Angus cross. Second I would feed the steer a quality grain a minimum 90 days before slaughter, some cattle take longer to finish. Grain feed needs to have a high fat content around 3 to 5% with a Crude Fiber no more than 8%, & a crude protein not less than 11.5%. The way we feed our show steers & steers we eat they eat grain full time starting them on a mid level grower ration grain like Lyssy & Eckel show calf #135. We provide coastal hay twice a day, and the cattle are turned out a night to graze in costal fields then brought back inside to their pens each morning. Steers are feed twice a day morning & evening then turned out to graze at night. Feed consumption needs to be increased as steer grows. Usually start around 14 pounds per day then increase a pound of feed every two weeks. About 90 days before slaughter or 90 days before a major show we switch to a finisher feed like Lyssy & Eckel #160. I also add additional steam rolled corn & barley which is soaked in beer. They are feed around 20 plus pounds a day which is split in two feedings morning & evening still getting fresh coastal hay with each feeding and they continue to get turned out at night to graze on coastal pasture.

At $1.85/lb you're getting screwed. In San Saba two weeks ago a lot of 12 475 pound steers brought $3/lb.

We sold two bull calves that weighed 600 lbs and netted us $1400 each.

Nice $$ Doc..

Got $2.35 - $2.50 a month ago, taking some later this week and hoping for more.

Prices have been over 2/lb in NE Texas for a while now. There may be some selling for less than $2 but I haven't seen it.

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At $1.85/lb you're getting screwed. In San Saba two weeks ago a lot of 12 475 pound steers brought $3/lb.

We sold two bull calves that weighed 600 lbs and netted us $1400 each.

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Not getting screwed. That is what they are selling for around this area. Prices are not the same all across the state.

Edit - I just saw you said lot. Of course they will bring more sold by the lot.

We got $2 for our 7 weights around Mid July. Prices are back to that level now. A couple weeks ago they dipped slightly.

From my experience, it's more cost effective to buy your beef. You get the cuts you want and don't have all that extra stuff(tongue, soap bones, etc). If you like all those different cuts, you do come out about even.

Sold one 400lb bull calf three weeks ago in Columbus and it brought just over $1000.