# Holsteins For Beef



## BuettnersLittleFarm (May 4, 2012)

I understand there are better breeds for beef cattle and greatly appreciate every ones input on all my questions in the past articles I posted..."BUT"...I have done a lot of research on the internet about the increasingly rise of prices for Holstein steers for beef...and everything I have read was in a positive way...Here is a link of one of many articles that I would like to share...Be easy on me, guys and gals, as I truly believe times are changing, lol...

http://farmshine.net/features/astonishing.html

http://farmshine.net/features/astonishing.html

P.S. Hope I copied and paste this link correctly...


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## jhm47 (May 4, 2012)

Yes, dairy calves and cull cows are worth more than in the past.  That being said, while dairy calves are bringing up to $200/head, beef calves are bringing $400/head in this area.  As to cull cows, a really fat Holstein will bring nearly as much as a beef cow.  

Now---- the reason for this is that most cull cows are utilized for hamburger.  Since Holsteins are usually leaner than beef cows, the packers can "blend" the resulting meat from the two, and this enables them to utilize more of the fat from the beef cows, which is usually trimmed, and sold for a much lower price.  Same goes for Holstein bulls, which will often sell for more $/cwt than beef bulls.

As to the calves, the Holsteins require much more feed / lb of gain.  The feed that they need is also more nutrient dense (ie grain) than beef calves, and since they grow more slowly, they take space in a feedlot for more time, which requires that the turnover is lower.  Believe me, the big feedlot guys have things figured out to the penny.  

What I'm trying to say is that the market is always the driving factor in the prices that people pay for feeder cattle.  The big feeders are in it to make a profit, and they don't usually make mistakes.

All this being said, I've eaten Holstein beef that was quite good.  Not as good as properly finished "beef" beef, but good enough that I enjoyed eating it.  If you want to feed out some Holstein calves, go for it.  I just wanted to warn you that they will require more feed per pound of gain.  Also, anyone who would like to go to "grassfed" beef would be ill-advised to try it with Holsteins.  JMHO


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## BuettnersLittleFarm (May 4, 2012)

Thank you JHM47 for your reply and input...We are not a commercial farmer or tend to be soon, this is strickly a family project and only have room for 5 to 6 cows for our freezers and to sell...If we do decide to be a commercial farmer in the years to come, then "YES", definately will invest into the traditional beef breeds and probably will go that direction next year and stay away from the Holsteins...This is our first year in raising calves and learned a great deal, so if we make any mistakes, we can learn from the Holsteins(school of hard knox) before we invest into the more expensive breeds next year...Besides, from what I heard about Holstein steers being so aggressive and dangerous, that kinda scares me a lot to try again next year for that breed...We plan to both butcher and sell them when they get around 1000 lbs late Fall early winter to keep the feed bill down...
Advice well taken on what you said...
 Just amazes me how the price of beef is going so high for all(most) breeds of cattle, but yet, I keep reading on these posts that the Beef Farmers are not making money, still trying to figure that one out, lol...
Thank You Again...


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## Snowhunter (May 4, 2012)

I will second the higher feed conversion on Holsteins...

I have  one cow, 1/2 Jersey 1/2 Holstein and my oh my can she put away some food  She easily eats 2x the amount of my pure Jersey cow. Its insane and the feed bill shows a difference. I only have 3 cows and Honey eats the same amount as both Jerseys put together. 

You will have much better feed conversion with a beef breed, or even 1/2 beef 1/2 dairy, then you would with a full blooded Holstein, and your wallet will definitely thank you for it as well. The extra money spent on the beef calf will be much less then the increase in your feed bill for the Holstein calf.


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## WildRoseBeef (May 4, 2012)

BuettnersLittleFarm said:
			
		

> I keep reading on these posts that the Beef Farmers are not making money, still trying to figure that one out, lol...


It's really not hard that to figure out, really.  The biggest thing costs involved in the conventional way of raising cattle is fuel, fertilizer and feed. Put all these expenses together and net profits are negative.  But, if you take out all of these expenses or minimize them to the point where they're not going to significantly affect profit, then a producer can get a positive profit.  Producers who remove or minimize the fuel, feed and fertilizer costs by adopting management practices to more maximize and use the stuff beneath their feet are called "low-cost producers."

The use of cattle who are highly efficient on forage (or have "grass-fed genetics"), mob/rotational grazing and winter grazing practices are such practices that will make a producer NOT loose his/her butt in cattle.  Buying low and selling high is also a good way to gain profit; direct marketing your beef to consumers is also a good little niche market that a number of producers are taking advantage of, targeting those consumers who don't want the supermarket beef.


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## BuettnersLittleFarm (May 4, 2012)

I understand about the "FUEL" issue, but do not understand the "Fertilizer and Feed" part...I am 58 years old and back when I was a kid helping both my GrandFather and Uncle with there cows, they use the manure from there cows, chickens, pigs, etc., for fertilizer to grow and make there own feed to cut costs...and did not have all this exspensive fancy equipment like now days many farmers use for the same amount of cattle...Granted, fuel was cheaper then but the farming practices seemed a lot different...I sat on the back of a 2 row corn planter pulled by a John Deere A eating dust all day filling up the corn buckets...Now days, every one seems to have fancy air conditioned cab units with killer stereos, etc...Today, almost everything is automatic that costs big money to buy this equipment...In my opinion, I truly believe the small time farmer that goes back to pure basics makes way more profit than all this modern stuff, lol...


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## WildRoseBeef (May 4, 2012)

BuettnersLittleFarm said:
			
		

> I understand about the "FUEL" issue, but do not understand the "Fertilizer and Feed" part...I am 58 years old and back when I was a kid helping both my GrandFather and Uncle with there cows, they use the manure from there cows, chickens, pigs, etc., for fertilizer to grow and make there own feed to cut costs...and did not have all this exspensive fancy equipment like now days many farmers use for the same amount of cattle...Granted, fuel was cheaper then but the farming practices seemed a lot different...I sat on the back of a 2 row corn planter pulled by a John Deere A eating dust all day filling up the corn buckets...Now days, every one seems to have fancy air conditioned cab units with killer stereos, etc...Today, almost everything is automatic that costs big money to buy this equipment...In my opinion, I truly believe the small time farmer that goes back to pure basics makes way more profit than all this modern stuff, lol...


I have to agree, for sure and you do bring up some good points.  But I think the main thing is that there are producers who can't help but have to buy fert and feed because either the manure that's accumulated in the pens isn't the right stuff for their soils or there's not enough manure to use on the fields.  With feed, there's the fancy-dancy formulated feeds made for different classes of livestock, not just the chopped barley or ground corn that is easy to get from the grain bins and running the seeds through the feed grinder. But then you get operations that don't make their own feed and have to rely on outside sources for it, and that's where costs can also accumulate. 

Like you, with the stockers we had we wouldn't buy any feed to feed them, they were all fed from the hay grown from our hay fields, barley silage from our feilds, and chopped barley grain from the barley we grew in the fields. But the biggest cost factor for us that would've put us continually into debt if Mom never had an off-farm job was the fertilizer and the fuel and the costs that Dad had to add up in machinery repairs.  We never had any fancy modern machinery either, all the machinery we had was used or passed down from father to son.  We never winter-grazed our cattle either, we had to turn the tractor on every day or couple days to feed them.  Ironically the little tractor we had was highly efficient on fuel, and it wasn't a modern miracle itself!  

But from my POV the main reason for farmers not being able to make it or be always not making much money is probably because there's no price fairness (for lack of better terms); the pay check a producer gets at the end of the year isn't the same as the paycheck that the manufacturers and wholesalers get or the meat packers get for selling their product.  

I agree that a person that invests more in fancy equipment is going to get their butts in a sling faster than if a person gets their equipment used from an auction.  One producer that came to our beef class at the university said that if a body's going to be doing that he might as well be in the equipment business, not the farming business itself. 

With cattle, IMO the low-cost producer is one who doesn't invest in hardly any equipment and is capable of having grazing practices that will sustain the land for years to come, helping improve the land--the soil and plants--instead of mining it for minerals and nutrients. Up here there is a local producer that does just that, has a cowherd himself and the only machinery he owns is a quad and a bale truck.  The rest he gets contract work to get bales in, rent land to swath graze his cattle on, and rents more land to graze using mob-grazing techniques.  

Definitely the small producers have an edge when it comes to this, but the big guys are capable of doing it too if they are willing to change their practices for the better.


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## swiss.susan (Jun 11, 2012)

I love the taste of a dairy breed, much more than that of a beef breed, but my husband is correct when he says they are old enough to vote by the time they are finished :/  Much more economical to raise a beef breed or a cross.


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## BrownSheep (Jun 11, 2012)

My Ag teacher actually think they marble better than most beef breeds.


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## feed grass (Jun 11, 2012)

BrownSheep said:
			
		

> My Ag teacher actually think they marble better than most beef breeds.


proven fact...  90% of all Hol grade prime..  95% of them grade choice or better.. 

find any other breed that consistent?  

I still wouldn't take extra marbling, for the lack of square inches of REA-- or the extra days on feed...

and I grew up eating damned ole Holstein nearly every day.


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