Grass fed beef

Bullocks

I think with the right label it certainly could get a slice of the market . But you would nearly want to be selling it yourself , I wouldn't like to be relying on the factories to pay a premium and keep it honest .
The age limit wouldn't suit grass fed either , the father would have killed plenty of fr bullocks years ago more or less off grass but they would have been heading for their fourth birthday and outwintering them up to their oxters in muck around the round feeder wouldn't have been a bother back then .
Outwintering any big number of cattle now isn't really possibe where I am anyhow and keping them in the shed and keeping them thriving on silage without a pinch of nuts isn't easy without very good silage . I wonder would there be room for a home grown oats/barley maybe even as arable silage in a grass fed beef label ?

Count Mondego

Sure even the Hereford and Angus schemes are a joke. Probably 80% of beef qualifying are 50% Friesian. I've yet to see a menu in a restaurant that advertises Friesian steak. Surely to qualify they should be proper pedigree from those breeds?

blue5000

White Clover wrote: »

Weighed a shot of Bullocks here last Saturday, a mix of Friesian, Angus, Hereford and half a dozen or so simmental. All out of Friesian/ holstein cows. Weighed previous to that on 9th November.
Wintered on slats (no mats) and fed good quality bale silage and 2kg/HD/day of a good 16 % nut. Average weight gain of 0.68kg/HD/day.
Tbh I don't know if they'd have done much better on straw? Haven't bedded cattle here for years.

I reckon the protein content was too low, that's why you only got .68kg/day.

Canaryblue

The problem with any niche beef label like this is, it works great when you're selling the steaks but with the lower quality cuts and the mince people begin to care less.

White Clover

blue5000 wrote: »

I reckon the protein content was too low, that's why you only got .68kg/day.

I was happy with the weight gain. This was from 9th November. These cattle won't be finished 'til summer. What are other people aiming for?

Miname

White Clover wrote: »

I was happy with the weight gain. This was from 9th November. These cattle won't be finished 'til summer. What are other people aiming for?

I'd say you done alright with them. .68 is nothing to be sneezed at with dairy bred stock over the winter.

ganmo

Bullocks wrote: »

I wonder would there be room for a home grown oats/barley maybe even as arable silage in a grass fed beef label ?

Wheat, barley and oats are technically grasses so you could get away wit it

Panch18

We are buying cattle at about 15 months, keeping them for about 15-20 months and killing them

We never feed them anything but grass and only silage indoors

sthilmick

ganmo wrote: »

Wheat, barley and oats are technically grasses so you could get away wit it

Technically or not they are still cereals

sthilmick

Panch18 wrote: »

We are buying cattle at about 15 months, keeping them for about 15-20 months and killing them

We never feed them anything but grass and only silage indoors

How do you find their finishing

Panch18

sthilmick wrote: »

How do you find their finishing

Pretty much as you'd expect

AA and Herefords finish no problem
Friesans with any hint hint of hol will drag on
Continentals, well most can go to any weight you want really

Got out of friesans this year. Try to go half AA or Hereford and get them gone a bit earlier and then other half continental taking longer

We had black baldies killed in June last year on grass only, and other Hereford and Angus in July so this lightens the load as the grass slows down

We've been at cattle for a long time now and have never fed them anything only grass and silage. In the current environment especially get as much grass into cattle so they are finished as cheap as possible is our motto

PGT

I have type 2 diabetes, my wife has arthritis and my daughter has allergies. These are all inflammatory conditions. Diabetes research is honing in on the cause - dietary fat around the pancreas, liver and kidneys interfering with the production and regulation of essential hormones such as incretins and insulin. A recent clinical trial has had 100% success in curing type 2 diabetes after an 8 week ultra low calorie diet. My theory is that excess omega 6 oils are causing inflammation in these fat deposits. Grass fed beef and dairy are higher in omega 3 oils and lower in omega 6 oils. Vegatable oils such as sunflower oil are exceedingly high in omega 6. Grass fed dairy fats and saturated fats such as coconut oil are far healthier.

PGT

I hope your dream becomes reality soon.

djmc

I know l might get slated for saying so but I think that raw cow and goats milk are far better for allergy's and health aswell.
The antibiotics for TB were discovered from noting that milk maid's very seldom contracted the disease because they were drinking more raw milk.

Markcheese

Theres a lad in mallow market(think he does bishops town market too) who sells organic dexter beef, totally grass fed... nice beef (joints and steaks are smaller cos they're only small beasts)