Grass-Finished Cattle Have Quality
How to Finish Cattle for High-Quality Beef
If your idea of a perfect steak includes the description "grain-finished", you're in the majority. Only an estimated 5% of the United States finished beef supply is forage-finished. However, if you market your cattle as freezer beef, in a farmers market or sell to a trendy restaurant, you're likely to get requests for grass-finished beef. The good news is it is possible to produce high quality beef on forages.
THINK LIKE A GRASS FARMER
Chad and Kim Woods regularly get their forage-finished cattle into the equivalent of the low choice grade, but they had a head start. Kim's father and uncle ran a dairy and were grazing their Guernseys on a mix of high-quality forages before grass-based dairies were common.
"They were doing rotational grazing in the '80s," said Chad. While Kim's uncle has passed away, her dad, Sam, 90, is still a partner in Spring Crest Farm, along with Kim's mom, Gail, who also have the last name of Woods.
Chad said, "He (Sam) was innovative with soil and pasture management, he was open-minded and worked with the soil and water. It was really good for Kim and me."
While still in the dairy business, they used alfalfa and orchardgrass at times for grazing. However, neither forage handled the hot summers well. So, three years ago when the Woodses swapped from selling horse hay to a forage-finished beef enterprise alone, they settled on novel endophyte tall fescue after seeing how well it did for hay. While they still have some Kentucky 31 tall fescue on their Hurdle Mills, North Carolina, operation, the toxin found in Kentucky 31 slows down gains, hampers reproduction and milk production, and makes cattle more susceptible to heat stress. As a result, they have already renovated around 100 acres with Martin 2Protek.
"It's done well. We've grazed it close. We've hayed it. We've spring stockpiled it. It is a little hardier," said Chad. He thinks the variety is also more upright than most of the other novel endophyte varieties, a characteristic they want so they have the option of cutting it for hay.
Once it is established, and they know they don't have a weed problem, they also add ladino and red clovers.
That mix is by no means their only forage. In November, after fenceline weaning their calves on hay and brewers grain for a couple of weeks, the calves go on winter annuals, normally wheat and oats, for a few more weeks. Next, they'll go to stockpiled fescue until early spring when the high-quality winter annuals take off again. Chad noted, "They'll gain 3 pounds per day, 2.5 pounds, easy." On stockpiled novel endophyte tall fescue, they'll still gain around 1 3/4 pounds per day.
After the flush of spring forage, the finishing steers go back to fescue until the summer annuals, often crabgrass or sorghum Sudan grass, are ready to graze.
In Hope Mills, North Carolina, Paige Smart also grazes her finishing cattle on a variety of forages. "We use a little bit of everything, a mix. We're intentional about where we plant and what. Every bite counts," she said.
Smart said she and her brother/business partner, Ryan Kennedy, try to plant forages with the highest sugar content possible, as long as they are adapted to their area and the season.
"In the cool season we are heavy on ryegrass and oats," Smart said. "We also try to include rapeseed, kale or radishes." Rapeseed is her favorite because it adds extra energy to forage mixes and is resilient.
"In the summer we might use small amounts of supplemental feed," she continued. "Bermudagrass and crabgrass are never going to give us the rocket gains like we get from the cool season grasses." In addition, they plant a limited amount of Sudan grass.
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"We also grow alfalfa," Smart said. "We bale it and flake feed it. It feeds so incredibly well and gives the cattle a boost."
Clemson University animal scientist Susan Duckett gives that practice two thumbs up. "In the consumer studies we've done, there was a preference for cattle finished on alfalfa."
No matter what the forage, both Woods and Smart are firm believers in rotational grazing.
"Rotational grazing allows you to utilize forages more effectively and efficiently," Kim said. When their herd is confined to smaller areas, they don't do as much selective grazing and graze the whole paddock evenly. That also means their forages get a rest period before being grazed again. When they go to a new paddock, they have more nutritious, young, tender forages waiting for them.
Using a "take half, leave half" philosophy, they try not to let their cattle graze below 6 to 8 inches. "That helps increase the soil cover and the soil microorganisms," Kim explained.
Chad also said rotational grazing is a good drought management tool. "The cover lowers the soil temperature and the roots create pockets in the soil. There is better moisture retention."
Kim said the frequent moves, sometimes daily on their farm, also help with cattle management. "It can put you around the animals more often. You can see a slow limp or a bad eye. They also get used to you being there and they associate you with something good -- fresh grass."
Smart added, "Never underestimate the power of rotational grazing."
SUPPLEMENTAL FEED WHEN NEEDED
For the Woodses, their supplement of choice is wet brewers grain. While it is around 75% moisture, on a dry matter basis it averages around 10 to 12% crude protein and 74 to 75% total digestible nutrients (TDN).
During the finishing phase, the Woodses feed up to three quarters of 1% of body weight per head per day, once again on a dry matter basis.
The Woodses market the majority of their beef through Firsthand Foods, a Durham, North Carolina, food company that buys cattle, hogs and lambs from local farmers, has them processed, and sells to restaurants, meat markets and individuals. Firsthand Foods allow cattle to be supplemented with up to 1% of their body weight per day as long as the supplement doesn't contain high-starch ingredients; however, the Woodses usually feed the lower percentage of the body weight.
"Brewers grain fits that to a T," said Chad.
They get the brewers grain from a local brew pub. "It is full circle," said Chad. "They use our beef in their restaurant and the brewers grain doesn't go in the landfill."
Smart also relies on a supplemental feed when her forage isn't at its best quality. "The programs we target don't allow corn or corn by-products, but they do allow supplementation up to 2% of body weight with products like soy hulls. For three or four years we did that but then we looked at the books. We decided we could stock fewer animals, feed less supplement and finish them longer."
AGE MATTERS
Clemson's Duckett said, "One of the keys to tenderness is animal age. Research shows that cattle less than 20 months old are more tender. Some people try for a certain weight. Get what you can and let them go."
However, the Woodses find that marketing older animals works better in their program. Chad explained, "We harvest our forage-finished calves at 24-28 months. We have finished some in 20 months, but we weren't happy with the finish and quality." Since Firsthand Foods gives producers a premium for quality, that's a key point. "Chefs don't want select beef," Chad added.
Older calves also work better in Smart's program, where the forage-finished cattle typically grade at the equivalent of mid-choice. "Of course, we want them to finish under 30 months of age so we can sell them bone-in but the majority of ours are 24 to 26 months at harvest."
GENETICS COUNT
For the Woodses, their Red Angus and Red Angus-Hereford cattle work well in a forage-finishing program.
"We knew red cattle would tolerate the heat better," Chad said. This is especially important since they still have some Kentucky 31 fescue.
He added, "They do well with longevity, in reproduction, they are good mamas and are good on the rail. Now we're fine tuning and trying to buy cows off forage-based farms that will finish well on grass. We're also looking at South Poll. They finish well and tolerate heat," he said.
When Smart and her brother were custom-finishing cattle on forage, they saw it all, including Longhorn and dairy crosses. Now that they're finishing their own purchased calves, she is more focused on type.
"My favorite is a moderate framed heavy boned animal. We've had short-framed gutty animals that finish out at 1,000 pounds, but you lose so much live weight at harvest. I like animals that finish out at 1,150 to 1,250 lbs. and have a carcass weight of 650 to 750 lbs. We're getting fantastic performance from crossbred animals -- SimAngus, Black Baldy and Charolais-Angus crosses," Smart added.
Duckett finds that breed isn't as important as keeping the animals on a steady rate of gain with quality forages. "I've eaten some good grass-fed beef from many breeds, and they've always been very palatable."
For more information, see:
-- "Grass-fed Beef Production," at https://extension.psu.edu/…
-- "Grass-Fed Beef: Market Share of Grass-Fed Beef," at
https://extension.sdstate.edu/…
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