Moving to the Farm

Larro Darro · May 27, 2015

My cousin down in South Florida used to get a couple of day old calves every few months and raise them for veal. But be warned that once in a while you will lose one, usually in the first week or so. If one has to die, you would want it to do it before you had a lot of food {$$$} and time invested. And taste has a lot to do with what they eat. I notice you do have lots of grass.

TomSeller · May 27, 2015

I never liked veal.

Larro Darro · May 27, 2015

TomSeller said:
I never liked veal.

I'm with you. When we raised beef for the freezer they were on grass until the last 6 weeks or so.

Tororider · May 27, 2015

It won't be veal. We would probably keep them until next fall to butcher. From people I have talked to dexter cattle, while not as big, has good taste and is very tender when raised on grass, which we have a lot of. We will see when it happens, but it will happen.

ultrarunner · May 28, 2015

I would like to learn more about cattle.

My brother has a 50 acre back pasture with water and barbed wire fencing... seems it would be a natural to get a few head out there just to keep the vegetation in check...

He's not sure if it would be worth it....

farmer2009 · May 28, 2015

Toro find someone who has had a milking bread slaughtered and ask to buy a meal or something like that. Find out if you like the taste. Having been raised on a beef farm I can't comment on the milking breads. But I can say this home raised beef ain't nothing like store bought beef.

I had a slaughter calf I raised last spring and we split it with some friends. They had never had fresh beef before (except if they eat at our house) and they are wanting more. Just to give an idea of how far a calf will go. My family of 3 needs a half about every 16-18 months. I try to slaughter between 750-850 lbs. They seam to try to toughen up when much heavier. I also don't push mine so it takes about 12-16 months to raise one. But I keep my um runts for my slaughter calves. It's what will bring me less on the market. My smallest or youngest steer or heifer. Or if I keep replacement heifers the one that doesn't grow out the way I like. Is what goes in the freezer.

Also something to think about is buying a beef calf that's weaned. And raising it from there. Like buy a 4 weight and raise it to slaughter.

farmer2009 · May 28, 2015

ultrarunner said:
I would like to learn more about cattle. My brother has a 50 acre back pasture with water and barbed wire fencing... seems it would be a natural to get a few head out there just to keep the vegetation in check... He's not sure if it would be worth it....

It will be worth it once the market starts to come down. I'm hearing there could be a good dip in prices about January. That will all depend on weather of course.