Grass Fed Beef
Cows were meant to graze. And graze our cows do. Whether beef or dairy, we give our cows 24x7 access to pasture all year long. We are considering what our finishing program will look like. Chad's grandpa would bring the steers to the barn about three to four weeks prior to slaughter and feed them hay with milled corn silage from corn grown right here on the farm. Closing them up in the barn minimized their movement (exercise), which helped add fat for marbling. Hay and, especially corn silage, helped the marbling process. He swore by this method (as does his only son, Chad's uncle).
We recently had the opportunity to taste beef that was grass finished and slaughtered at 30 months. The flavor was absolutely divine - the best we've ever tasted in beef. But it wasn't as tender as I would like. Tenderness comes from marbling, and some say that it's possible to get a tender cut from grass finished beef. But it depends on how much fat it can build up before you slaughter, and there are restrictions on cuts you can get from a cow after 30 months due to disease (primarily BSE or Mad Cow Disease). High quality hay and grain will increase marbling faster than grass alone.
So it's all about preference. Here is a great article to read on grass-finished versus grain-finished beef. The beef we have available today was grass fed all but the last 4 weeks of life. At that time, we brought him into the barn where he was given high quality hay, and a high quality (not cheap commodity) grain twice daily to finish him out. I'd love to say that he was fed corn silage from corn grown right here on the farm, but we aren't there yet.
Our fall steer is selling quickly (and he's not even at the processor yet). We have one quarter still available from this steer, and we are accepting deposits on beef. $200 will hold the final quarter for your, with the balance due at delivery. We expect to have the beef cut and wrapped, ready for your freezer by late September / early October.
Contact us for details on pricing.
We recently had the opportunity to taste beef that was grass finished and slaughtered at 30 months. The flavor was absolutely divine - the best we've ever tasted in beef. But it wasn't as tender as I would like. Tenderness comes from marbling, and some say that it's possible to get a tender cut from grass finished beef. But it depends on how much fat it can build up before you slaughter, and there are restrictions on cuts you can get from a cow after 30 months due to disease (primarily BSE or Mad Cow Disease). High quality hay and grain will increase marbling faster than grass alone.
So it's all about preference. Here is a great article to read on grass-finished versus grain-finished beef. The beef we have available today was grass fed all but the last 4 weeks of life. At that time, we brought him into the barn where he was given high quality hay, and a high quality (not cheap commodity) grain twice daily to finish him out. I'd love to say that he was fed corn silage from corn grown right here on the farm, but we aren't there yet.
Our fall steer is selling quickly (and he's not even at the processor yet). We have one quarter still available from this steer, and we are accepting deposits on beef. $200 will hold the final quarter for your, with the balance due at delivery. We expect to have the beef cut and wrapped, ready for your freezer by late September / early October.
Contact us for details on pricing.