Question about raising a beef steer.

[Concrete Cowboy]

We’ve often wanted to raise a beef steer but did not have the money to feed it all winter. Could it be done buying one in early spring and taking it in late fall? Obviously I would get less meat but are there certain cuts I would miss out on. Any other reason not to do this.

[Tad]

Can be done, it will be nice and tender just not much of it!

[sde219]

You could buy one a little further along in the late winter/spring and process in the fall. You'll probably pay a premium for buying at that time of the year though. Even dairy bull calves spike in price during spring.

[suzyhomemaker09]

My 1st foray into raising a calf was a dairy bull i bough from Emily during late Spring....
he was about 1 week old and she did not overcharge us at the bargain price of $50.
I had goats in milk so we had extra to give to bottle the calf...when starting to wean him off the bottle I purchased 1 50lb bag of starter type feed for him. After he finished that he went on straight grass...all he ate over the winter was hay. We raised him to 18 months..and since he was a dairy calf he didn't get as large as a beef animal would have. His hanging weight was around 420 lbs...very lean fantastic beef.

[oregon woodsmok]

Don't buy a calf. Buy a feeder steer. I'd look for something close to a year old and then feed it all spring and summer. When the grass is gone, it goes to the butcher.

It won't matter what it was raised on. What you feed it for 9-10 months will determine the quality of the meat.

[oregon woodsmok]

By the way, you'll get a better price if you purchase before the spring grass comes in. Someone who runs out of feed and can't afford to buy more will be looking to unload cattle and nobody else will be buying yet because their grass isn't in.

You won't have to purchase feed for long before your grass comes up.