Grass finished continental breeds

[Rob30]

Does anyone have experience grass finishing charolais or limousin steers? We are currently grass finishing angus/hereford steers for a meat business. I want to add some finishing wieght, but my customers want grass finished meat.
I need to make sure quality is not sacrificed. Taste and tenderness.

[Ronney]

Rob, I don't go in for the continental breeds, they're too much hassle in most cases in terms of calving etc. That said, many in NZ'ers do and they finish on grass the same way as any other breed do.

If you have the quality grass to finish Angus/Hereford you will be able to finish Charolais and Limousin.

And you might want to look at the Devons. I had a bull problem and had to ring a chap who trades in the hope that he had an Angus bull. He sent down this nice little polled black bull, a bit narrow in the hindquarters for my liking but I wasn't in a position to quibble. Anyway, out popped these little red calves from my cross bred herd of mainly Jersey with other things chucked in. And man, did they grow and not only did they grow, they filled out. There isn't a pin bone or rib to be seen. I'm seriously considering going from Angus as a terminal sire, to Devon. Something you may want to do some research on and give some thought to in your situation.

Cheers,
Ronnie

[brentcu]

Out here on the 'continent' the breeds that do best on grass are the rustic ones from the mountains - Aubrac, Salers, Gasconne. They are also the beef breeds that taste the best (IMHO). Gaconne and Aubrac are a little more tender, but Salers taste better.

They're bigger than US cattle but smaller than the Limousines and Charolaises that you are looking at for size/rendering. They taste a lot better than those two, too.

I have only met two farmers out here who finish on grass, one uses British cows and one a type of Gasconne. His steers take four years to get to finish level.

[brentcu]

Ronney, funny you should mention Devon - Devon cattle were used to improve the Salers breed back in the 1800s.

As far as birthing goes, Gasconne and Salers are both excellent birthers. Salers are used a lot with Charolais bulls to give a beefy calf with few birthing issues.

These are French cows, of course, and may have some differences to the American versions of the same race.