Will a year-old steer taste any good?

[Jcran]

We have three calves: a mini hereford heifer, a Jersey heifer, and a Jersey/holstein bull calf. The bull calf is a late June calf. Next summer we are considering having the bull calf/steer processed before we take the heifers to fair in August. He will be about 13-14 months old then. Right now, at 5 months old, he's about 350 lbs. The calves are on about 5 acres of pasture and he's getting about 1/3 of an 8-quart bucket of grain (chums them in each night to be sure they are up and eating, healthy, etc) each day. We are just starting to add grass hay into their diet as the pasture is only now starting to decline. My biggest question isn't about size or return on meat, but flavor. Will the meat have good flavor at that age? We will have to up the heifer's grain prior to showing to put a good condition on them, so we'll do the same for the steer. He was essentially free as a bucket calf and we fed him milk from our own goats so our only real cost has been grain. I want to only have two animals on the pasture next fall so we can feed less hay when they are yearlings and 2 year olds (we'll have 8 full acres to use after we reseed the well-grazed horse pasture this fall)

[rags57078]

he will taste great

[RedDirt Cowgirl]

I like an alfalfa finish over grain. He'll fatten up best in as small a pasture as you can provide too, with a winter shelter. It was more work, but my dad always finished the steer for family use in a corral/stable.

[Jcran]

We have a 1/4 -1/2 acre pasture with a nice shelter on it...we actually bedded it deeply with straw the other night since the rain and wind was absolutely amazing. I think we'll probably wait to confine him until the last month or two.

[topside1]

Years ago I took in a steer @ one year old....remember it clearly, big mistake, dull taste, little marbleing, little fat thickness, the taste is in the fat. With little fat you get little taste. 18 months minimum, learn from my mistake....Never again....Topside

[Callieslamb]

We sent one last year at 13 months - he wasn't as nice as the 16 month old. The NY steaks don't have much flavor, but the sirlions are great. I didn't notice any difference in the hamburger.

[MARYDVM]

I sent in a 10 month old Dexter cross steer this past summer, due to high feed costs and little freezer space. He was a little chunk that was weaned at 8 months, and fed alfalfa and a few pounds of grain daily after that.The cuts were small, but I had the steaks cut 1" thick. We had perfect marbling, with wonderful flavor and tenderness. I'll do the same next year with the bull we just had born this fall.

[goodhors]

You should get him castrated soon, he will gain better as a steer than a bull calf. Steer doesn't need the hormones, feed goes to weight gain instead.

We have had good gain on moderate amounts of grain, had good marbling on the meat. Being out in pasture helps get the fat more evenly distributed with him exercising.

Personally, I would think the age you plan to process him is a good age for a steer. Not sure what to expect as a finish size, with small Jersey, large Holstein cross. If grazing is good next summer, probably 900-1000 pounds is not an unrealistic expectation. Our straight Holstein bottle calf was almost 500# on good grass, small amount of grain, at 5 months. Meat with grain the last month should be tender and flavorful.

You may want to check with your processor, to find out how long they hang the carcass. The longer the better for tenderness, but you may need to pay extra for that, takes up cooler room for them. I think 21 days is about maximum for hang time, but very few hang the meat that long these days unless you ask for it. The gourmet meat suppliers all brag up longer hang time for their carcasses as adding to the tenderness factor.

[steff bugielski]

Mine rarely go past 10 months. I castrate early and finish with corn.
Hang for 2 weeks...tastes awesome.

[springvalley]

While feeding to an older age your steer will have bigger steaks and other cuts, but if you need meat it will taste just fine. To many people are picky and have preconceived notions that they have to be of a certain age that they never figure that a young animal is more tender. If you don`t have a large freezer, a small animal would be better. And if you are use to buying in store beef, a young animal will taste so much better. > Thanks Marc

[haypoint]

Originally Posted by steff bugielski

Mine rarely go past 10 months. I castrate early and finish with corn.
Hang for 2 weeks...tastes awesome.

best advice so far.

[Jcran]

Thanks...we'll see how he grows. I feel less worried about an early finish after reading the posts. I will definitely finish on grain though.

[Mosherd1]

Completely admitting that I know nothing about cattle I have a few basic questions after reading this thread. How old does a cow/steer need to be for butchering. Can you leave cattle on grass prior to butchering instead of going with grain? What is the purpose of the grain instead of grass? Is there a good website for someone just learning? Thanks!

[steff bugielski]

I believe the grain has more fat so you get a bit more marbling which means more flavor.

As for age they butcher young for veal so I do not think there is a minimum age. I do not have the room for a lot of meat. About 300lbs of meat is perfect for me.