Pasture for Jerseys??

[Bubbas Boys]

We are thinking of getting a few jersey bulls and raising them for meat. IF, we wanted to put them on rotational pasture... How much area would 2 or 3 need, how often to move them, and what are recommended grasses to plant this spring? Thanks!

[Bubba1358]

I took my 13-month jersey steer in for slaughter a few weeks ago. He weighed 515 standing/242 hanging. Small guy. I didn't feed grain. He was grass-only since he was 4-months old.

The butcher does a decent amount of jerseys, and they recommended a minimum of 2 years graze time for them to fill out.

Pasture depends on a lot, but a filled out jersey steer at 2 years old is a little over 1 AU (animal unit). You'd need to determine the pasture necessary for you area. I'd say, for 2 steers, count on needing 3 or more AU's worth of pasture, at least. For 3 steers, I'd say 5 AU's of graze. Here in TN, we're right about at 1 AU per acre. In some parts of Wyoming, for example, it's closer to 1 AU per 40 acres. So, you'd need to find out the local AU/acre ratio from your county office.

Jerseys do very well on clover, and clover helps the nitrogen in the soil. So whatever you plant, include some type of clover in the mix. I have white clover, which works great for my area.

Also - castrate them ASAP. Jersey bulls are violent and unpredictable. Jersey steers are docile. They are different beasts while still intact.