# How would you finish it?



## GBov (May 4, 2008)

We are about to buy an 18 month old Angus cross steer and want the best bang for our buck possible. Our plan is to give it free choice coastal hay and four or so pounds of sweet feed a day for two or three months. Will that give us nice tender flavorful beef or is there something else we should do?

Remember, down here in Florida the grass is all gone, it hasn't rained for two months at least :grumble:

How would you finish a steer without grass?


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## tinknal (May 21, 2004)

If I could get cob meal I would work it up to full feed meal, full feed hay. 90 days.


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## haypoint (Oct 4, 2006)

Angus and Jersey cross or Angus and Hereford cross?
What is the protein level in Costal hay?
What is the cost and protein level in Sweet feed?
What would cracked corn cost you?


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## GBov (May 4, 2008)

haypoint said:


> Angus and Jersey cross or Angus and Hereford cross?
> What is the protein level in Costal hay?
> What is the cost and protein level in Sweet feed?
> What would cracked corn cost you?


Its an Angus/Hereford or Angus/other beef breed cross but I am sure its not a Jersey cross.

No idea the protein level in Coastal hay, its a good hay but no idea the protein. I did look on hte web but no luck, every other kind of hay protein % but not coastal.

I dont know the protein of sweet feed either but I know our horses use to be fat as hogs - lol.

And last but not least, I dont want to feed much corn, from what I have read its not good for cows and I dont want to give them something not good for them.


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## ksfarmer (Apr 28, 2007)

Don't know where you read corn isn't good for cows. I would think you could find a much cheaper ration than sweet feed. 4 lbs/day won't be nearly enough grain to finish a 18 month steer.


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## haypoint (Oct 4, 2006)

Corn not good for cattle? 34,200,000 cattle fed corn before slaughter in the US last year. Seems to work. Besides you are already feeding corn in the Sweet Feed.


From http://voices.yahoo.com/facts-coastal-hay-631772.html

Coastal hay is the forage of this grass and is wonderful for feeding horses and cattle. After it has been cut and dried, the Bermudagrass turns into a crisp, golden coloured hay. It is a good nutritious hay for horses. It has 0.7 to 1.0 Mcal/lbs digestible energy, 42 to 50% total digestible nutrients, 6 to 11% crude protein, .25 to 0.4% calcium, and .15 to 0.3% phosphorus. 

http://wiki.answers.com/Q/What_is_sweet_feed 

Feed dealers combined oats,corn, and barley, threw in salt and other minerals, bound the mixture together with molasses, and called the resulting product "sweet feed."

TSC has Sweet feed at 12% protein.

Here is more info on feeding cattle.

http://www.ag.ndsu.edu/pubs/ansci/beef/as1238w.htm

Latest news, grain prises going up:

By Associated Press, Published: January 9




CROPS UP: The March soybean contract gained 36.5 cents to settle at $12.33 Monday. March wheat gained 17 cents to $6.4175 a bushel. The March corn contract rose 8.5 cents to end at $6.52.


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## topside1 (Sep 23, 2005)

http://www.ingredients101.com/cgf.htm

Something to consider..


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## GBov (May 4, 2008)

I know cows are fed corn but I read that they have to be put onto it slowly as it is very hard on their stomaches................

Here you go, a bit on why I dont want to feed corn!

http://www.texasgrassfedbeef.com/corn__it_s_what_s_bad_for_you.htm


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## myersfarm (Dec 24, 2004)

Gbov....thats said all grains are bad....but what would a texasgrassfedbeef site say

now from my stand point....grassfeed beef here in Missouri is feed a certian amount of DDG...I know I have haul to the place ... unloaded at the place ... seen it loaded in the grinder ..and seen it feed...if it is that bad why would ..... the guide lines for GRASS FEED ,,have DDG in the mix


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## haypoint (Oct 4, 2006)

...and this advice comes from an impartial source? Not really. You want to take vaccuum cleaner advice from a guy selling brooms?

You know those bar codes that you use at Kroger to save on food? They use that data to track what you buy and all sorts of marketing info. 

Kroger started selling grass fed beef, no grain. They sold a lot of it. There has been so much on the news and internet, it was a big hit. Then the sales dropped off. They checked their database. Almost every sale of grass fed beef was the first and last for that customer. In other words, customers across this great land tried it and went back to grain finished beef.

Easy lesson when you buy a pack of steak. Hard lesson when you end up with a freezer of that stuff.

You want bang for your buck, buy cracked corn. But if you want to follow the flute player into the river, keep searching those fringe web sites.
I know you won't listen to me and maybe the grain in the Sweet Feed will get you close to good flavored beef, just that Sweet feed is pricy.


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## haypoint (Oct 4, 2006)

come on, anyone that thinks corn is bad for cows isn't going to know what dried distillers grains is.


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## haypoint (Oct 4, 2006)

a big plate of corn muffins and a big bag of pop corn is hard on my stomach, too. But I bet it makes my meat all marbley.


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## myersfarm (Dec 24, 2004)

ok so if they do not know DDG ..is all kinds of grains....but most of it started out as CORN


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## tinknal (May 21, 2004)

GBov said:


> I know cows are fed corn but I read that they have to be put onto it slowly as it is very hard on their stomaches................
> 
> Here you go, a bit on why I dont want to feed corn!
> 
> http://www.texasgrassfedbeef.com/corn__it_s_what_s_bad_for_you.htm


This is the kind of kool-aid the activists sell. Do you want to feed a brood cow or dairy cow straight corn long term? No, but you are overlooking 2 small points.

1. You are feeding this steer short term.

2. *YOU ARE GOING TO KILL HIM ANYWAY!!!!!!!*

End rant.

You asked a question and got some good answers. Take the advice or ignore it but for crying out loud don't argue with it.


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## GBov (May 4, 2008)

tinknal said:


> This is the kind of kool-aid the activists sell. Do you want to feed a brood cow or dairy cow straight corn long term? No, but you are overlooking 2 small points.
> 
> 1. You are feeding this steer short term.
> 
> ...


Argue with it? No, not really, just asking more questions and trying to understand 

The question is only easy if you know the answer!


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## VaFarmer (Mar 2, 2011)

there's a lot of human studies of corn in human diet, the findings really raise some questions on it's health risks, everything from the weird sugers at different stages of growth to mold characteristecs. EPA will never acknowledge these studies, can't change the system or buck the lobbiest, but not prudent to bury your head in the sand either, I've gut way back on the garden corn and stuff I used to make out of it since also working with a nutritulist. Status quo is not always the smart way to go. Interesting that this artical carries the issue of corn into beef feed also. Time will tell or is it already with the crabby public health & increased cancers???? We already know areas not on westerner diets don't have the health problems US and other processed food countries are having, whats up with that..... have a glass of Italian red wine with your corn dog.. We already figured out that corn in gas is not as good a thing as the lobbiest sold and there's pending legislation to allow 15% in lieu of the current 10%, and the studies show the idecreased H-P produced by engines, the seperation of water which dosn't burn well, and the alchol which rots rubber parts that aren't up graded with teflon, but there's bigger money pushing it to happen than there is money to stop it, Honda cars are the only production cars that are setup for 15%, older vehicles will cost more than average person can afford to up grade for 15%, so this may be part of Oboma's make work stratigie, everonewill need to replace old cars with new, but shoot none of the american cars are ready for 15%, so buy japanies...---.


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## bruce2288 (Jul 10, 2009)

Here is the big question. What kind of beef do you want? If you would like something similar to the best restaurant steak you have ever eaten, this steer will need a high energy feed. The most cost effective high energy feed will probably be corn. That is the reason it is used in commercial feed lots.
To finish (get well marbled meat, which makes it tender, juicy and flavorful) it will take quite a lot of corn. 1200lb steers in a feedlot could well be eating up to30lb of corn a day and also gaining 3-4 lbs/day.
I am makeing some assumptions here. 800lb steer start him out on 4lb of corn( I am being conservative here) increase by one pound every week until you are feeding all he will eat. He will probably never eat 30lbs if there is free choice hay. You ideally want him on full feed at least 60 days before slaughter.
Raising choice and prime beef is not a cheap endevor, have a carcass of stew meat and hamburger can be.
Cattle can be finished on very high quality pasture.
Good luck and happy eating which every way you go.


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