What is the ideal slaughter weight for cattle?

Forage-finished calves will often be slaughtered near 1,000 pounds live weight. It will take over a year (367 days) to grow a 500-pound calf to 1,000 pounds if its average daily weight gain is 1.5 pounds per day.

How much does a beef cow weight at slaughter?

Cattle slaughter totaled 2.58 million head, down 1 percent from December 2016. The average live weight was down 2 pounds from the previous year, at 1,379 pounds.

How much meat do you get from a 1000 pound cow?

In summary, a steer weighing 1,000 pounds on the hoof will average around 430 pounds of retail cuts (steaks, roasts, ground beef, stew beef, etc.).

How many months does it take for beef cattle to get to butcher weight?

Steers on full feed (all they can eat grain with hay) will be butcher ready at 14-18 months of age. Steers on grass only will take 26-28 months to be butcher ready. Congratulations! Raising your own beef is huge!

What is the best age to slaughter cattle?

The highest quality beef comes from animals that are under 36 months of age. Old cows produce highly acceptable beef if properly fattened and processed. Depending on the calf and the feeding regime, calves are best slaughtered between three and 16 weeks of age.

What is the best age to butcher beef?

What color of cattle sells for the most money?

Black, white-faced calves at $111.74 received the highest selling price, followed by black at $110.23, yellow at $110.09 and yellow white-faced at $109.81. Spotted calves brought the lowest selling price at $82.16. Heavier-muscled calves sold significantly higher than thin-muscled ones, with No.

How many cattle do you need to be profitable?

From this data, we can conclude that as a rough estimate, farmers need to have at least 50 beef cattle to be able to earn a full-time income solely from beef production.

How much meat do you get from a 800 pound steer?

How much to expect when buying freezer beef: Part One

Carcass weight, Yield Grade 3 beef steer Beef from whole carcass, pounds
Bone-in cuts Boneless, closely trimmed cuts
600 408 300
700 476 350
800 544 400

What is the best weight to butcher beef?

This means that the period you will have to feed your calf will range from less than 90 days to more than 200 days, depending on purchase and slaughter weights. The best slaughter weight IS from 900 to 1,100 pounds for steers and 850 to 950 pounds for heifers.

What age to slaughter beef?

Age at slaughter “typically” can be from 12 to 22 months of age for the high quality grade market. The reason for the range in age is that some calves are weaned and go directly to a feeding facility and are finished for slaughter.

What is the slaughter weight of a cow?

A 1,321-lb. cow at slaughter is a big cow, but that’s not her mature weight. The mature weight for cows is established at a constant BCS of 5.0. Because the BCS was estimated at 4.5, the average slaughter weight must be adjusted to a BCS of 5.0 to determine her mature weight.