5 Tips for Finishing Cattle on Grass

By Lauren Manning

Grass-fed beef presents a lucrative opportunity for cattle producers, who can realize major price premiums for grass-fed, pasture-raised, or local meat. On average, grass-fed beef sells for $2.50 to $3 more per pound than conventionally produced beef according to Consumer Reports. There are several different marketing channels for grass-fed beef, as well, including selling finished animals to a packer or direct marketing grass-fed beef to local consumers, chefs, and co-op grocery stores.

It’s not as simple as parking the feed truck in the garage for good. Producing grass-fed beef requires careful management of forage and, most of all, knowing when an animal is ready for butcher. While grain-finishing is largely a plug-and-play proposition, finishing on grass is much trickier.

“So much goes into finishing an animal on grass. There are so many variables to consider, including a visual and tactile inspection of the animal to ascertain fat deposits, the time of year, the type of forage the animal is currently eating. Forage growth rate and diversity are different from season to season and even from year to year. This becomes even more variable if a farmer changes pasture leases, calving seasons, or even cattle breeds,” said James Maginot, a grass-fed beef producer and owner of Beyond Organics farm in West Fork, Arkansas. “All of these factors play into producing top-quality grass-fed beef and less than 100% attention to each of these details could affect the end product.”

Here are five tips for finishing cattle on grass.

1. Patience Is a Virtue

Finishing animals on grass is a lengthier process than grain-finishing, often requiring between 24 and 30 months. By comparison, steers can be finished on grain in three to five months depending on how old the calves are when the graining process begins. Calves are typically weaned and sold to a feedlot or backgrounding operation between seven and 12 months of age, or when they reach approximately 500 pounds, but this varies.

Even if your phone is ringing off the hook with orders for grass-fed quarters and halves, don’t run out and load up the first steer who runs by. With grass-fed beef, supply must be prioritized over meeting demand. Explain to the customer that grass-fed beef requires careful finishing and create a waiting list. Send seasonal updates to let customers know that their high-quality product is on its way.

2. Looks Can Be Deceiving

One of the simplest ways to monitor an animal’s progress toward finishing is through a visual inspection, paying special attention to the ribs and rump. But looks can be deceiving especially in winter when a long hair coat can disguise an animal’s true form.

Before selecting steers for butcher, load them in the chute or head gate and feel the animal in a few key areas to assess whether sufficient fat has been laid down: the ribs, transverse processes, tail head, and rump. Cattle lay down fat from head to tail, so pay particular attention to the tail head. A finished animal will feel similar to the way the heel of your hand feels. If it feels more like the back of your knuckles when you make a fist, chances are the steer has a ways to go.

3. Record Weights to Finish Faster

If you have access to a scale, recording weights can be an excellent way to know whether your grazing program is leading to gains. Ideally, take weights every two weeks at the same time of day.

A successful grazing management program will yield an average daily gain of at least 2 pounds with 2.5 pounds being ideal. If you aren’t hitting these numbers, adjust your grazing program and measure again in two weeks. Another good rule of thumb is to aim for an 1,100-pound finishing weight, but this varies depending on breed.

4. Finish On Grass, Not Hay

The old adage ‘you are what you eat’ holds true for grass-fed steers. Finishing during times of the year where forage is flush results in far better flavor than finishing on hay or scant pastures in deep summer or late winter. The type of forage an animal consumes before butcher can affect flavor as well as intramuscular fat deposits (also known as marbling).

Finishing on hay may give the meat an off-tasting flavor and may be less economical since you’ll be feeding more hay to achieve daily gains instead of winter maintenance.

If you cut your own hay, you may want to consider purchasing it elsewhere in order to put your hay-season pastures to better use like stockpiling forage for winter grazing or forward-grazing steers ahead of the rest of the herd to help them reach finishing weights even faster.

5. Select Animals That Do Best On Grass

Not all animals are created equal, even among breed types. Select fast-growing, moderately sized cattle that are deep bodied with ample milk production for optimal grass-fed beef production.

Larger framed animals have higher forage intake requirements and may have more trouble keeping condition during the stress of summer and winter. They will also likely take longer to finish.

A deep bodied animal suggests a large rumen capacity, which means it can fill up on plenty of forage during each grazing session. Early maturing breeds will begin to lay down fat more quickly allowing you to make the most out of its first grazing season after birth, while breeds known for ample milk supply will keep calves full without needing to supplement their diets to support lactation.