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Driftless SW Wisconsin | I'm in the "grass fed" (mostly) birth to plate business. I calve starting around May 1st, I start processing my biggest steers at 12-13 months and around 1000 lb.
My selling season is late may through the end of October. Ideally I'd like them to be 1100-1200 at processing but I take the biggest one or two to my processor every couple weeks. I don't like the word veal but find harvesting young produces excellent quality beef.
The steers have to be all gone before I start feeding hay around Nov 1. I don't have enough ground or hay to keep them over two winters. This is where growth and marbling epds come in. So I'd prefer 1200-1400 lb cows rather than 1600 or heavier, though I've had some good larger cows but working towards 1200.
Maybe what I really need is a mix of cow sizes with a few big cows to give me a few big steers early to hit the memorial day grilling season. Moderate size cows will give me steers that hit processing size in July and Aug or fall.
Edited by Jim 3/1/2026 14:39
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Bigger cattle
