Hefty steer

[debra wiltshire]

Linked to the thread below, we decided to sell our lastest steer to a local butcher in Nottingham. He weighed in at 142kg a side at just 27 month...on grass! Probably not a record but must be getting up there perhaps. Butcher is shocked...glad Im a member of the beef certification scheme!

[Rob R]

Blimey, that's half a tonne on the hoof. Were his siblings similarly heavy and was he physically significantly bigger?

[debra wiltshire]

Draco..aged 7.jpg (142.81 KiB) Viewed 6392 times

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Other non shorts usually come in around 210 - 240 deadweight...this one was particularly tall... wish I had taken a photo now! We do not have mum anymore but she is a short red cow..from the bull Elmwood Jacob..Dad is our own bull who does throw beefy stock...who last time we weighed him he was about 620kg...photos attached

[Rob R]

Well, it'll certainly be a hefty margin on those averages, it must be good grass; looks to have plenty of clover in the pic. I wonder why the DCS doesn't make more of the commercial value figures of beef from grass.

[debra wiltshire]

could not agree more...the clover in the picture has 'calmed' down ....first two years after oversowing the clover it was hard to spot the grass! Now there is a better balance, with more grass than clover. The grass being fed by the clover and looks really healthy for it...

[Rob R]

We had the sheep on the grass/clover ley this winter - the sgraggy bunch that didn't do so well coming off the conservation grazing & needed finishing. They came off the clover after winter as different animals (nearly as big as some of the Dexters).

[Mark Bowles]

Thats a whooper Debra, what were his grades. I assume at that age and weight he may have been a bit fatter than usual?

[debra wiltshire]

Im afraid Grantham does not grade...he was carrying a little extra but not too much...butcher seemed happy enough...