Selecting the Perfect Project Steer

There are a lot of different ideas as to what the perfect feeder steer is. The Beef Industry has listed what they think should be an ideal market animal. Look at the list of standards in this publication, and evaluate your project as to his potential for meeting those standards.
Two important things need to happen at the beginning of the beef project year. Selecting the right animal and then gentling him. If the steer cannot be gentled within the first two weeks after purchase find another project calf. A calm temperament increases benefits in the feeding process and opportunities for showmanship.
Besides industry goals look at these four main qualities.

Muscling
Muscling is important to the meat animal industry. Heavy muscled animals produce more meat and less fat. Consumers are very conscious of fat and prefer beef with less fat. You can see indications of muscling: over an animal’s top, in the loin area, length of hip, width of stifle, and in the hind quarters.

Structure, Soundness, Balance
Strong bone and correct skeletal structure is important and essential for any animal getting to feed and water. You can observe structure in: the angle of the shoulder, levelness of top line and hip, pastern angle, and movement. Balance is best identified as uniformity in the appearance of muscle trimness and skeletal structure.

Growth and Frame, Skeletal size
Different livestock industries have ideal final weights and carcass weights. Animals can be too small and cost the industry more per pound or too large for handling facilities or consumers. Indicators of size are: length of body, height at the hip, and length and size of cannon bone.

Performance, Volume, Condition
The amount of volume and condition (fat) an animal has relates to its performance. Indicators of capacity and performance are width of chest floor, width across shoulder blades, rib shape, and weight per day of age.


4-H / FFA market beef programs target a specific market date (fair and sale). It is important to understand that this will require special planning at the beginning of the project. Feeder calves must be in the right beginning condition (not prematurely fat, not too thin) to be properly performance tested. This may mean that you maintain the weight of your weaned calf that you purchased in the fall. Calves should be put on full feed from beginning (initial weigh-in) to the end of the test period (fair weigh-in). As the feeding period ends it is difficult to slow down and adjust an animal’s performance in order to achieve the desired target. It is important not to allow your project animal to fall behind schedule because it will be impossible to speed up and put on the necessary finish to produce a better quality product before your target date.
With a 150 day feeding test period the feeder steer you select should weigh between 650 and 750 lbs at initial weigh in; some counties have specific requirements that you need to know. The calf’s age should be between 11 and 14 months of age at the beginning and 16-18 months of age at fair time. Younger and lighter calves have a hard time making market weight and younger cattle will have a difficult time grading choice.
You also need to understand that quality grade, and to some extent yield, grade have genetic factors that you cannot change but you can influence. If you don’t feed your calf enough energy and protein to get your animal to its ideal market weight then you will not be able to achieve that goal. If you have fed your calf properly, made the specific animals’ market weight and still did not achieve that choice quality grade, then genetics trumped your efforts. Also, if you have selected an animal that has more condition on it than necessary at the beginning of the project, then you can expect to see more back fat at fair time influencing a lower yield grade.
Pay attention to breed differences and differences within a breed as to how it relates to performance. All breeds have good cattle. Rely on your own experiences. Pay attention to how this year’s calf turns out and remember how pervious calves performed. Watch how other project calves do. A market beef project is a learning experience. Those who pay attention, have an open mind and do the best jobs of learning, will profit the most.
One last thing to remember is “what you start with is what you end with”. So selecting an animal with good to excellent muscling, volume, structure, balance and growth and frame is a must.

Market Beef Industry Goals

Age at market: 14 – 18 months
Live weight: 1250-1300 lbs
Hot carcass weight: 700-850 lbs
Kidney, pelvic & heart fat (KPH): 3.0 or less
Fat thickness: .5 or less
Ribeye: 12.5-13.9 square inches
Quality grade: Choice or higher
Yield grade: 3.0 or less.