Here is steer #74 that pretty much exemplifies the kind of animal we are striving to produce here at Martin Family Ranch. He was harvested earlier this week at almost exactly 18 months of age and yielded a 750 pound carcass that would have a good chance of grading Choice. His weaning weight last fall was 634 pounds and his yearling weight this April was 914 pounds, both very typical weights for his group of steers. His live weight before harvest was well over 1200 pounds. As you can tell from the picture, he is very nicely finished with a full brisket and fat deposits around his tailhead. And you can see that he is on the kind of plentiful, high quality pasture that will allow him to keep growing right up to his harvest date.
Here are the yearlings on pasture with adjacent paddocks being sprinkle irrigated. It looks like we will have irrigation water through September which pretty much assures us of having plentiful forage to finish out the grazing season. Our second harvest group is scheduled for tomorrow and the cattle look very nice.
We will be the first stop on the Rogue Flavor Food and Farm Tour scheduled for Sunday, Sept. 11th at 10 a.m. sponsored by THRIVE. You can find more information about the tour on THRIVE's website (buylocalrogue.org). Other stops on the tour include Seven Oaks Farm and the Rogue Creamery. We are happy to be members of THRIVE, which is a big supporter of local agriculture. Here is Ferdinand out with the cows and calves at the end of July. He has been running with the entire cow herd for just over a month now since the end of AI season. Counting the eight cows that he was with earlier that were separate from the larger herd that were being AI'd, I expect about 15 cows to have calves sired by Ferdinand next spring. He has continued to grow and maintain his body condition during breeding season and probably weighs close to 1400 pounds now. He will be a ton bull at maturity.
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