I am looking for a 1/2 of beef and found a farmer with Jersey steers. Has anyone had any experience, good or bad, with Jersey. Most of the meat I’ve had for that last 10 years was store bought so I am not very well versed on butcher cattle. I know Jersey is a basic milk breed. I do not care for Holstein as a beef cow. Thanks in advance
Jerseys are smaller framed milk cows. While they yield higher levels of butterfat in the milk, I can’t speak for the meat from one. I’d lean more towards Angus, Herford, or Charlais for meat myself.
what do you think happens to the old milkers that are ready to die??? the farmer has to get something out of them. the quality of the beef has everything to do with how it was raised. check out the farm you are going to by from and see the operation first hand, the farmer might just be in it for the money, or he may just know what he is doing and you could be in for the best beef you ever had
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what do you think happens to the old milkers that are ready to die??? the farmer has to get something out of them. the quality of the beef has everything to do with how it was raised. check out the farm you are going to by from and see the operation first hand, the farmer might just be in it for the money, or he may just know what he is doing and you could be in for the best beef you ever had
I know the farmer fairly well and this is a steer, not a cow.
While I am no expert, I’d say quite a bit depends on the Butcher shop too.
I’ve been buying beef from a cousin for 15 years, usually always goes to Steve’s Meat Market in Ellendale, MN they had a backlog a few years ago so we went through another shop. Same breed steers and yet the cuts and ground beef was from different. Now, we always make sure we on the list for processing at Steve’s.
With Steve’s Ground Beef would result in less than a 1/8 cup of grease in the pan with meat still moist, while the other shop we had almost a 1/2 cup of grease and the meat dried out quickly.
We’ve had Holstein, Jersey, Angus, Hereford and Longhorns. The Jersey & Holstein being generally a Milking Breed were not quite as good as the other breeds.
Maybe the farmer has a couple pounds you can purchase and sample before committing to a 1/2 Beef.
Good luck and good eating!
Rather than breed of steer I would look to see how the farmer feeds his amimals. Grain or pasture/hay.
We get a beef from my dads farm in IL, mostly grain fed and very tasty. 
I have had “grass fed green organic beef”. Save the money and shoot a deer.
I think any breed of cow Holstein, black angus, jersey or long horn can be graded choice or prime. A cow or bull wouldnt grade as good. “Angus” is marketing term referring to black angus. Angus is not as desirable for milk production so it is raised for beef. Any steer will be fantastic to eat as long as is young. 14 year old milk cow, not so much.
I raise beef cattle but have a friend who always feeds a few Jersey steers and swears its the best tasting beef there is. As long as they are grain fed and choice grade they should be really good, Make sure the locker will let them hang 2 weeks before cutting. Anything less and they will not be as tender.
yes, a grain fed Jersey steer will probably produce better beef than a grass fed Angus steer
but given the same set of conditions … of course the Angus steer is gonna yield better beef
(for the very same reasoning as to why a Holstein cow would yield more milk than an Angus cow)
I grew up on a farm and everyone on here makes a good point. First off its not all in the bread of the bovine it’s in the animal. Cows and bulls are not raised so much for their prime cuts of beef. Steers are because no testosterone due to castration. The meats in a milk breed will not marble as much as in a beef breed. The most important things are how the cattle were fed and how it was finished off. There is an art to making sure you cattle has the right amounts of protein in it diet. If the cattle was finished on grain I.e. corn and beans and had a supplement you should have a good quality meat. One other factor is how the animal is slaughter. if it is chased around a pen before being shot then there is more blood and rushing through the muscle and the meat could be tougher. I am not saying you would not get a cut of meat but a beef breed is bread to come out with the best meat. Just my input.
that said, it depends what your looking for
low fat burger or magnificently marbled steaks
and is the price less than you’d pay for the same amount of meat from a beef breed
buuuut I think you’ve already tipped significantly in one direction when stating that you don’t care for Holstein beef
Its like this!!
if its a steer and has been fed out on a good grain for at least the last 3 months.
this will promote marbling of the meat.. weather it be a holstein jersey angus whatever beef..
if there fed out to be a good beef cow breed don’t make much difference as far as taste and tendernous//
the angus and such were bred to grow fast and large.. more meat.. as a farming standpoint beef cows get better weights at younger ages so the profit margins are higher..
I have 4 holsteins right now and the ones i have raised in the past have been the best beef Ive ever had.. I feed them grain threw out there full life… makes a big difference…
I’m not growing mine for a profit I want good meat!
hope this helps!
So Jim, I guess it’ gonna come down to this
In order to accurately/adequately answer your qestion, we’re gonna need to know a few things from you
Ford, Chevy, or Dodge ?
Vex, Marcum, or ‘Bird ?
Jiffy, Eskimo, or Strikemaster ?
John Deere, International, or Caterpillar ?
blonds, brunettes, or redheads ?
etc, etc, etc
I raised my own beef two to three for the family. Had a nice Angus named T bone that I feed horse chow oats and all the good grains purchased from Waconia farm supply. Would feed him some nice hay.
Every day I would grain him for three months to fatten him and put in a number of old beers in the five gallon pail of grain that was the best beef Ive evey had. Tender and tons of flavor maybe it was the Old Mil. Buy from a local farmer you should be good.
Now that was some good eating beef. 
I grew up on a dairy farm and my dad converted over to black angus beef a few years back. I’ve had plenty of past experience with raising/eating both dairy and beef breeds of cattle. Exactly as others have said previously, there is some difference between cattle bred for their milk versus their meat; however if raised correctly a dairy breed makes some awesome beef as well. Since we started doing beef cattle we’ve also learned that having the a good butcher makes a HUGE difference in how happy our customers have been.
If you’re getting a young animal 1-1.5 years old that has been feed well – Typically for butchering that means grain fed, but we’ve fed out a couple for friends with high quality alpfalfa (versus just pasture grass) and had them turn out awesome. So getting past all the details, if the farmer raised this one as a steer specifically for butchering (make sure to ask him if it was fed out) and the butcher knows what he is doing I would expect it will turn out great even if it is not from a typical “beef” breed.
Just in case you’re curious about pricing, the price for a quarter/half is typically calculated by the hanging weight of the animal after butchering but before final processing. In our case we charge $3/lb based on hanging weight (processing cost included) which equates to roughly a little over $4/lb after processing. If you pay the butcher and the farmer separately I would expect a cost of between $2.0-3.0/lb going to the farmer and $0.30-$0.50/lb going to the butcher for processing. Any less than those numbers and you’re getting a good deal, any more and you’re paying too much.
If you’ve got any more detailed questions or if anyone would like to be included the next time we butcher feel free to send me a PM 
Just finished a whole Jersey steer, raised and buthcered by my foreman. Excellent meat. All the previous reading is valid in my mind. I would buy another Jersey anytime.
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