On Sunday, Jan. 31 Box Butte County 4-H will have beef weigh-in. At this event 4-H youth that are planning on exhibiting a market steer or heifer at the county fair will bring their animal or animals to get a starting weight and an identification tag.
The reason for holding a beef weigh-in in January is for youth to get a starting weight on their animal so then they know how much weight their animal needs to gain to make weight by county fair. The minimum weight requirement for fair is 900 pounds for a market heifer and 1,000 pounds for a market steer.
The maximum weight for beef animals is 1,650 pounds. Animals that are over or under these weight requirements are shown in a separate class and are not allowed to sell during the Annual Box Butte County Livestock Sale. Youth must keep records on how much they are feeding their animal and continue to watch their animals’ weight to make sure the animal is gaining enough or if they need to cut back on feed.
A good weight for market beef is 1,250-1,300 pounds. From a 1,250-pound steer, you might get 788 pounds of meat if the dressing percent is 63%. The reason for a decrease in weight is processors must remove organs, hide, hooves and any manure that is attached to their hair.
A beef animal that is too heavy will have more waste on it and the processor will have more fat to trim off. So it is important that our 4-H youth work to feed their beef animals to reach an ideal weight for their body frame.