Feedlot Versus Veld Finishing: Horses For Courses

There are different ways to get steers market-ready.

- Izak Hofmeyr

However, regardless of how this is achieved, they all have the same aim: steers that reach target weight, are well-muscled and possess appropriate fat deposition.

Steers can be finished in one of two ways, namely in an extensive system (veld or pasture) or in an intensive system (feedlot). Each of these presents its own advantages and disadvantages.

In an information piece by Molatek, the following pros and cons of both systems are listed:

• Much more land is needed for extensive farming than for feed lotting.

• More labour is required for feedlotting than for extensive farming.

• Cattle grazing on veld and pastures ingest more fibre and roughage than cattle in feedlots, which ingest more grain and high-energy feed.

• Over a short-term period, cattle grazing in extensive systems will have a much lower weight, muscle and fat gain than cattle fed in feedlots.

• It is more difficult to control grazing cattle on veld and cultivated pastures than it is to feed them in feedlots.

Feedlot profit margins

According to an article titled “Beef Production: The Basics” by the KwaZulu-Natal (KZN) Department of Agriculture and Rural Development, the factors affecting the profit margin of a feedlot operation include the price margin, feed margin, management, cost of feed, the buying price of feeders and the selling price (usually quoted as a carcass price).

Price margin