Beef: a gentle giant and the tallest living steer

Steers, with their largeness and often kind demeanour are not an uncommon favourite animal for people. One steer that is both particularly adorable and tall is Beef, who holds the record for tallest living steer. The seven-year-old is an impressive 6 ft 5 in tall (1.95 m) and weighs in at 2500 pounds (1133.9 kg).  

Beef socializing with other animals.

Beef’s origins and early growth spurt  

“I have had him since he was born! I still remember finding his fresh little face covered in straw & thinking ‘he's the one!’” 

Beef was born and has been raised in Alberta, Canada. At the time Jasmine Entz was looking for another steer for riding, as she described above, and became quickly attached to the soon-to-be giant. As for Jasmine’s original goal, by the time Beef was two years old, he had begun to be saddled and was deemed ready to ride, but unfortunately after one summer, he was injured and post-recovery, he was too big for any of the saddles.  

Jasmine says that there was not a distinct moment in which Beef’s size stood out, but that instead she gradually noticed that he had “outgrew his horse buddies, and then kept growing. By two years, he was taller than me (5 ft 6 in) and by four, he was pushing 6 feet.” 

Presently to maintain his health and size, Beef eats upwards of 100 lbs (45.3 kg) of premium alfalfa and an estimated 2,500 lbs (1,133.9 kg) per month (yes, he eats the same amount per month as his total weight). He also grazes grass and hay regularly. As he eats enough between his grazing and the alfalfa, Jasmine does not feed Beef grain.  

Beef’s personality and pizzazz  

Jasmine paints the picture of Beef being a gentle giant and a great steer for visitors to see. He greatly appreciates being fed snacks (especially pumpkins) for receiving scratches and he is an affectionate animal overall.  

As for visitors, Jasmine said: “The closer you get to him, the bigger he seems! My favourite part is seeing the looks on people's faces when we approach him laying down, and they watch as he unfolds and rises! The most common comment I hear is ‘I've never seen a cow that big’, which always makes me chuckle!” 

Beef has had many opportunities to socialize with the public in the past few years. He makes an annual visit to the local Farmer’s Day where Jasmine and Beef live. He is a magnet to visitors.  

Fond memories 

A close-up of Beef's face. 

Seven years is a long time to share with someone and through that time, Jasmine has had a lot of fun moments with Beef.  

She recounts her favourite: “One of my fondest ride memories was riding straight through our neighbour's herd of beef cows! It was a totally different experience looking through bovine ears instead of horse ears.” 

Beef as a record holder  

Jasmine has pride over Beef’s achievement and the joy he brings visitors. Beef has held the record for tallest living steer since 18 December 2023. Although the record is a large thing to carry, interestingly enough, Beef is only half an inch taller than the previous record holder.  

For the time being, however, Jasmine continues to support Beef’s growth with a healthy diet and makes more memories with him every single day.