I got a cow question

[DR Buck]

No you can't.  At least you can't at our Piggly Wiggly, cause we ain't got no Piggly Wiggly no mo'.  It has been converted to a "Food for Less."  They weren't just whistling Dixie either!  It is one of those deals where you SUPPOSEDLY pay their cost, then they add 10% at the register.  So far, there is a major difference in the prices.  Ground chuck is down from $2.99 to $2.11.  Chicken feet are down from $2.29 to $1.37  8) 8) 8)  I bought canola oil for $2.28 for 48oz.  48oz tomato juice was $1.31.  Their regular price for ribeye, NY strip, and T-bone is down from $8.99 to $5.89.  All of those prices are before the 10% add-on, but reflect a major savings. ;D  Oh yeah, a 12pk of Natural Light beer was down from $7.99 to $6.13, plus the 10%.  That item alone will save me about a buck and a quarter a day! 8) 8)

Now you went and done it DanG.   This thread has got to be moved to the food board.  :D

[Sawyerfortyish]

[quote author=Chuck White link=topic=36365.msg525968#msg525968 date=1236393133

 
On top of that, a slaughter house owner can sell a large beef hide for somewhere around $100.00.  An individual would be lucky to get $25.00-$30.00!


[/quote]
Not anymore my brother is in the hide business and the bottom fell out of beef hides a few weeks ago >:( you would be hard pressed to get 12.00 each the market is at 10.00 now and he sold just to get rid of them. Were comming into warmer months and you can't hold hides in the heat

[Chuck White]

Wow, I'd say the bottom fell out of the hide market.

The guy selling the beef for $2400. is making a lot of money though (if he sells it), because he will be getting a little over $9.00/lb.
At those prices you might as well go to a restaurant and buy a steak once in a while.

[metalspinner]

Buying on the hoof for  meat is not the best way to save money.   Aside from the processing cost you need to consider these things:
you're paying for everything including the stuff you don't want (guts, hide etc.)
you end up with cuts of meat you normally wouldn't buy.

Most of the beef farmers around here don't eat (slaughter) their own for these reasons.  You are better off selling the cow/steer, (1200 lbs @ $.89 lb = $1068) take the money, put half in the bank.  Then take the other half and go to the market and buy the meat cuts you really want. 

So buying beef on the hoof for meat is kind of like buying a tree in the forest for lumber.  Lots of things a woodworker doesn't want but needs to pay for up front.

We are considering buying this way, but we don't know enough about the business to know what to look for.

Thanks for the thread, DanG!

[isawlogs]

Metalspinner , if you where closer to DanG you could buy two cows ,have them bread (breeded) those two cows would technickly get two calves , Bring the gestating cows to DanG's, he would take care of feeding , cows would have the calves indaspring come fall bring both calves to the slaughter house , give one to Dan for his troubles , you both would have cheap meat .  ;D

  DanG not to often one can get a free box a beer a week .  8)  I would not mind having a store somewhat like that near here... I have a WallMart , but that is an hour away  : 

[SwampDonkey]

You won't get groceries cheap at Walmart around here. A lot cheaper just to go the the grocery store to begin with. Only bargain I've seen is on vinegar, $2.49 for 4 litres at Walmart, $3.49 at the large groceries, but up to $7.00 in small village groceries. Those little stores have adapted convenient store pricing, your grocery bill would almost double.

[Slabs]

Marcel,  I thought youse guys up there ate moose.

[Dana]

Isawlogs Don't forget that it takes 18 to 24 months to get that calf up to 12 to 13 hundred pound butcher weight. Unless you like some really expensive veal.

[isawlogs]

   Veal still has his mouth on the teat ....  babybeef will be 300 to 400 hundred pounds on the hook come fall and just about weaned . 

Hey Slabs , this is all for dem close to the big water that have no wild beef  ;)

[pappy19]

I'd take him up on his price with the deal that if the carcass doesn't grade at least choice, you get it for 1/2 the price. No matter what a steer is fed or what the breed, if it doesn't grade out to choice or prime, you will have pay more than it is worth and it won't be as good as a choice or higher grade of beef.

[9shooter]

I buy a side at a time from a friend @ around $2.00 per pound hanging weight. That includes the butchering fees and vacuum packing. These are organic raised cattle.  He's going to quit though because he can't make anything much for the work.  :( Them steaks are right there with the best I've EVER eaten. You end up paying more for hamburger, but a lot less for quality cuts. I'll have to find another source.

[flip]

I bought a 1/4 beef from a guy here at work about a month ago.  Beef packed and in the freezer for right at $400.  Goooooood meat.

[Roxie]

Gary C is right about saving by buying a cow instead of a steer.  Our freezer is currently full of meat from a Jersey cow.  We buy the calves from the dairy farms.  If a cow has twins, and one is a bull and the other a female, the female is sterile.  Around here they are called free martens.  Anyhow, they almost give them to ya!  We keep the cows in the pasture and also give them hay, and then throw the grain at them the last two months. 

It is far superior to 'grocery' store beef.  We also sell halves and quarters for $2.65/lb butchered, wrapped and frozen. 

[Tim/South]

We charge $2.35 lock and key.
Farm raised, no steroids. Not Organic since we vaccinate and deworm.

Beef are put on feed with pasture or hay at 750 lbs for 90 - 100 days. We believe it takes a minimum of 90 days on feed for the meat to marble.
Feed is free choice and contains no grain. (60% corn gluetin, 15% peanut hulls, 15% soy hulls). We could market this as grass fed.
  This began as a favor to some friends and spread by word of mouth.
We pay the hauling, processing and deliver the meat if it is local. We meet the buyer if it is more than one hour away.

The hardest sell was getting my city raised wife out of the mindset that if it did not come from the store that it was not safe.

The state certified butcher is 55 cents per pound plus a $20 kill fee. Kind of steep but we have to call a month ahead to reserve a spot.
A Mennonite butcher is 45 cents and farther away. We use both.

Actual meat received.
We delivered quarters today. Total hanging weight was 670.
Each quarter (167 lbs) cost the customer $393. After trimming the outside fat and deboning, the actual weight of meat received was 135 lbs. That comes to @ $2.92 per pound for actual meat.
One down side of getting a beef to marble is that there is a lot of outside fat that needs to be removed.

We are not getting rich doing this. My feed climbed from $135 per ton to $195, is now $185. I went up 10 cents per pound.

[arj]

We got wild beet in Connecticut, the nighbor cant fix fence Run out of bed springs
and baleing twine. I told him if it comes back many more times it will be in my
frezzer.               arj

[stonebroke]

Tim

Yous think that is steep, many slaughter houses inNY charge a dollar a pound and you have to schedule over a year in advance.


Stonebroke

[Don_Papenburg]

DanG, our Piggly Wiggly  closed up back in the early60s :(