Just bought a quarter cow....$3.35 a pound

[illinoisguy]

It was a back quarter so it was a little higher. Usually I buy it from someone I know in January...however we have run out. The butcher shop has their own cattle. I felt to do this since beef is shooting through the roof and can go higher.

There is no telling what will happen this winter. What are costs in your area?

thanks

[sassafras manor]

$3.35/lb. hanging weight?

[illinoisguy]

Originally Posted by sassafras manor

$3.35/lb. hanging weight?

That is meat, packing, ...everything....

[MO_cows]

It is unusual to buy a "rear quarter". Usually, they divvy up the cuts from the whole animal into fourths and call it a quarter. The price is good but you have a LOT of round to get thru. Hope you had some of it ground.

[TnAndy]

Originally Posted by MO_cows

It is unusual to buy a "rear quarter". Usually, they divvy up the cuts from the whole animal into fourths and call it a quarter. The price is good but you have a LOT of round to get thru. Hope you had some of it ground.

I often wondered HOW they did that on a quarter.

A half I can see easy.....but with a quarter, front, or back ? I always grind most of the front, past the mid loin, into hamburger, except maybe a few chuck roasts if they look real good.

[illinoisguy]

In time past a buddy and me split a half from a friend of ours who is raising them. The company gave us equal shares of the whole half. Since I am dealing with the company directly, I had to choose front or back quarter. they said I should get around 40 pounds of burger....there is less in the back half than the front...

[Xplorer]

Local butcher is getting $3.65 for a rear quarter and $3.35 for the front. Rear runs about 150-200lbs wrapped.

[donnam]

Feeder cattle at around 500 pounds were selling at $1.90/pound last month and we were told it will continue to climb.

[Grandmotherbear]

Stupid question- how do you find a butcher shop selling halves or quarters? 30 years ago we had a local shop that rented freezer space and offered 3 month deals- got so much beef, chicken and hot dogs for so much a month for 3 months- that seemed to go away 25 years ago

[Ziptie]

Were trying to sell a jersey steer $3.25 lb hanging weight. Does not include processing fee. Seen some sites selling for 5-6.00 lb hanging weight.
Grass feed hamburger cost around $6.00 lb around here.

[Cindy in PA]

I've been getting a half of grass fed beef for about 10 years. This year it is $3.65 hanging weight. I ran out of my beef a month ago & store bought hamburger has no taste whatsoever!

[TnAndy]

Question on 'grass fed beef'.....does that mean they are never fed any grain and all they ever ate was grass ?

I'd think that would make a fairly lousy beef.....more like a deer, with no marbling in the meat, and not enough excess fat to make a decent hamburger. I raise mine on pasture/hay from the time they will eat it (they start nibbling at it a couple months after being born ), and I feed them a commercial grain ration once a day, amounting to about a gallon per full sized animal.

I find this produces an excellent beef at 18 months to 2 years of age.

We slaughtered a 950-1000lb steer, 20 months of age, mixed Dexter/Black Angus breed. He dressed out about 600lbs, and yielded 328lbs of meat that went in the freezer, + 55 quarts of trimmings that got canned as dog food.

About 190lbs of hamburger, the rest in steaks, roasts, stew meat, etc. Figuring it was worth $5/lb on average ( including sales tax), that steer was worth $1600 to us. Additionally, we saved about $250-300 that wasn't spent on at the processor to kill, cut, vacuum pack, pat out burgers (they charge 25 cents/lb for that) and freeze.

[Awnry Abe]

Originally Posted by donnam

Feeder cattle at around 500 pounds were selling at $1.90/pound last month and we were told it will continue to climb.

I just sold a lot of 550 lb steers @ 2.58. So it has been climbing.

Originally Posted by Ziptie

Were trying to sell a jersey steer $3.25 lb hanging weight. Does not include processing fee. Seen some sites selling for 5-6.00 lb hanging weight.
Grass feed hamburger cost around $6.00 lb around here.

Ziptie, this may help your math a bit. In that same trailer load, I also had a very nice solid black steer ready for slaughter, or so I guessed. I conjectured that I could sell him at the auction without breaking a sweat for much more than I could get as hanging beef. He went for 1.90/lb. Here's how it worked out:

Live Hanging (55%)
Weight 920 506
Price 1.90 3.53 <--- Derived price needed to match sale barn
Total 1784 1786 ( Sale barn commision was ~50 on that animal)

Our processor charged .45/lb last year, so that would be an extra 250 or so. I don't know too many people running around with $2000 in their hip pocket, so I figured I was looking at selling it in halves or quarters just to meet the sale barn deal. Current CL ads show prices around the $3-3.50 mark for hanging weight. It was a no brainer and I am super happy that I did it.

Your Jersey is an entirely different animal. Although highly coveted by us that like real food, he gets relegated to cheap-meat at the sale barn ($1.30-ish). As you can see, selling it skin-less by the side/quarter is definitely the way to go in your case.

[Awnry Abe]

@TNAndy, you do an amazing job on butcher. How much do you want for that steak?

[unregistered353870]

Question on 'grass fed beef'.....does that mean they are never fed any grain and all they ever ate was grass ?

"Grass fed" is a meaningless term unless you can ask the farmer that very question and trust him to tell you the truth. Lots of beef is marketed as grass fed just because some people want grass fed. Since all beef is grass fed, anyone can use the term. It may mean they're never fed grain, or it may not mean that.

"Grass finished" is the term to look for if you want truly grain-free, and even then it's sometimes not finished entirely on grass. And yes, grass finished can be very tough and lean, especially if you just take a common beef breed and feed it nothing but grass. Some breeds do produce a very nice marbling on pasture only (I only know about mixed pasture, not strictly grass). There are some other factors that can make a halfway decent beef on pasture with common breeds, but I don't really see the point in doing that.

[fireliteca]

TNAndy- you know if you have really lean meat it gives you an excuse to wrap it in bacon.lol Fireliteca

[TnAndy]

Originally Posted by Awnry Abe

@TNAndy, you do an amazing job on butcher. How much do you want for that steak?

Thank you. Unfortunately, that particular steak has already been eaten......

[Ziptie]

Originally Posted by Awnry Abe

I just sold a lot of 550 lb steers @ 2.58. So it has been climbing.




Ziptie, this may help your math a bit. In that same trailer load, I also had a very nice solid black steer ready for slaughter, or so I guessed. I conjectured that I could sell him at the auction without breaking a sweat for much more than I could get as hanging beef. He went for 1.90/lb. Here's how it worked out:

Live Hanging (55%)
Weight 920 506
Price 1.90 3.53 <--- Derived price needed to match sale barn
Total 1784 1786 ( Sale barn commision was ~50 on that animal)

Our processor charged .45/lb last year, so that would be an extra 250 or so. I don't know too many people running around with $2000 in their hip pocket, so I figured I was looking at selling it in halves or quarters just to meet the sale barn deal. Current CL ads show prices around the $3-3.50 mark for hanging weight. It was a no brainer and I am super happy that I did it.

Your Jersey is an entirely different animal. Although highly coveted by us that like real food, he gets relegated to cheap-meat at the sale barn ($1.30-ish). As you can see, selling it skin-less by the side/quarter is definitely the way to go in your case.

Yah, would rather sell at auction, but auctioneer said I would get dinged for him not being feed any corn. More of the bottle calves survived then planned. If he isn't sold in a month off to the sale barn he goes and maybe with the half Angus steer(depends if we find some dairy goats to replace the milk from our cow). Hay is just ridiculous around here.

[Awnry Abe]

Originally Posted by Ziptie

Yah, would rather sell at auction, but auctioneer said I would get dinged for him not being feed any corn. More of the bottle calves survived then planned. If he isn't sold in a month off to the sale barn he goes and maybe with the half Angus steer(depends if we find some dairy goats to replace the milk from our cow). Hay is just ridiculous around here.

Does he have horns? I assumed he would, and would look more like a dairy steer than a typical beef steer. I can't see anything getting dinged at the auction because of what it was fed. Mine are only fed grass, and I get top $. As long as the calves don't talk, no one knows what they eat. The difference may be that there is no finishing room or time left for him, and with mine there is.

[DragonFlyFarm]

I just picked up my 1/4 steer on Wednesday. 131 lbs cut and wrapped, $6.00/lb.