Author Topic: Let there be BEEF!  (Read 1610 times)

Kingcreek

  • friend
  • Senior Member
  • ***
  • Posts: 3,472
Let there be BEEF!
« on: January 01, 2021, 10:46:36 AM »
530 pounds of it.
In our freezer.
Picked it up at the locker yesterday. Raised by my cousin who has been raising cattle for 60 years. Won awards with his show cattle when he was a youngster. Now grows awesome grass fed organic (not certified) beef. This was a half beef, dry aged a little over 3 weeks and cut to order.
Haven’t got a bill from him yet but I’ll post back with final per pound cost if interested. Locker fees were $1 per pound.
What we have here is failure to communicate.

K Frame

  • friend
  • Senior Member
  • ***
  • Posts: 44,009
  • I Am Inimical
Re: Let there be BEEF!
« Reply #1 on: January 01, 2021, 11:32:57 AM »
Nice... Very nice... Grass fed beef is so much superior it's not even funny.
Carbon Monoxide, sucking the life out of idiots, 'tards, and fools since man tamed fire.

Kingcreek

  • friend
  • Senior Member
  • ***
  • Posts: 3,472
Re: Let there be BEEF!
« Reply #2 on: January 01, 2021, 11:52:04 AM »
We’ve been doing it this way for years. 1/2 is really too much but a 1/4 isn’t quite enough and we don’t get the same cut options with a quarter. So we usually split a half with my sister every other year.
We also get the liver heart and tongue and lots of nice meaty soup bones.
We usually end up paying close to store ground beef prices for everything.
What we have here is failure to communicate.

Larry Ashcraft

  • Administrator
  • Senior Member
  • *****
  • Posts: 1,310
Re: Let there be BEEF!
« Reply #3 on: January 01, 2021, 12:16:04 PM »
Wow!  530 pounds is HALF of a beef?  That's usually what our whole steers dress out at.  We picked up two whole steers in September from a processor in Westcliffe, nice Amish couple.  The steers were raised by our neighbor.  They were a little fattier than I like them, but we didn't have much choice.  Plenty of steers around, but the small processors we use are booked up a year in advance.  I prefer the steers raised by another friend who pastures our place in the summer.  He fattens them on corn, but only for about 6 weeks.  His steaks aren't as pretty, but the taste is awesome.

About three years ago, we decided to raise our own, just for fun.  I bought three 725 pound steers in May from my cousin near Limon CO, and turned them out onto our 40 acres of Arkansas river bottom.  I finished them for six weeks on sweet mix, and took them to the processor in October, at which time they weighed about 1300 pounds each.  We sold the excess and actually made a little profit.  Our finished cost was roughly $4.25 a lb.  I don't recommend raising such a small herd though, if you lose one steer, you have lost a third of your herd, and you lose big time, but we were lucky.

The meat we picked up in September cost right at $6 per lb.  The last steers, from our other friend, was around $4.50 a lb. in 2018.  I don't know how he makes a profit at that, since he also pays for pasture most of the year.  Pasture runs about $18 per head per month.

Kingcreek

  • friend
  • Senior Member
  • ***
  • Posts: 3,472
Re: Let there be BEEF!
« Reply #4 on: January 01, 2021, 01:24:12 PM »
Actually was wrong the 530 I saw on the locker tab was 1/2 the live weight. I’ll have the right numbers with the bill.
What we have here is failure to communicate.

Larry Ashcraft

  • Administrator
  • Senior Member
  • *****
  • Posts: 1,310
Re: Let there be BEEF!
« Reply #5 on: January 01, 2021, 04:38:50 PM »
Actually was wrong the 530 I saw on the locker tab was 1/2 the live weight. I’ll have the right numbers with the bill.

Probably half the hanging weight, that sounds about right.

Jim147

  • friends
  • Senior Member
  • ***
  • Posts: 7,587
Re: Let there be BEEF!
« Reply #6 on: January 01, 2021, 08:59:51 PM »
Yeah my neigbors cows taste amazing.
Sometimes we carry more weight then we owe.
And sometimes goes on and on and on.

BAH-WEEP-GRAAAGHNAH WHEEP NI-NI BONG

Andiron

  • friend
  • Senior Member
  • ***
  • Posts: 3,930
Re: Let there be BEEF!
« Reply #7 on: January 01, 2021, 11:38:35 PM »
I think the average is around 56%,  anything north of that is doing real good.
"Leftism destroys everything good." -  Ron

There is no fixing stupid. But, you can line it up in front of a wall and offer it a last smoke.

There is no such thing as a "transgender" person.  Only mental illness that should be discouraged.

Kingcreek

  • friend
  • Senior Member
  • ***
  • Posts: 3,472
Re: Let there be BEEF!
« Reply #8 on: January 08, 2021, 02:05:19 PM »
Now having all tickets in hand I can say the 530 pounds was hanging weight of our half. Formula applied by cousin for live weight and market price ($1.10 per pound live weight) and our total cost comes in about $3 per pound including locker fees.
Glad we did it because I see meat prices rising this year.
I looked at pork loin back ribs yesterday. $3.29/# at Costco. They were 2.89 and I have picked them up on sale for 2.25. Haven’t seen much change in beef but it’s coming I think.
We now have 1 chest freezer full of beef, another full of venison turkey chicken and pork and a third smaller upright freezer with veggies soups and sauces etc.
What we have here is failure to communicate.

K Frame

  • friend
  • Senior Member
  • ***
  • Posts: 44,009
  • I Am Inimical
Re: Let there be BEEF!
« Reply #9 on: January 08, 2021, 02:12:00 PM »
Nice. Very nice. I don't eat a lot of beef, but I'd love to be able to hook into a deal like that.

Carbon Monoxide, sucking the life out of idiots, 'tards, and fools since man tamed fire.

Kingcreek

  • friend
  • Senior Member
  • ***
  • Posts: 3,472
Re: Let there be BEEF!
« Reply #10 on: January 08, 2021, 03:12:07 PM »
Whatever pandemic civil unrest and societal breakdown occurs, I will not be hungry.
Need more wine...
What we have here is failure to communicate.

K Frame

  • friend
  • Senior Member
  • ***
  • Posts: 44,009
  • I Am Inimical
Re: Let there be BEEF!
« Reply #11 on: January 08, 2021, 03:14:44 PM »
My freezer is fairly well stocked at the moment. Enough to keep me going for at least a couple of weeks, and I'm making a Walmart run tomorrow morning for more dry goods.
Carbon Monoxide, sucking the life out of idiots, 'tards, and fools since man tamed fire.

sumpnz

  • friend
  • Senior Member
  • ***
  • Posts: 8,304
Re: Let there be BEEF!
« Reply #12 on: January 11, 2021, 05:58:19 PM »
We’ve got a quarter cow coming in a week or two.  Hoping it’s good.  Raised by family we know, but wouldn’t say are great friends with.

Found what I think will be a good source for breeder quality Katahdin sheep.  That will allow me to have 4-6 lambs most years to harvest.

Kingcreek

  • friend
  • Senior Member
  • ***
  • Posts: 3,472
Re: Let there be BEEF!
« Reply #13 on: January 16, 2021, 11:49:41 AM »
I’m pissed off 😡
I unwrapped a package of filets last night and the locker F’d up my cut order. My 2” steaks are all 1” thick.
Nice size for a chocolate chip cookie but F’n disappointing for a juicy rare grilled filet of beef.
Called the locker 1 hour drive each way. Waiting for a call back from the owner.
What we have here is failure to communicate.