Side of beef Questions

[heavyduty]

Thinking about stocking up the freezer with some meat this spring and have a few questions. How much on average should I expect to pay for a side of beef,( farmer, cut, wrapped)? Do I contact a meat market/ butcher or should I find a farmer selling first. How much say/choice do I have in the cuts of meat. Any suggestions on where to go, I live near rochester, but will be working near St. Cloud for the next couple months.Also looking for a pig also.

[Gatores]

I actually just bought another steer that I am splitting with a friend of mine. We paid the farmer .95 a pound live weight. Market price was around 1.04 but he would of had to pay seller fees and transportation to market so we get it for a little less then market price. The butcher we take it to charges us .60 a pound hanging weight for cut and wrap. He will cut it to our specs. for that price. Hope that helps.

Rick

[Gissert]

Beef prices are up pretty good right now. Prior to the jump, for our beef, was about 300-325 for the average mixed quarter. That included the processing and wrapping.

[reinhard1]

if you have someone you trust and you are happy with what you get that's whats important. i have cut plenty of sides of beef in my life. you have to consider the starting price prior to any loss. and then see what you get back in the final product. the meat should be also well trimed ready to cook or grill. personaly i have always bought what is on sale and stocked up on those items on sale i use the most. this is my way of saving money and i have done this even when i was working as a meat cutter. this way i see the meat and pay at a reduced price with no or little loss. same with pork. good luck.

[CaptainBly]

Just got our meat back. We paid the farmer $1.02/lb and the locker charged $.50/lb to process

[KEN W]

Interesting.We just bought a 1/2 beef in Nov.

The butcher also charged us a kill fee,a disposal of waste fee,a grinding fee,and a cubeing fee on top of the price per pound.Do the rest of you all pay those extra fees or are they included.

[reinhard1]

like i said if your happy thats all that matters. $1.02 per pound for hanging weight? i doubt that. on the hoof maby. what was the original weight and what was the cutting loss? that is how you determin your final cost plus what was your trim on the steaks 1/2 in [too much] 1/8 in. just right. what percentage of fat was your burger and was it tested or just guessed at. look i'm not trying to be critical of your choice even though i might sound like it, but it is important that the grade of beef is there along with you being there to see the original weight. you can see the final product yourself. just trying to give information that i have had experience at for over 35 years in all manners of the meat buisness wholesale and retail. good luck.

[reinhard1]

ken, i have never heard of a kill fee, but i have never bought from a farmer or know anything about how you buy anything from a farmer. i see the same thing how some charge for deer proccessing. grinding, wrapping, taking the hide off, ect. there should be one fee up front. how much will it cost me to for a hind quarter cut wrapped and frozen ready to go period. this way you can compare price to another place of buisness. the rest may be a cost for the place of buisness but you should have one price. for years the waste of the animal was pretty much free for disposal. things have changed. personaly charging seperate for some items is a way to bring up the cost for you in my opinion. grinding fee should be included not extra and the same with cubing the meat. good luck.

[CaptainBly]

I guess I really can't tell you the live weight. We got a quarter. We ended up with 270lbs, after processing. I looked again we got charged for a quarter fo the slaughter too, $12.50

[thirdeye]

There are several ways to price out beef, and some local processors do break everything out while others just give you a total. But aside from the total cost it's very important for anyone thinking about a half or whole to get their hands on a cut sheet several days before ordering. This form is basically your instructions to the cutter, but it also will give you an idea of what choices will be best for you. If you are not familiar with primal cuts and how they are broken down, the cut sheet will explain your options. For example, if you request a standing rib roast (prime rib) you can't have any rib steaks. And if you don't specifically ask for tri-tip roast or the hanging tender, you may not get them in that form. The cut sheet might even include a chart like this one.

Another thing that is very important (especially when buying directly from the rancher) is how the beef was finished. Finishing improves flavor, marbling and even tenderness. They should be able to tell you when the steers were moved to the finishing lot, the type of special feed they were on, and the amount of weight gained. Smaller processors are not required to perform USDA grading, but it's a good idea to ask the cutter how it would have graded.

Lastly, inquire about aging options. This is the final step in getting quality beef. there is a noticeable difference in beef aged 6 days and 21 days.

[reinhard1]

ending up with 270 pounds for a quarter just doesnt sound right. i have never weighed a hind quarter or front quarter that weighed that much before i even cut them. we handled us choice yield 2 in the days we cut them. i personaly carried them by the hundreds from the truck to the hooks in our cutting room to be rolled in the coolers for later proccessing. i even took them off the hooks to cut them on my own. maby thats why i have a few pains here and there. i'm not trying to be critical here but you may have ordered more than a quarter and dont have the term right. dont forget to ask the cutter for the suet for the birds, you paid for it if there was a hind quarter involved. you may have gotten a whole beef on the hoof and charged 12.50 per quarter of the fee you were talking about, and depending on the size of the animal that 270 pounds sounds more logical in finished product.good luck.

[Jim Almquist]

Another thing that is very important (especially when buying directly from the rancher) is how the beef was finished. Finishing improves flavor, marbling and even tenderness. They should be able to tell you when the steers were moved to the finishing lot, the type of special feed they were on, and the amount of weight gained. Smaller processors are not required to perform USDA grading, but it's a good idea to ask the cutter how it would have graded.

Lastly, inquire about aging options. This is the final step in getting quality beef. there is a noticeable difference in beef aged 6 days and 21 days.

We were given a roast that was raised by some wannabe farmers and I don't think they knew about finishing there beef. It was nasty to say the least !

[CaptainBly]

Like I said, 270lbs was after processing, No I didn't get any suet.

[highlife4me]

270 lbs. does not sound right at all. Maybe for a 1/2 a beef. Most 1/4's usually go 100 - 120 lbs. 150 would be a very large 1/4. Might want to recheck your figures. 270 may have been live weight 270 X 4 = 1080 about right for a steer.

[CaptainBly]

My mistake, it was live weight.

[graingrower]

Glad to see people looking to buy their beef direct from the producer! I personally market 50-60 head per year to private customers (the remaining 300 head to CLA), and can shed some light on the subject. #1.) Holstein steers should dress around 62% of live weight, not including the heart, liver, and tongue. Beef breeds will dress higher. 2.) Typical live weight for a truly FINISHED holstein steer will exceed #1500, whereas beef breed fall in a 1200# window. 3.) Don't be afraid to ask the grower your questions; implant use, age, diet should be willingly volunteered. 4.) Processors differ wildly. I would try to choose one that does not also process wild game or goats. I regularly deliver to five different shops that have a 15 cent/lb spread in fees. 5.) Current market for holstein is $103.00 live, beef breeds 106.00.

[CaptainBly]

I personally think that the meat tastes better. I help the farmer out in the fall, been doing that for 10+ years. So, yes I know where it comes from and how it was raised. He's a good farmer like most are.

[KEN W]

Good information.I will be a little more selective next time now that I know what questions to ask.

[Corey Bohn]

I buy farm direct and prefer to buy in the fall after a steer has been finished out on quality grass vs. in the spring on corn. Seems to me the meat tends to be more marbleized when finished on grass and the best tasting beef. Seems like cattle raised along the MN / SD border and /or in eastern South Dakota produces some of the best tasting beef.

I purchase a 1/2 every year with a buddy and the butcher shop splits up the cuts evenly so we each get the same number of hind cuts and front cuts. There's a big difference between meat shops so make sure to ask the farmer who he recommends. Consider paying a little more to have all the cuts vacuum sealed. Seems to last longer in the freezer.

[BLACKJACK]

I've been on both ends, finishing out a few holsteins, and also buying quarters. A couple points to add:

1) Buy from a farmer thats been doing it for awhile, if hes selling poor quality and/or very fatty beef, he won't be in the business long. Same with a butcher, make sure they've been around for awhile.

2) When buying a 1/4, try to make it '1/2 of a 1/2', that way you get cuts from both the front qtr and rear qtr. One problem with that is that they need to match you up with someone else that has a similar cutting order.

3) Think about your lifestyle and eating habits, do you want more steaks or roasts, some of the cuts like sirloin and chuck can be cut up into roasts or steaks. Steaks are good, but I can get enought rib-eye steaks for grilling, a good chuck roast on a Sunday afternoon is great.

4) You WILL get a lot of burger, check into having the butcher make patties or buy a patty maker at Kmart and when you have the 1 pound package thawed out, pat them out for the grill.

5) Tell the butcher whether you want 2 or 4 pound roasts, how many steaks per package, whether you want 3/4 or 1 inch steaks - I like one inch, whether you want soup bones, etc.

Try a couple of quarters, over time, if you're working with the same butcher, you'll get what you want. I love taking those white packages of beef that I know came from a farm raised, hand picked beef out of the freezer!!! Especially when I see steak selling for $7 a pound!!! Yes you can watch the sales but how long has that beef been sitting there? Where did it come from? Is it from a downer cow?

Good luck!

[KEN W]

I also have all the round steaks cubed.They then can be used in stir frys,stews,steak sandwiches etc.Also ask for the brisket if it is available.Great meals out of smoked brisket.

[SkunkedAgain]

I can make an old cow taste good any day! It's not the necessarily the instrument, but the musician.

There's a lot of great information here. I might just have to finally fill up my 1950s International Harvester with a side of beef instead of just frozen water jugs!

[BLACKJACK]

Thursday I took a pound of burger and a beef roast out of the feezer and put them in the frig in a pan to thaw. Made a tater tot hot dish Sat and a roast on Sunday. Nothing easier than doing a roast and a few baked potatoes for a Sunday dinner.

[farmallnutz]

Being a livestock nutritionist most of the cost to the customer is based on what the cattle is fed, some raise beef on free choice hay, others want top quality marbleized meat have the steers on full feed and throw them 3-5 pounds of hay a day per head. Cattle are grazers and would rather eat hay then grain. Cost comes from the corn that is fed verses hay. Most corn raised beef is going to cost more, and it all depends on the weight of the animal. The optimum weight for butchering is #1250 but most farmers want them bigger to make more.

[Surface Tension]

After having grass fed beef, I will not allow in my house. I gave the rest away.

Tastes like grass and the house smells like grass after you cook it.

Around here you pay more for the new craze in what is "happy grass" fed beef.

If you want a 1/4 go in with someone on a half.. If you want a half, go in with someone on a whole.

Leave out any middleman and pick up your meat from the butcher.