Buying a 1/4 cow?

[hoggs222]

I am thinking of buying a 1/4 or 1/2 cow. Anybody on this site also do this? If so, what price, quality, etc?

[End of the Line]

I am one of the lucky ones that still gets his right off the farm. Our family splits it in 1/3's with my sister and brother. Lucky for me, my dad's neighbor raises them for us. It usually is slightly more expensive then store boughten, but the quailty is unbeatable and way more lean since we cut it ourselves too. We dont get the the huge cow sizes either, usually a 1 year old.

[Gissert]

My wife's family farms, and this is how we get our beef. We usually buy 1/4 at a time.

Price is dependant upon the current market.

From my experience, the quality can't be beat.

We get hogs from the guy across the road. Again, quality is top notch.

[Big Pine Walleye]

Depending on how much you need I would suggest buying what they call a split quarter. In a split quarter you get hamburger, a variety of steaks, roasts, and the like. I like to buy it this way becuase it is usually about the same price per pound for all of it as it is for hamburger in the store. I also suggest to buy as part of a little smaller animal, everything is a little more tender! Good Luck and go to a butcher that you trust and you will be happy with it!

[vermilionfox]

How does a cow stand when you remove a quarter of it????

Reminds me of the old joke about the three legged pig.....can't eat a good pig like that all at once!!

Seriously though, my mothers brothers (all 10 of them) all raised dairy and beef herds. They always chose an older milk cow for their table beef, they all said they were more tender and had a better taste. They also picked ones that wee on the lazy side and didn't roam too far from the barn.

[gspman]

Yes, we buy a half of a half (so we get some from the front quarter and back quarter) from a neighbor whose family farms in IA. Great stuff!

[hoggs222]

What does a 1/4 cow usually cost? How many #'s do you usually get?

[Mike89]

I too would buy 1/2 of 1/2. That way you get some of everything. But the last thing I'd buy is a cow!!!! They are good for burger only, and that's if it's good!!! I'd buy a nice 14 to 16 month old beef calf. Colored perferably and raised on grain, along with the rest of it's feed.You will be very happy! Good luck! Mike

[Cliff Wagenbach]

I had a friend who was a meat wholesaler and he said that buying beef by the half or 1/4 was not really a good deal, as you were paying for a lot of bone and other waste.

He said you get better deals by waiting for a good sale price on steaks, roasts, hamb. etc. and then buying a quantity of each for your freezer.

I used to buy a half every year and have to agree with him.

You just may get a little better beef though if you know who you are buying the half or quarter from!

Cliff

[CAJ]

Here in NE Montana you can buy a half a Beef for $1.89 cut and wrapped. Pretty good deal if you ask me. That is the way I get mine. CAJ

[hovermn]

What do you call a two legged cow? Lean Beef

What do you call a cow with Epilepsy? Beef Jerky

What do you call a cow with no legs? Ground Beef

Sorry, it's not often a perfect post like this comes along!

[hawkeye43]

I just bought a 1/2 of beef 440# at $1.45 # and $255 to cut and wrap. Best beef you can get

[schweady]

Ours comes from Thielen's of Little Falls, west side of Hwy 10. Good butchers like this are getting harder and harder to find. We meet the in-laws from Princeton half way and split a half. Cut, wrapped, frozen for $2.49/lb today. Haven't bought beef any other way for 30 years.

[sparkyaber]

I am also one of the luck ones who get to buy beef right from the farm. I was raised on a small farm and all we had was quality meat that we raised. When my dad sold I was forced to buy from the supermarkets- what a joke fatty and lacking flavor. After a few years on a waiting list, I am now buying pork, beef and chicken from my uncle who raises piedmontise (s/p) cattle. I paid about 775 dollars for about 390# out the door. Bargain at twice the price . Nothing beats home grown meat!

[Cliff Wagenbach]

That IS a great deal! Of course you do have a few more cows in your area!

Cliff

[McGurk]

My parents have split up steers for the family and sold some here and there for approx $400.00 for 200 lbs mixed cuts and hamburger butchered, wrapped, and delivered. This is when the selling price is about $0.90 /lb selling weight (about 1300-1400 lbs walking). Good Luck! McGurk

[BLACKJACK]

I bought half of a half from a lady here at work, we paid $1.49 per pound and plus we paid for the cutting and wrapping, about $80. As previously stated, you will lose some of that in bone and trim when its cut up. Its not cheap, but the beef is top notch from a local farmer. The stuff you see on sale, you never what you're getting, some downer cow or old dairy cow. A beef dresses down to 2/3 of live weight, so if it was 1200 pounds, that gives you a carcass of 792 pounds/4=198. Then by the time that is cut and trimmed, you'll get roughly 160 pounds in nice white packages. You can tell them to cut it the way you like it, 1 inch steaks, 3 pound roasts, soupbones, etc. Look at the price of steak in the grocery store, the top notch stuff is $5-6 a pound, when I want a rib eye steak, I just go pull in out of the freezer.

[RJ]

We just got a 1/4. Actually half of a half (I like that terminology) Hanging weight was 177 pounds. We paid $1.40 for each of them, and another $.40 to have it processed. All vacume packed. I know the owner, and it was fed right. Not sure how much meat went into the freezer. There is some waist. I've been told about 60% or so of hanging weight is common.