Hungry for good beef??? We are located in Central Indiana

[Groesbeck Hurricane]

Tired of paying for overpriced and tasteless meat?

Being offered for your consideration are Angus and Angus Cross steers! We (friends and us) raise cattle and will have several head ready for harvest in mid December. The steers are currently being raised on pasture (grass). With winter approaching the steers will be fed with round bales of grass hay and supplemented with grains. The pastures are green, not the mud pits you see in feed lots. The steers have almost 100 acres to roam.

Grass fed beef raised this way is generally lower in fat and cholesterol than commercially raised and processed (salt water injected) chicken. Our beef is generally leaner than cuts found in the grocery stores.

We are offering to sell the steers as live and deliver them to a local processor. The processor will weigh the steer independent of us and will report the live weight to both parties. We charge by the pound of live weight at the processor. Buyer would pay the processor for all processing fees.

The steers are available as either quarters, halves, or wholes.

Costs: Live weight cost is $1.50 per pound

Processor: Approximately $350.00 for a typical processing.

You tell the processor what cuts of beef you like, how thick you wish for your steaks, patties/ground, sausage, etc. You choose.

Typical steer will weigh 1,000 to 1,200 pounds.

Using a round example of 1,000 pounds you will be looking at:

1,000 pounds * $1.50 per pound = $1,500.00 to farmer

Approximately $350.00 to processor

Total out of pocket estimate is $1,850.00 for one full steer.

We have been averaging 55% harvest (approximately 550 pounds finished beef from a 1,000 pound steer) so that equates to a cost per pound of:

$1,850.00 / 550 pounds = $3.36 per pound for all cuts (steaks, roasts, patties, etc)!

The total take home weight and to an extent the harvest percentage will vary by the type of cuts you choose. 55% is just a guide and industry standard is 40 to 60%.

We do request ordering up front and will take a small deposit to hold the steer. Deposit will be applied to the final cost for the steer.


ps: I checked with Wayne first.

[Buckterrier]

Originally Posted by Groesbeck Hurricane

With winter approaching the steers will be fed with round bales of grass hay and supplemented with grains.

They need square meals A little hay baler humor, very little.

Good luck with the sale David.

[craigster59]

What kind of cuts can we expect from a 1/4 steer? This sounds pretty darn good.

[Jim Bremner]

Grass fed beef is MUCH tastier than regular beef. Just don't cook it as long!

[azasadny]

When I was eating meat, we bought 1/2 cow and 1/2 pig with a friend every year and it was great! Even factoring in the cost of the freezer chest in the basement to hold the meat, it was much cheaper and much, much better tasting meat than we could buy in the stores. It was one of the best things we ever did...

[Groesbeck Hurricane]

Yes, grass fed, naturally raised beef just tastes better! Also, less processing, one freezing cycle, good hang times, cattle do not get stressed out as they are at a small processor and have been on pasture not penned up. Huge difference! Less fat too!

From a 1/4 beef you would be splitting everything with other people. Fewer steaks, roasts, 1/2 brisket, some short ribs if you so wanted. Basically the processor takes one of the halves, processes the half, then they divide everything as evenly as possible.

We took a share of our last "run" with a friend. They did not want certain cuts but they did want all the organs, skin, etc. Worked out well for us! We got extra steaks and they got the parts of the cow they were used to in Eastern Africa but were otherwise unable to get in The States.

Art,

I cannot remember if you are unable to eat any meat or if they said to eat chicken? There are some raisers of Highland Cattle near you. You might try some of that meat. If they are raising it on pasture then it will be lower in cholesterol, fat, etc than chicken. Especially store bought chicken. Look for the Highland Cattle Association websites or just do a web search for Michigan Highlands. Keep in mind that TB is "rampant" in large animals in Michigan (quarantine levels).

[vash]

i would buy a chest freezer if someone on the west coast popped up an offer like this.

how do you split a 1/4 beast? most people like the front quarter, no?

GH..raise some bison!! i can run a chest freezer on a trailer with a generator!! haha.

hey..you ever think about meat that is not "traditional"? ostrich, bison, hell, raise elk!

[Groesbeck Hurricane]

Ahhh, fun things to raise buffalo, elk, ostrich, emu: All things that can take you down without really caring or noticing! Tis a young man's game!

Spliting to quarters is hard but you basically split one side in half. 10 Steaks? You each get five. 100 pounds hamburger? You each get 50. Less ability to customize cuts when splitting to quarters.

Guy down the road raises elk but I do not know if he can ship out of state or if he even ships. Big can of worms that!

Do a local search for farmers. Or buy some land and raise your own baby up. Can be done, all it takes is time and investment.

Will have some in Oklahoma in the near future. It will be Angus/Brangus.

[azasadny]

David,
Thanks for the good info! I only eat chicken/fish once or twice a week at the most. No red meat of any kind in 5 1/2 years. My liver is cooperating, so I really don't want to change anything and neither does my Dr. My diet is vert restrictive but I can live with it and I'm seeing the beneficial results, but I do miss meat, especially elk tenderloin, lamb and rare beef!

[aigel]

I'd be all over this if I would be local and wouldn't live off my wild game only.

G

[Rusty Heap]

I can get choice boneless rib-eye in 15 pound hunks o' meat for $5.29 a pound.


what's your price for select or choice prime cuts, leave out the hamburger? or do you just sell 1/2 a cow?

[Groesbeck Hurricane]

We were selling Prime and Choice steaks and roasts but are not doing that right now. We are only selling by the cow at this time.

When our next group of animals come up there should be several Highland and Highland Crosses that can be processed this way. Their rating is expected to also be Prime. Right now they are in Oklahoma and they will only be able to be sold after processing at a USDA Inspection facility in Oklahoma. The Highland (and Galloway) provide superior flavor, quality, and tenderness.

One of the price points we always run up against is people looking at grocery store cuts, walmart, or butcher shop cuts and comparing these to our meats (or any direct farmer's meats). The one pound of hamburger in the shops can contain meat from hundreds or thousands of cows. You do not know. The specific cuts of meat come from generally unknown sources.

Cows generally move through a breeder to a raiser to a finisher (read this as a feed mill/slop trough) to a mass slaughter facility. The farmer's in this chain must move mass quantities of cattle and strive to fill one cattle container at each stage. Many people will "supplement" their feed with bird droppings. High in protein and such, illegal feed, and cows do not normally eat manure as a diet of choice. These animals are then integrated into our food chain and show up in the walmart, local grocer, and butcher's shop.

Some butchers actually source their product directly from local producers. Laura's Lean Beef inspects their growers and the feed process. There is a higher level of certainty through Laura's though they also require a large quantity of animals finished for processing for each run.

I love being compared to Certified Angus. Buyers buy the cattle that are black or have black on them. There are MANY breeds of black cattle and MANY crosses to produce black cattle. Most are not Angus. The Angus line has been compromised through genetic in-breeding and hormones for fast growth and early slaughter weights. Our Dexter stock has been referred to by "certified buyers" as Angus. Very different animals! When you remove the skin from an Angus and a Hereford you will not be able to tell a difference for the most part, especially as they go down the conveyor together.

We raise our stock on grass with some grains to keep them a bit friendly and easier to work with. In the winter we will supplement with some grain but the main feed is grass and hay. The animals grow at a "normal" pace and the meat has better texture and flavor. This is how cows were raised for centuries until chemists took over the processes.

We can walk into the pasture with our cows. Our stud bull (Highland, Colorado Champion, old blood line) will run up to you and beg for apples, pears, carrots, etc and he eats them directly from your hand. His horn span is over five feet right now and growing. Our Folds (herds) are kept in groups and the Bull will help raise and protect the young!

[VincentVega]

Good luck, I only wish I was closer.

I split a 1/4 with my folks last year and look forward to doing it again. I like to cook and found some new ways to use some of the new to me cuts. Best part were the roasts and ground beef though. I made the best burgers, meat loaf, taco's... that I ever had. The flavor was great.

[sammyg2]

In case anyone out there has never tasted beef raised and butchered like this, it is only about a gazillion times better than the over-priced crap you get at the supermarket.

[vash]

i love it.

it looks uglier. the fat isnt "white"..it is yellow. i got some from a rancher up near Frasier park. got some 2" think NYcut steaks. my wife was put off a little bit from the non-pink meat and yellow fat steaks..then the smell hit her. she loved it. enough to explore the option of buying some primals from the rancher. he gave me the option of "sponsoring" a calf..but i i balked and let the deal expire.

[onewhippedpuppy]

My in-laws buy one or two cows every year from a local rancher in central KS, they always have 5 freezers stocked with meat that we can pick from. HUGE improvement over the store bought crap.

[sammyg2]

LOL.
When I was about 10 or so my parents started splitting a side of beef with a friend, it was enough to fill the old freezer and keep us fat and happy over the winter. Great stuff.

But like clockwork, the last piece of meat left was always the liver. My mom was a great cook but did not know how to cook liver.
The first time she tried she just tossed it in a pot of boiling water and the whole house smelled like hot piss. Just nasty.
My father was an old school country boy who was taught to eat what was put in front of him so there was no being a picky eater in his family.
When we (I had three brothers) balked at eating it he gave us "the look". We all knew that meant we were going to get it if we didn't straighten up and fly right.
Then he took a bite.
A minute later when he finally managed to swallow it without gagging, he said we were excused.

[Joeaksa]

Wish there was a way to get it out here to Arizona. Would buy a 1/2 in a heartbeat!

[vash]

GH, i sent you a PM.

[Drdogface]

Originally Posted by Joeaksa

Wish there was a way to get it out here to Arizona. Would buy a 1/2 in a heartbeat!

Ditto !

We have an upright freezer and used to buy whole lambs but my 'adult supervisor' filled it up with her stuff... no room left now for Spring lambs