Meat prices

stevenoak wrote:

Looked at a $38 NY Strip on a menu last week. Nice to have a better steak in the freezer.

I have a hard time ordering steak from any restaurant for this reason. My steaks are as good or better than almost anywhere I’ve had a steak. I was disappointed when I ate at Gibsons in Chicago.

haleysgold wrote:

Couple questions.
What should I expect the total cost to be on a 1/4 beef? I realize it depends on weight but on average.
Any opinions on variety? Angus vs. Scottish Highlands vs. Jersey? Just wondering if one is more tender/better tasting beef?

Anybody care to share a good place in SE MN?

Thanks!

Also, regarding the “if you can process a deer, you can process a beef”.
Yes, but it’s not quite the same. A beef is HUGE and HEAVY so you best have the right equipment. A bandsaw is probably needed. Hanging a beef and then getting it quartered can be a really big job. Cutting steaks is a lot easier with a bandsaw. Just saying it’s doable but there’s more to it than doing a deer.

Pm sent

biggill wrote:

<div class=”d4p-bbt-quote-title”>haleysgold wrote:</div>
Also, regarding the “if you can process a deer, you can process a beef”.
Yes, but it’s not quite the same. A beef is HUGE and HEAVY so you best have the right equipment. A bandsaw is probably needed. Hanging a beef and then getting it quartered can be a really big job. Cutting steaks is a lot easier with a bandsaw. Just saying it’s doable but there’s more to it than doing a deer.

As dry aging and packaging to this equation and unless you’re retired, it doesn’t seem worth it.

Not sure why being retired would make or break the equation. Yes butching cows is a chore. But if you and 2 buddies can work together it’s well worth it. Me and 3 other guys do it every year, as well as 4 hogs

bigpike wrote:

My wife and I started sharing a 1/4 with another couple of locally grown grass fed angus. Put it this way, I dont think I’ll be buying beef from any chain grocery store ever again. This beef taste so much better and is considerably cheaper than any crap on the store shelves. Best move weve made on groceries in a long time

Same here – last 4 years . Better tasting, waaaaay cheaper, we buy a half and get lots of burger too. From a LOCAL farmer

I really need to do a quarter or half beef again. I havent done it in several years and it was fantastic.
It was the first time I had ever heard of “minute steak”. Those were pretty fantastic. My wife bought a quarter beef one year right before deer season and then we ended up getting 2 deer. That was a bit of a fiasco. LOL

I for one, don’t think it’s any cheaper than store prices. Just for example, I pay close to $6/lb for ground beef from one of the larger local farmers in the area. This is the end price after processing based on the cost I pay to the farmer (carcass hanging weight) and the cost I pay to the processing (meat shop). This is grass fed beef, raised humanely and pasture harvested. For someone on here to say you can get beef cuts (steaks, roasts, etc) for $2.75/lb including processing I find hard to believe, unless they’re talking carcass hanging weight which in the end comes out to alot more than $2.75/lb..

I don’t think anybody said they paid $2.75/lb out the door for a 1/4 beef.
If they did, I want in.

It’s still cheaper than the store bought and tastes better buying a 1/4 from a local farmer is what I’m hearing and seen in the past.

Nobody really said anything about Angus vs. Jersey vs. Holstein vs. ???

If I wanted good marbling(which I hear grass fed beef is not) and tender, am I looking at Angus being primo?

For anyone looking for a hog, we bought a Kulver Family Farms hog, processed by Lonsdale Country Market last year and it was awesome! Great bacon, brats etc. and the price was right, I want to say around $3/lbs. Likely a little more expensive now as they were basically giving the hogs away last year due to the processing plant shutdowns. I think Kulver Family Farms also uses Dennison Meat Locker for processing, but I haven’t had any of their products to attest to it.

Edit: Just called Lonsdale and they are out to Jan/February right now.

Much of what started the price hike in meat this year is the switch from home cooked, to more people eating restaurant meals again and the supply chain disruption that caused – which is also a good excuse for price gouging……

BigWerm wrote:

processed by Lonsdale Country Market

Lonsdale Country Marked does a great job. I highly recommend them. They have been doing my beef and pork for over 15 years and my family’s for longer than I can remember. I had to talk to Mike yesterday to call in my beef cuts. Great Guy. Next time you get a pig done there get some of their cottage bacon. It is like ham and bacon pressed together and makes the best eggs benedict and BLT.

haleysgold wrote:

If I wanted good marbling(which I hear grass fed beef is not) and tender, am I looking at Angus being primo?

To get good marbled meat most farmers will feed them corn for awhile before butchering.

Bassn Dan wrote:

Much of what started the price hike in meat this year is the switch from home cooked, to more people eating restaurant meals again and the supply chain disruption that caused – which is also a good excuse for price gouging……

I think there have been a lot of businesses worldwide that have used the pandemic as a reason to either raise prices or cut costs on the way they do business. No doubt many of them are legit reasons, but it seems that often I notice a change somewhere and the reason is “well, because of the pandemic we started/stopped doing xyz…” when it’s really just a matter of them using that as a means to save money somehow.

stout93 wrote:

I for one, don’t think it’s any cheaper than store prices. Just for example, I pay close to $6/lb for ground beef from one of the larger local farmers in the area. This is the end price after processing based on the cost I pay to the farmer (carcass hanging weight) and the cost I pay to the processing (meat shop). This is grass fed beef, raised humanely and pasture harvested. For someone on here to say you can get beef cuts (steaks, roasts, etc) for $2.75/lb including processing I find hard to believe, unless they’re talking carcass hanging weight which in the end comes out to alot more than $2.75/lb..

I think this is directed at me. And yes, you’re almost right. I paid farmer $2.10 hanging weight. Figure in you get about 2/3rds of your hanging weight back & I ended up paying about $4.55lb for 320lbs of assorted steaks, roasts, & a lot of burger when all said and done. To say that its not cheaper than store prices is crazy! You pay a hair more for the burger, but get one hell of a discount on the steaks. Find me a steak for less than $5.00lb.

haleysgold wrote:

I don’t think anybody said they paid $2.75/lb out the door for a 1/4 beef.
If they did, I want in.

It’s still cheaper than the store bought and tastes better buying a 1/4 from a local farmer is what I’m hearing and seen in the past.

Nobody really said anything about Angus vs. Jersey vs. Holstein vs. ???

If I wanted good marbling(which I hear grass fed beef is not) and tender, am I looking at Angus being primo?

I sell my beef based on hanging weight, I usually am a little less than double the live cattle market price, the last 2 I bought in last week I sold for $2.10 a pound plus processing. The local butcher I use charges about $0.60 a pound that is cut double wrapped, all your ground bagged. Personally I don’t put much stock into breeds, I have raised a few black angus, but mostly do Holsteins, and have not noticed any difference in quality or taste. They where all raised the same, pasture, hay, and some grain. The main difference for buying calves, which is what I do, is that you pay a premium for black angus calves.

haleysgold wrote:

I don’t think anybody said they paid $2.75/lb out the door for a 1/4 beef.
If they did, I want in.

It’s still cheaper than the store bought and tastes better buying a 1/4 from a local farmer is what I’m hearing and seen in the past.

Nobody really said anything about Angus vs. Jersey vs. Holstein vs. ???

If I wanted good marbling(which I hear grass fed beef is not) and tender, am I looking at Angus being primo?

Go back and look. Someone said they paid $2.75/lb for cuts and processing, they didn’t specifically say out the door, but they also didn’t specifically talk about hanging weight. There were folks on this thread asking about how much it cost and the post in question implied that they could get steaks for $2.75/lb. Now for someone not knowing about hanging weight and separate processing costs, that sounds incredible. My post simply told those folks that $2.75 is NOT what they were going to pay…

haleysgold wrote:

I don’t think anybody said they paid $2.75/lb out the door for a 1/4 beef.
If they did, I want in.

It’s still cheaper than the store bought and tastes better buying a 1/4 from a local farmer is what I’m hearing and seen in the past.

Nobody really said anything about Angus vs. Jersey vs. Holstein vs. ???

If I wanted good marbling(which I hear grass fed beef is not) and tender, am I looking at Angus being primo?

Here is the post, swear it said $2.75 before…

For the record, I paid $2.85lb for my half this year on a 975lb steer. That’s including the butcher processing fee. Chuck, Arm, & sirloin Roasts. Ribeye, Porterhouse, T-bone, Tenderloin & Sirloin Steaks. A full Brisket & a LOT of burger! Well worth the investment

Crappie,

If you decide you are interested in a quarter shoot me a PM. We have 25 black angus for butcher this year and I expect that my dad will have a few extra quarters available after all return customers are taken care of.

It’s always great meeting fellow IDOer’s and several have been customers for years!

Will

Will Roseberg wrote:

Crappie,

If you decide you are interested in a quarter shoot me a PM. We have 25 black angus for butcher this year and I expect that my dad will have a few extra quarters available after all return customers are taken care of.

It’s always great meeting fellow IDOer’s and several have been customers for years!

Will

I didn’t want to put it out there without knowing if you’d have any availability, but we are going on year 3 or 4 of Roseberg beef and it is excellent!

stout93 wrote:

<div class=”d4p-bbt-quote-title”>haleysgold wrote:</div>
I don’t think anybody said they paid $2.75/lb out the door for a 1/4 beef.
If they did, I want in.

It’s still cheaper than the store bought and tastes better buying a 1/4 from a local farmer is what I’m hearing and seen in the past.

Nobody really said anything about Angus vs. Jersey vs. Holstein vs. ???

If I wanted good marbling(which I hear grass fed beef is not) and tender, am I looking at Angus being primo?

Here is the post, swear it said $2.75 before…

For the record, I paid $2.85lb for my half this year on a 975lb steer. That’s including the butcher processing fee. Chuck, Arm, & sirloin Roasts. Ribeye, Porterhouse, T-bone, Tenderloin & Sirloin Steaks. A full Brisket & a LOT of burger! Well worth the investment

Yes but it also says on a 975 steer so it includes all the waste, guts, hide, bones, etc..
It’s also a relatively small beef so the processing was cheaper. Less wrapping, leas burger bags, etc…
So unless I’m missing something or he got one heck of a deal, it ended up costing closer to $5.00/lb when you look at meat returned not on the hoof.

Roseberg beef for the win. I’ve posted pics of his steaks here before. The butcher he uses is excellent. Very professional.

Will Roseberg wrote:

Crappie,

If you decide you are interested in a quarter shoot me a PM. We have 25 black angus for butcher this year and I expect that my dad will have a few extra quarters available after all return customers are taken care of.

It’s always great meeting fellow IDOer’s and several have been customers for years!

Will

Thanks Will. PM Sent

Can across this today. Found it interesting.

All food prices are rising because supply chains are dwindling, raw material shortages, inflation, etc. and all this administration does is make it worse. Seems pretty obvious to me it is on purpose.

crappie55369 wrote:

$18.99 a lb for ribeye at my local cub foods

The Cub Foods near my house has a discount meat section. They put meat in that area that is usually around half off when it is close to reaching its “sell by” date. Every once in a while there is some good stuff in there. Worth checking every time I’m in there.

Also, they have t-bones on sale this week for 50% off so they are $8.99/pound.

we usually always get our meat, beef, by the 1/4 or 1/2. the checkbook really takes a hit that way but to me just having it in the freezer when you want something its nice to just hit the freezer and get what you want.

it also depends on what we need more of, so that decides wether we want a half, front or hind quarter.

think the last time i checked on prices, depending on what you wanted ranged from 2.89, to 3.89 a pound!

as far as pork, we for some reason just dont go through enough of it to justify buying a half hog??????

For anyone not interested in a 1/4 or a 1/2 beef but still interested in locally raised and butchered beef, check out MN Fresh Farm in East Bethel or City Center Market in Cambridge.

I’ve had both and both are fantastic although normally pricier, may now be inline with supermarket cost. They are also 100% grass fed so they won’t have the same marbling as traditionally grain finished beef but still really good.

hop307 wrote:

I sell my beef based on hanging weight, I usually am a little less than double the live cattle market price, the last 2 I bought in last week I sold for $2.10 a pound plus processing. The local butcher I use charges about $0.60 a pound that is cut double wrapped, all your ground bagged. Personally I don’t put much stock into breeds, I have raised a few black angus, but mostly do Holsteins, and have not noticed any difference in quality or taste. They where all raised the same, pasture, hay, and some grain. The main difference for buying calves, which is what I do, is that you pay a premium for black angus calves.

x2 . Ive bought a 1/2or 1/4 from the same farmer for about 8 years . He raises holsteins and angus , uses the same feed program for both. I always get a holstein as he charges more for the angus , and Ive noticed no difference in taste . Tried grass fed once , never again

Mike m wrote:

<div class=”d4p-bbt-quote-title”>hop307 wrote:</div>
I sell my beef based on hanging weight, I usually am a little less than double the live cattle market price, the last 2 I bought in last week I sold for $2.10 a pound plus processing. The local butcher I use charges about $0.60 a pound that is cut double wrapped, all your ground bagged. Personally I don’t put much stock into breeds, I have raised a few black angus, but mostly do Holsteins, and have not noticed any difference in quality or taste. They where all raised the same, pasture, hay, and some grain. The main difference for buying calves, which is what I do, is that you pay a premium for black angus calves.

x2 . Ive bought a 1/2or 1/4 from the same farmer for about 8 years . He raises holsteins and angus , uses the same feed program for both. I always get a holstein as he charges more for the angus , and Ive noticed no difference in taste . Tried grass fed once , never again

Grass fed is over priced and not that great.

Whats the typical price for a 1/4 Cow? I’ve never purchased a 1/4 cow before but have been thinking about it for some time.

For those of you in Central MN, check out Granite Ridge Farms in Foley.