Talk to me about cow prices!

[mommyinthesun]

Ok, we are moving to Spartanburg, SC next month. When we were there last summer, grocery store beef prices were absolutely ridiculous! (and this coming from someone who lives in a semi-HCOL area!)

So, #1- I need to know how one goes about getting butchered cow.
#2- How much 1/4, and 1/2 cow come out to meat-wise.
#3- The normal/good price for such things.


If you have additional hookup information on chicken or pork in SC, let me know!

[mommabritt]

Very interested in responses here.

[Fishie Kisses]

Originally Posted by mommabritt Very interested in responses here.

me too!! I just got a freezer and can't wait to fill it!!

[amberu]

I know about this. I buy all grassfed beef, but the concept is the same if you don't. First of all you need to find a farm or butcher that sells in these cuts. The next thing you need to know is that they charge by hanging weight. This is the weight after it is butchered but before all the bones are taken out. for example lets say your getting 1/2 a cow and it is 700lbs hanging weight..you might get 500 lbs of real meat cuts. But usually the larger the cow you buy 1/2 a cow vs 1/4 of a cow the bigger the discount of what they charge per pound. I hope this helps a little bit. Also you get to pick your cuts as well. How much ground beef you want, or if you want more steaks then ground beef, what kind of roasts and how thick of cuts. This is a good example of cuts

http://www.gourmetsleuth.com/Article...beef-cuts.aspx

please let me know if you have anymore questions!

[mommyinthesun]

Thanks! Do you know of a link that list participating ranches by state?

[drabekgirl]

I find people on CL who are selling halves or quarters, they have the butcher lined up already. Hanging weight around here is typically $2.50/lb. a quarter will get you about 3 boxes a half 6 boxes. Our butcher has an order sheet so you can pick the size of the packages 1/1.5/2lb burger pkgs or the pound you want your roasts to be cut in. you can opt out of things your family doesn't eat (here that's liver and tongue). When ordering you could ask for special things added in we ordered summer sausage and hot dogs, but you'll have to order the min and expect to pay more (15lbs was the min on the above at this butcher) and these items were NOT on our order sheet and caused our order to take longer in processing. Sometimes the butcher knows someone with beef and you can order directly though them. I was able to get the butcher to throw in a dog bone for free, I said I spent how much and I don't even get a bone for the dog, then they gave me one (they sell them).

[amberu]

Originally Posted by mommyinthesun Thanks! Do you know of a link that list participating ranches by state?

I use this site

http://www.eatwild.com/

[mommyinthesun]

Originally Posted by amberu I use this site http://www.eatwild.com/

Perfect! Thanks

[syfitz]

My last 1/2 cost me around $1100, and I got around 250lbs out of it. Grass-fed beef, from a local farmer, delivered to my door.

[specialdelivery]

Around here, grass fed beef goes for about $2.50/lb hanging weight plus $.25/lb processing fee. Just this spring I posted on facebook that dh and I were wanting to split a 1/2 with someone and got an enormous response. If you have friends in the area, try a fb post and see what you get for local beef recs or a butcher.