I got a cow question

[DanG]

I was poking around on Craigslist and came across an ad from a local farmer.  He is trying to sell corn-fattened steers to individuals as freezer beef.  He went into great detail about the whole process.  You buy either a half or whole steer from him for $2/lb on the hoof.  He delivers it to the slaughter house, then you pick up your meat from there and pay the butcher.  He says the animal will weigh about 1200 pounds, meaning that this farmer is going to get about $2400 per head for them.  He went on to say that this is the last time he'll be able to offer them at this price since corn is going up.

My question is, does it really cost all that much to raise beef steers and fatten them, or is this guy just trolling for suckers?  It doesn't sound like much of a bargain to me.  If you buy a half, you'll end up with about 400 lbs of meat, which will set you back about $1360 by the time you pay the butcher 40 cents a pound for his services.

[isawlogs]

  Thats a plie of money for cattle on the hoof , if that price was for " on the hook " it would still be a little on the high side. Dad sells his calves by the pound at the butcher on the hook at 2$/lbs . 

[stonebroke]

Choice steers are going for 1.29$ on a carcass basis so that is about 81 cents on a live basis.

Stonebroke

[SwampDonkey]

I remember a number of fellas around here raising steers for selling sides or whole and all they had to do was let them eat in the pasture. In many cases they calves started out drinking milk out of a feed trough for those guys that had a small 10-12 cow dairy heard with a creamery quota. One guy used to go to another farmer who grew corn for table vegetables (small time operation) and he would pull the corn stalks after the harvest of the ears was over and take a few pickup loads to dump in the field. Most fellas were using stuff on hand to feed the animals. It cost time and maybe the odd vet visit to prescribe something for pink eye or ring worm. Other than that feed was essentially free. I can't recall what the meat was per lb. But compare $2 a lb on the hoof to $7-8/lb wrapped at the store for good steak, $4/lb for extra lean ground beef. I don't know what the processing costs are, never been involved in it.

[rbhunter]

Sound very expensive to me. You have alot of extra wieght there that will be taken off. You loose some when buying by the hanging wieght. The butcher is not cheap. I cannot remember what we paid for processing fees the last time we brought a half. I will bet there will be some unhappy customers who don't figure in the waste and processing fees and go to pick up thier meat and find they have very expensive beef. They may decide to eat the heart, liver, and tongue because of what they paid.

I want to say someone told me to figure about 70% but I cannot remember if that was for hannging wieght or on the hoof.

I would say he is trolling for suckers. I wonder if they are really corn feed or pulled off of the pasture. Processing has alot to do with how well the meat comes out. The best one I have seen was an old man who has since past away. I asked him how long he would let them hang. I want mine to hang at least a week or more. He told me he let them hang until they look right. The meat we got from his shop was the best I have ever had. After he passed away my friends dad took them to another place. The meat was still good but not as good.

[Faron]

Live cattle are currently running around $81to $84 per hundred pounds.  That is too cheap for a profit, but that is the way it is.  Cattle were higher a year ago, and friends of ours were selling for $1.50 carcass weight. Buyer paid the butcher bill.  He is looking for a sucker.

[SamB]

I'd say you would probably end up with closer to 300lbs. of put in the freezer meat for a half on that size steer. Seems pretty pricey if you have to pay for the cutting and wrapping. Now if its $2# on the hoof and the seller is paying the processing that might not be a bad deal if it's choice/prime beef.

[DanG]

This guy did do a nice job on his ad.  It is very detailed and includes some caveats.  Here's a link to it.

http://tallahassee.craigslist.org/grd/1056711373.html

[DWM II]

Dan, we buy beef raised similiarly for 2.30 a pound cut and wrapped for the frezzer. Sounds like he is trolling to me.

[fishpharmer]

You get about 60-65% percent final yield.

For processing It costs me $30.00 to kill, gut and skin.

$0.40 per pound processed, cut and packaged (wrapped for freezer) as I want.

This biggest problem with selling live cattle directly to consumers is the fact that they think they will get all steaks.  No one individual animal is or will ever be all steak. 

Also, there are very few of the best cuts.  So figure most is hamburger and roasts.

I will sell a live steer to anyone on the forum for  $1.00 per pound. You pick. You pay processing.  I will have weighed and haul to the processor within 50 miles.

So a thousand pound steer will cost about $1000 live weight plus $30 to kill and $240-300 processing and packaging (depends on cuts and fat added to ground beef, you don't want it with no fat).

So $1330 per 1000 lb animal.  Or about $2.21 per pound for 600 hundred pounds.

Compare that to your grocery store.  Not too bad really.

Mine are all 100% natural grass fed steers.  No growth implants. No antibiotics.

I am not really trying to sell beef on here.  But I will.  ;D

Thats what I would do DanG.  Seems the Craigslist guy is high to me.

I would probably sell, process and deliver to anyone in the southest for $2.00 @ pound.  And donate 10% to forestry forum.  Maybe I could be a sponsor? :D

Okay I just upped my price to $2.30 per pound. ;D 8)

Here is an interesting link explaining yield and cuts.

http://www.askthemeatman.com/yield_on_beef_carcass.htm

[SwampDonkey]

 :D :D :D :D

Don't condemn a guy for trying to make a buck.  Nobody has to buy nuthin. Well no one is I guess, just asking questions. ;)

[DR Buck]

Of the last 6 head I sold (last month) premium steers brought $1.09 lb and the rest brought $.89 lb.   

Buying on the hoof for  meat is not the best way to save money.   Aside from the processing cost you need to consider these things:

• you're paying for everything including the stuff you don't want (guts, hide etc.)
• you end up with cuts of meat you normally wouldn't buy.

Most of the beef farmers around here don't eat (slaughter) their own for these reasons.  You are better off selling the cow/steer, (1200 lbs @ $.89 lb = $1068) take the money, put half in the bank.  Then take the other half and go to the market and buy the meat cuts you really want.  ;)

[Mooseherder]

We sell the Cattle bought at the 4-H Kids FFA auctions back to the rail.  The last price I heard was 73 cents live weight.  Got another one to go to on March 21st.
I think you can do a lot better buying the local ads of Grocery Stores for that kind of money.

[gunman63]

fishphamer is right on target with his explaintion, and dont forget  whens it cut and wrapped, not to big of pile of meat either, but for the most  part its a lot better beef than at the store, I wont buy much other than from a rancher,  but i know  who im buying from  and have for years,. but the $2 live  weight way to much,

[Dana]

Well Dan, Hold on to your hay, I mean hat! I get $3.25 per lb for our grass finished beef. The price is hanging weight which is what the beef weighs after the hide, hoofs, guts and head are removed. The price includes me delivering the beef to a USDA butcher a 180 mile round trip.  Butcher fees that include cutting, grinding, vacuum packaging, quick freezing, and a fee for waste disposal. Two weeks later I have another 180 mile round trip to pick up the processed meat.

A 1200 to 1300 lb live beef should have a hanging weight of 325-375 lbs per side or 650 to 750 for the whole animal.  This dosen't mean you are taking home that amount of meat. There is still shrinkage, if it is hung. And of course, bones, and other waste have to still be removed.
Is it a good deal? I guess that depends on a few questions. Are the animals born and raised on the farm? This cost more than picking up some 800 lb feeders and keeping them for a few months. A premium can be placed on an animal that has been born and finished on the same farm. That premium has to do with things like T.B., Mad Cow, growth implants, antibiotics, .... If those things aren't an issue and to many they aren't, then it is easy enough to pick up a half or quarter at some of the grocery stores. You can still save a few bucks doing that over buying by the piece. But, chances are you aren't going to be buying from and supporting your local small farmer if it comes from the grocery store. ;)

With all this in mind I realize that our beef is expensive. Most of our customers are either well of or are willing to sacrafice to purchase a healthy product. I am considering another price option for our customers and that would be a live weight option. They could then have the beef processed right in our local area again keeping the money in the area. This option would save money for our customers and possibly open a larger customer base to us.

[stonebroke]

Amen Dana

I sell my grass finished beef for 3.75$ a lb up here. I wholesale it for 2.25$ delivered to the slaughterhouse with the buyer paying for the gas.

stonebroke

[Slabs]

DanG,  Since my days as a farmboy and slaughterhouse tycoon I've done everything you can do in the beef business that didn't need the services of a bull.  fishpharmer has the best figures you're gonna find on yield and price. (price has changed in the 35 years since my slaughterhouse days)

Corn fed beef is the best you can get.  It marbles better, is tender when raised and fed properly and has the best taste of any method of feeding-out.  Notice that I didn't say that it was as healthy as leaner beef.

Note the quoted prices for "on-the-hoof" beef and you'll see that the guy you showed is a bit high.

[SwampDonkey]

I was looking at the CanFax report which has a link to Alberta Beef Producers. It also has an audio (MP3 format) daily report for slaughterhouse and feeder beef.


DanG lightning just took out my external modem.  DanG hail storm tonight. :-\  :D

DanG diagnostic said the modem is fine, so much for Windows diagnostic.  

Looks like beef prices are higher in the northern states.

[Chuck White]

I was poking around on Craigslist and came across an ad from a local farmer.  He is trying to sell corn-fattened steers to individuals as freezer beef.  He went into great detail about the whole process.  You buy either a half or whole steer from him for $2/lb on the hoof.  He delivers it to the slaughter house, then you pick up your meat from there and pay the butcher.  He says the animal will weigh about 1200 pounds, meaning that this farmer is going to get about $2400 per head for them.  He went on to say that this is the last time he'll be able to offer them at this price since corn is going up.

My question is, does it really cost all that much to raise beef steers and fatten them, or is this guy just trolling for suckers?  It doesn't sound like much of a bargain to me.  If you buy a half, you'll end up with about 400 lbs of meat, which will set you back about $1360 by the time you pay the butcher 40 cents a pound for his services.

A beef ends up being half, hide, head, guts, trim & bone scrap.
So, if you buy half (600 lb), about half of that half ends up being around 300 lb., and you end up paying $1360 for 300 lbs of beef and 300 lbs. of trash. 
On top of that, a slaughter house owner can sell a large beef hide for somewhere around $100.00.  An individual would be lucky to get $25.00-$30.00!

If you have some pasture land where the beef can feed on grass (and a little grain) all summer, into the fall, just before snow flies, you should have a beef that will go over 500 pounds.  Then you isolate the beef to a barn or shed and condition him for about a month on corn meal and you'll have some real nice beef.

[DanG]

Yeah Chuck, that's what I've been thinking. ;)

There's a real good reason for the prices to be lower down here.  We have about 9 months of growing season, so we only have to feed hay for about 3 months.  That is a huge difference from what you Gentamens from da Nawthen States have to deal with.  We can also plant winter grazing, which ain't never gonna work in the snow. 

That ol' boy in the ad will probably sell a few head like that to folks with more money than sense, then take the rest of'em to the sale.  Can't say I blame him, but I just couldn't do that to folks.

[Tom]

There's a real good reason for the prices to be lower down here.

Yeah!  Especially considering the fact that you can buy cow heads in the Piggle Wiggly.  :D

[Handy Andy]

  I have some critters I'd sell for that price if anybody wants em.

[DanG]

No you can't.  At least you can't at our Piggly Wiggly, cause we ain't got no Piggly Wiggly no mo'.  It has been converted to a "Food for Less."  They weren't just whistling Dixie either!  It is one of those deals where you SUPPOSEDLY pay their cost, then they add 10% at the register.  So far, there is a major difference in the prices.  Ground chuck is down from $2.99 to $2.11.  Chicken feet are down from $2.29 to $1.37  8) 8) 8)  I bought canola oil for $2.28 for 48oz.  48oz tomato juice was $1.31.  Their regular price for ribeye, NY strip, and T-bone is down from $8.99 to $5.89.  All of those prices are before the 10% add-on, but reflect a major savings. ;D  Oh yeah, a 12pk of Natural Light beer was down from $7.99 to $6.13, plus the 10%.  That item alone will save me about a buck and a quarter a day! 8) 8)

[Gary_C]

 Oh yeah, a 12pk of Natural Light beer was down from $7.99 to $6.13, plus the 10%.  That item alone will save me about a buck and a quarter a day! 8) 8)

Just think of how much you could save if some one was to come visiting.  8) 8)

And you could save a lot more if you actually bought a cow instead of a steer. You should be able to get one of those for less than fifty cents a pound walking weight. Just make sure she is still walking when you buy her.  :D :D :D

[SwampDonkey]

You guys can talk your self out of one thing and into another some easy. Just rattle a little green at ya. :D :D