Beef prices....

[Snuby642]

LMAO

Hala? Who the fuck would care.

In the old days we just called it what it was, chopping the head off the chicken instead of swinging it around till the head popped off.

My brother and I would take the two slowest chickens from the yard (natural farm raised selecton)
And cut thier head off Simontainiosly let go and see whose bird ran furthest.

My grandfather would hang a live pig on a gimble and stick it in the guzzle.

Wasn't any hala but a shitload of squealing like a pig, needed earpro.

Beef brisket?

This was 2.99$ a lb and gouging at that price.

CALIFORNIA is screwed beyond belife.

 

[lariat]

That price is ridiculous.

Chopping chicken necks...we had a chopping block. Two nails to keep the head in place and stretch the neck. Once a year and then can up all the roosters and old hens. You get real good and efficient at such things in short order.

 

[bachelorjack]

Maybe you will think this is cool. Maybe not. Just sold this butcher block table. Early 1900’s. Huge. 4’x3’ weighed over 400lbs easy. Went into a hipster butcher shop. Guys showed up in matching flannel long sleeve shirts. Its almost 90 degrees here...

We just bought 120lbs of vac sealed ribeye for $6.90/lb. From Australia marked ~10lb packs. Seemed cheaper and logistically easier than waiting or paying $6/lb in store for ground. Normally I buy the same packs on sale for $5/lb twice a year or so.

Super interested in what everyone here is talking about. But couldnt make it work logistically and at enough savings to make it worth it. That was the key. 1/2 or 1/4 cows were totaling out at close to $5.XX/lb here in SC. Or ribeye for $7/lb? Ive got a grinder here already for deer....

 

[Joel Danielson]

That price is ridiculous.

Chopping chicken necks...we had a chopping block. Two nails to keep the head in place and stretch the neck. Once a year and then can up all the roosters and old hens. You get real good and efficient at such things in short order.

There is a smell of wet feathers in boiling hot water that has been permanently imbedded in my brain. Plucked way too many of those as a kid...

 

[Bart]

Uggg... I took care of the chickens as a child. 30 years later, I still shudder at what nasty fucks those things are.

Beef ftw.

 

[inspcalahan]

Up north here, grass fed beef was 4.29 per pound hanging weight and 19% hamburger was 4.59 per pound at 25lb minimum. Last week, the burger jumped to 7.99 a pound and they sold out. There's a 4-6 month weight for half/whole cow if you want.

Pork is 3.29 per pound hanging weight, fully processed, vacuum packed, smoked bacon/hocks and breakfast sausage, so I dropped for a big one and filled every last inch of our freezers.

Thankfully, the rest of the freezers are full of moose, caribou and remnants of last seasons fishing. Time to start that restocking tonight actually.

 

[AKMarty]

If you want good beef for cheapest you possibly can: go by it on the hoof and do the deed in totality. Sale barn guys can help you out usually and be your proxy to buy your animal if you cant find a rancher (hard to believe, but maybe). Then go pick it up and start to work. It simply a matter of logistics and want-to. There is an upside: you wont forget the experience, you will learn something about the meat supply chain and you might find a like-minded bud somewhere along the way - you know, they guys the politicians ignore or call ignorant but love to live off the work of their backs... Plus it gets you away from grocery store cellophane.

I'm not kidding with this comment. It could be a very positive life experience.

First time my daughter shot a caribou, it started making its death sounds. When we got to the animal 235yds away, it was the beginning of a life experience. As we started cleaning the animal, she got really interested in the anatomy. She packed the critter out herself. That along with other experiences ignited a love for all things created and how they work.

One day as a wife or mother, she will know how to provide for her family. No delusions that food comes from a grocery store.

 

[loboman7x57]

Picked a 1/4 beef up from the processor yesterday. my farmer friend charges 2.40 a hanging pound, I got a slightly better price than that. the processor charges .55 lb vacuum packed. The beef was aged 2 weeks. I have a hog to pick up next week. 200 for the pig, .55 for vacuum packing, and .90 lb for smoking the hams, bacon, and hocks.

 

[dustingaunder]

My parents raise cattle for beef. We just payed $300 for a half a beef. That’s the processing bill and some feed money. I love you mom and dad!

 

[armorpl8chikn]

Those high end sushi knives are for show and way too expensive for normal work.

View attachment 7331063

I'm with ya Snubby. I won't laugh at you.
I own Henkels, Wilkinson's sword, and some expensive Japanese knife they'd have you believe was made by Hattori Honzo.
My favorite knife in my kitchen, and most used:

Cook's Knife

Lifetime Guarantee, 100% USA Made, Surgical-Quality T420 High-Carbon Stainless Steel! This Cook's Knife is a great medium size for all your culinary prep.

radakitchenstore.com

$13.50
Made in the USA since 1948

 

[armorpl8chikn]

In other news.
I have butchered a 900lb cow.
I have lined chickens up ten at a time on chain link fence and cut throats. I've butchered tame rabbits, wild rabbits, squirrels, coins, deer, and slaughtered and scalded hogs.

Like Foul Mike, I am lacking in the abilities department of late, but I'm sure I'll get it done.

Bandsaws and such sure are nice, but I never saw a bandsaw at a hog killing in my time.
Folks will remember "how it used to be done" pretty quick.

If I was you city folk, I'd be worried about the locals learning how to serve man.

 

[DIGITAL X]

Good times to be a Vegetarian

 

[Sixfivesavage]

Good times to be a Vegetarian

Said no-one ever.

 

[lariat]

Good times to be a Vegetarian

Not really. Farmers are turning under crops destined for restaraunts since they cannot be packaged for consumer-level applications. MANY of those crops are seasonal, so they will not be back in abundance for at least 12-18 months. Milk is being thrown out, eggs are being busted, family businesses are becoming insolvent. This means vegetable prices are going to go up and supply is going to get thinner. Imports may increase and supply chains are definitely being disrupted. This whole ordeal is bad for everyone. Farmers going out of business is the worst of all scenarios - they feed us, the animals we eat and the gas many vehicles are mandated to use.

But most people don't think about such things. We are more interconnected than the vast majority understand or are even comfortable with - its hard on a the ego.

 

[Ks_Coyote]

Beef Prices are stupid to say the least...

Price is driven by demand.. when the Juggernaut plants shut down and the national beef slaughter was cut by 40% and panic buying takes hold... its a cluster to say the least.

Keep your head up, beef prices in the grocery store will come down by the end of next week.

 

[HayStax]

Please, please, please contact your representatives and voice your support for mandatory country of origin labeling (MCOOL)

As producers we are getting fucked right along with consumers at this point. A very small segment of the supply chain - packers - are making vast amounts of money. They need a reckoning of biblical proportions. In the time it took to reply to this thread you could voice your concerns to your Senators and Reps. Everyone is being fucked by very few companies, most with foreign ownership and years of dirty dealing on the C suite and Directorship levels

 

[Sharpshooter3]

I bought a 1/2 a beef and gave $2 per pound hanging weight for the meat and .90 cents per pound processing that was all vacuumed sealed packaging. At our local locker.

 

[lariat]

Keep your head up, beef prices in the grocery store will come down by the end of next week.

What are your facts to justify this statement? You have described a shifting of the supply curve and a movement along the demand curve that caused the higher prices. What facts do you have that causes you to think they will begin to revert back to their original equilibrium? Alternatively, how much "down" are they going to go considering that the packers aren't at full operational capacity? Are you saying that there are now fewer people interested in buying beef now than there was 3 weeks ago?

 

[lariat]

Please, please, please contact your representatives and voice your support for mandatory country of origin labeling (MCOOL)

As producers we are getting fucked right along with consumers at this point. A very small segment of the supply chain - packers - are making vast amounts of money. They need a reckoning of biblical proportions. In the time it took to reply to this thread you could voice your concerns to your Senators and Reps. Everyone is being fucked by very few companies, most with foreign ownership and years of dirty dealing on the C suite and Directorship levels

I hear you, but I have a couple of honest questions:
1. What good is COOL gong to do really? All your doing is banking upon the end consumer to buy American. That may not work. I would like to hear your opinions on this. My experience with COOL was in the early 2000's with organic grocery DC's and supply chains, so what I was dealing with may not be relevant to this conversation.

2. How is calling my local representative going to help? The regulatory barriers to entry to compete with the packers is huge. It can be a multi-year event to get licensed to be a non-game butcher these days, and that's just for a dude with one knife and a table (oversimplification but you get the idea). How can a representative help break the industry lock considering the huge input costs to get going even if the regulations were not present? Its a serious question that leads me down a path to conclude that society really doesn't care - what they want is convenience and they are willing to pay because they don't know any better. Its like the marketing classes I had to take in college were right or something.

 

[Ks_Coyote]

What are your facts to justify this statement? You have described a shifting of the supply curve and a movement along the demand curve that caused the higher prices. What facts do you have that causes you to think they will begin to revert back to their original equilibrium? Alternatively, how much "down" are they going to go considering that the packers aren't at full operational capacity? Are you saying that there are now fewer people interested in buying beef now than there was 3 weeks ago?

Last month.. daily average slaughter was 40% down,
Now it it only about 20% from pre covid19 shut downs.

The current cut outs are dropping significantly, also in part that the processors and dealers have all over purchased in a panic.
Grocery stores typically run 2 to 3 weeks behind current cutouts because they choose to reach a certain point margin on their initial purchase, not at current market value of the commodity.

And yes... less people are interested in buying beef now than 3 weeks ago.
Memorial day has passed, many people have already loaded up on fine textured beef because it has a shelf life thats greater than pork or chicken. and current prices of middle cut steaks are still High as a Giraffes ass.

 

[lariat]

Understood, and I appreciate the data. I like facts. But the question remains unanswered and the data you provided still shows that there is not full output at the packers. You are referring to trends surrounding a holiday, and in that context I can see and concede to your point. That is short-term. I am referring to overall yoy supply and consumer demand. You are still talking about an approximately 20% reduction in packer output that has the potential to not go away for some time due to the social distancing they are having to endure inside the plants. This equates to a reduction in the need for cattle - they cant stack up at a point before the rancher without significant cost, and even there its a huge cost hit. My point is this: there is still an output shortage that impacts prices negatively for the producer and consumer. This effect will last a little while. This of course assumes consumer demand stays constant and does not decrease with the recession and they begin to opt for other protein sources. But they are having thier own issues as well.

 

[CMH]

I'm with ya Snubby. I won't laugh at you.
I own Henkels, Wilkinson's sword, and some expensive Japanese knife they'd have you believe was made by Hattori Honzo.
My favorite knife in my kitchen, and most used:

Cook's Knife

Lifetime Guarantee, 100% USA Made, Surgical-Quality T420 High-Carbon Stainless Steel! This Cook's Knife is a great medium size for all your culinary prep.

radakitchenstore.com

$13.50
Made in the USA since 1948

How much for the Honzo?

 

[armorpl8chikn]

How much for the Honzo?

Its priceless!

 

[bachelorjack]

I hear you, but I have a couple of honest questions:
1. What good is COOL gong to do really? All your doing is banking upon the end consumer to buy American. That may not work. I would like to hear your opinions on this. My experience with COOL was in the early 2000's with organic grocery DC's and supply chains, so what I was dealing with may not be relevant to this conversation.

I would not buy beef from Brazil. Especially knowing how that market operates down there. I would still buy NZ and AUS and CAN.

 

[Snuby642]

I'm a little at a loss here.

We have beef here that we cant get cut and stocked on the shelf.

Buying beef from a foreign source would still have us cutting that beef.

Why in hell would we do that?

 

[Sixfivesavage]

I'm a little at a loss here.

We have beef here that we cant get cut and stocked on the shelf.

Buying beef from a foreign source would still have us cutting that beef.

Why in hell would we do that?

Bingo. We do that, and killed COOL because it lines the pockets of certain people and undermines the interests of our homeland. The US doesn't need any other country to sustain itself but that doesn't suit some people in the world. American AG and its capabilities are a juggernaut and can not be contended with unless there's people rigging the game.

 

[Ks_Coyote]

Bingo. We do that, and killed COOL because it lines the pockets of certain people and undermines the interests of our homeland. The US doesn't need any other country to sustain itself but that doesn't suit some people in the world. American AG and its capabilities are a juggernaut and can not be contended with unless there's people rigging the game.

From my understanding, COOL was tanked because the USDA lost 2 court cases with Canada and if they lose another then it cannot be reintroduced.

 

[Sixfivesavage]

That may very well be, I'm not sure. It's funny how the US government looses cases that would benefit the producer but wins the ones that hurt the producer, don't you think?

 

[lariat]

See below. Meatatarians and vegetarians have the same issue: scarcity.

Every Single Worker Has Covid at a U.S. Farm on Harvest Eve

(Bloomberg) -- One farm in Tennessee distributed Covid-19 tests to all of its workers after an employee came down with the virus. It turned out that every single one of its roughly 200 employees had been infected.In New Jersey, more than 50 workers had the virus at a farm in Gloucester County...

finance.yahoo.com

I haven't seen anyone discuss it anywhere yet, but this is basically a problem of time - it takes a longer amount of time to grow the food than the body's repetitive requirement for the food to maintain itself. When we buy things we are in a very real sense buying the costs associated with the time it takes to grow it. More time = more input costs. This is a basic equation that gets lost - it will take longer to make food than it will to eat it. And we will need to eat MANY times over before it may be available for the market again. I'm not saying its an emergency, but its a truthful way of looking at it and helps make sense of SOME of the prices that are seen. Scarcity = higher prices. You live off of the last harvest and better damn well be planting the next one.

 

[lariat]

deleted. duplicate

 

[HayStax]

@lariat - The food security is at least on the minds of individuals and some lawmakers. The regulatory burdens have been mostly in favor of big business as it is. A huge barrier to entry. A case could be made that in the interest of preventing scarcity, price gouging and bottlenecks in the supply chain a more distributed, localized system needs to be looked at. This would necessitate a relaxation of some rules regarding slaughter inspection as they are now written. The HAACP process is a nightmare.

This is as bi-partisan of an issue as there is. No one like ”big business“ when it involves food. Producers have been getting screwed by their so called industry representatives for too long. We are constantly being out maneuvered on every level by lobbyists and over zealous bureaucrats under the guise of food safety. We as producers are always held with the possibility of “traceback” and “premesis verification” putting us in line for food safety litigation if we bitch too much about the status quo. I brand my cattle and would be proud to have that brand on the individual packages of meat at the grocery store. I have nothing to hide. Packers and feedlots won’t pass the same level of integrity up the chain, they only threaten to pass liability back down.

Fuck Canada and their bullshit COOL court cases - let us sell eggs and dairy to Canada you two faced Frenchie pricks

 

[Mordamer]

If you want a really good deal go find a rancher who will sell a fat steer. Get several buddies, shoot it in the head, string it up in the shop, and go to town with some knifes, a sawzall, and a grinder. Its a good time, its not that hard, you'll learn something, it will be dirt cheap, and you'll be better at it for the next go round. Better yet, bring the kids and make them help. This can be done in one Saturday easily.

 

[HayStax]

Check out Joe Salatin on the Joe Rogan Podcast. He makes some good points.

 

[lariat]

@HayStax I think You and I are in complete agreement. I don’t rhink the large packers and feedlots care about the rancher or customer at all. If you really pushed me on it I would admit that I perceive that those entities view the rancher as a contract employee. Think about that for a few days and tell me I am wrong. There really isn’t anywhere to go with your product other than them. They know it. If we can’t go anywhere else then all cattle owners are their defacto employees.

I made fun of the hipster butchers a while back on this thread but the more I thought about it I have wondered if maybe they are onto something that needs to happen. Just not the hair and beard thing.

 

[Sixfivesavage]

@HayStax I think You and I are in complete agreement. I don’t rhink the large packers and feedlots care about the rancher or customer at all. If you really pushed me on it I would admit that I perceive that those entities view the rancher as a contract employee. Think about that for a few days and tell me I am wrong. There really isn’t anywhere to go with your product other than them. They know it. If we can’t go anywhere else then we are their defacto employees.

I made fun of the hipster butchers a while back on this thread but the more I thought about it I have wondered if maybe they are onto something that needs to happen. Just not the hair and beard thing.

Theyre definitely headed down the right path. Easy targets to point and laugh at but in actuality, aside from style I bet we and they would actually agree on a lot and see eye to eye. In the most basic sense, they are a tradesman. They are a contributing member of society and working to keep a skill set and a product here stateside, more so, in your own neighborhood. This whole thing has opened some eyes to supply chain problems and failure points. There's a lot of talk about bringing production and manufacturing back home, meaning in country. O think people need to take that a step further and actually bring it home. Meaning to your neighborhood or even in house. When it goes tits up out there, your family and community are your world, not everyone else. Determine where your borders are and make sure they contain the production you require. That's a major belief with Amish. The main reason they operate the way they do is because they know it only works if they depend on each other. Anyway, if hipsters are going to learn to butcher, I'll send them animals. If I can continue to direct market, I'll keep my animals out of the big guys hands. I'm sure hipsters are making my boots out in Spokane. I'll continue to have them do it too instead of sending money to big business. I'd love to be able to wear a pair or two of boots made from the hide of an animal I bred, calved, grew, finished and was able to turn into food on a familiar faces table for their American kids.

 

[Ks_Coyote]

For those of you that are producers, how many do you typically run?

 

[Sixfivesavage]

I'm small time. Full time job off the farm but I keep 20-25 breeding females. Currently grow my own replacement female as well as purchasing some but I'm looking into sending replacements to Penn state for their heifer development program. I also keep a few donor females for embryo work as well as the feeders I grow out, a bull or three and I just got into growing some Holstein bulls out as feeders.

 

[Sixfivesavage]

Anyone know of any good tannery that can work with a steer hide?

 

[hankpac]

Axis deer. I hunt for free.

 

[softcock]

if the Price-$ of Fresh Meat be high and out of budget, down in Cali. ? . ( thinking outside the box )
-
https://www.foxnews.com/us/california-man-caught-eating-body-relative-police-say
-

 

[diggler1833]

I'm fortunate (or unfortunate, depending on how you look at it) to run 93 producing cows currently at this ranch. It isn't much, but it pays for all the equipment and toys.

I am very fortunate though in that my wife is a Veterinarian. So most of the vaccines I get at discount, and services don't cost anything.

Im even more fortunate to be retired from the Marines, and have an additional disability rating due to getting pretty boogered up...because relying on 93 head to make a living would be pretty hard. Not impossible, but id have a lot more holes in my jeans if you know what I mean.

Its going to be a tight year or two for sure. Ill definitely be in the black, but some of the stuff I wanted to do like fertilizing and spreading lime in the pastures and the hay meadows is going to have to wait.

Still...many people are far less fortunate than me, so I'm thankful in my prayers, and usually watch who I bitch around.

Anybody want some twice vaccinated steers that are weened for 60 days direct off the field, I'll have some ready in about three weeks. LOL.

 

[Sixfivesavage]

Just wanted to bump this back up and ask what people are seeing in their AO.

 

[sea2summit]

As of 10 minutes ago the commissary has a limit of two meat products...but the out of date/reduced price freezer is over flowing and there’s no limit on that stuff. Retarded is still retarding in my AO.

 

[Charger442]

Just wanted to bump this back up and ask what people are seeing in their AO.

i took 18 steers and heifers to the auction yesterday. hoping to average 1.30 on the hoof. prices have been up at the auction lately.

as far as actual processed beef goes, basically paid $1.45 for a finished steer at almost 1100 lbs. after processing and all came to about $3.00 a lb of meat all in the freezer. Thats sirloins and tbones, and ground meat also.

 

[Sixfivesavage]

I'm @ $4.09 and $3.66 per pound for a quarter and half, respectively. That's all in, deliverd prices. Dry aged 21 days and vac sealed. Custom cut. Boneless brings the prices up a tad but not much.

 

[GrantB]

A couple of years ago our neighbor an older fellow came over and asked us if we would help him catch a Brangus Charolais cross steer that has busted out of the pasture a few times. They had tried to pin him in the past and he would always break away or escape somehow. This steer now 1000# plus was what we call a crazy cow, the farmer said he was going to take great enjoyment every time he took a bite of it. We got the catch dogs and horses and took after him and 4 short hours latter we had him in the trailer and off to the butcher he went. The farmer said thanks and he would give us some meat for helping him out, we said no that’s ok and went on our way. We were thinking that that would be the toughest shoe leather if ever there was any. A couple weeks passed and the guy shows up with a big box of steaks, brisket and stew meat. The next day my wife cooked some of it up and to this day I have yet To taste a better Steak and It was so tender you could cut it with a fork. Now every time I hear someone say this is angus corn fed and slept on a pillow beef I chuckle a little to my self.

 

[hlee]

Years ago, we had a 1 year old beefmaster bull step in a hole and break his leg. Had him butchered and the ground meat was tough...

We're going in with another family on a half and it is supposed to be ~$5 per lb...

 

[Charger442]

A couple of years ago our neighbor an older fellow came over and asked us if we would help him catch a Brangus Charolais cross steer that has busted out of the pasture a few times. They had tried to pin him in the past and he would always break away or escape somehow. This steer now 1000# plus was what we call a crazy cow, the farmer said he was going to take great enjoyment every time he took a bite of it. We got the catch dogs and horses and took after him and 4 short hours latter we had him in the trailer and off to the butcher he went. The farmer said thanks and he would give us some meat for helping him out, we said no that’s ok and went on our way. We were thinking that that would be the toughest shoe leather if ever there was any. A couple weeks passed and the guy shows up with a big box of steaks, brisket and stew meat. The next day my wife cooked some of it up and to this day I have yet To taste a better Steak and It was so tender you could cut it with a fork. Now every time I hear someone say this is angus corn fed and slept on a pillow beef I chuckle a little to my self.

you got lucky. your experience is definitely not the norm. and it would depend on what the guy had been eating for the last several. high fat and grain diet, i bet he was good. He definitely was not eating straight pasture grass.

 

[Mooseknuckles]

I am picking up a half a beef here in the next week or so. A buddy and me went in on the whole beef and are paying 3.25 a pound hanging. We figured cut and wrap will be .65-.80 cents a pound.
For my half which is 366 pounds it will end up being $1450 a half. Figure I will end up with about 225-250 pounds of actual meat.

 

[GrantB]

Straight off the pasture with all the others. The only thing this guy feeds besides hay in winter is minerals and everyone feeds minerals.