Are we better off

[lonewolf]

I have been have a discussion locally about our cull cows. It seems that the gov wants to build plants to address the issue, which got me thinking. A neighbour called and asked to buy a young steer and when I informed him that I sold all of mine but I could give him a deal on an older animal. He passed and informed me he would look elsewhere. Any way Talk to another farmer in town and he informed me he sold 10 cull animals to market and got 100 a piece. So here it is: Let us take that 1300 pound cull cow process it and at 60% should yield out 750 lbs of meat. no one wants old cow roasts or steaks so lets grind it to burgur. For arguemnent sake lets say that butcher and process bill comes to $250 Now we have all this meat to sell and we want it sold so we ask to have a test done on it to certify it free of bse add another 35 bucks. Now we take it to the farners market and sell it at a dollar a pound. $750 - $250 -$35 =$465.00 So are we better off with the $100 bucks or The $465 minus other unknowns ( such as liability insurane and refrideration?

[rodb]

lonewolf

See thread "Pork"

We know of some people that have done this and you need nearly $2.00 a lb or you are better off at the Auction Mart. The place they took it to cost nearly a $1.00 a /lb to process it all into lean hamburger, more if you make patties. I would think that because of the waiting list to get animal killed, these small plants are able to charge what ever the market will bare at this time.

The other thing about it is you can get into selling other high end cuts to keep price of processing down per lb.

[charliep]

Similar questions to rodb. I have heard the number $400/animal for processing/packaging. Also, what are peoples experiences around yields?

I am also interested in peoples experiences in preserving better cuts off cows (eg. tenderloins). Given cows go in the morning alive/out in the afternoon as hamburger (i.e. no aging - will have to check this with those who have done), I have had one person (Aaron Best, AAFRD) suggest cryovacing (hopefully spelled right - sealing air tight in plastic) the better cuts/letting these cuts age that way.

Any experience out there? Am asking for personal reasons as working with my brother to butcher a cow and trying to get some else other than straight hamburger.

[WoolyBear]

Something to remember though........ While the 1300 lb cow, might dress out at 60% or 750 lbs like you said, if you were to grind it all into hamburger, you would likely remove alot of weight in bone, fat etc. MY GUESS would be that you would then have about 400-500 lbs of ground beef.

As I haven't done a cow myself, I am only guessing at this number. Someone else might be able to help.

[Horse]

A cow will only yield app 30-33% hamburger thatis but if you can get around the abbatoir their is some savings to be had.

[cowman]

Run the outside/inside round steak and flank steak through a needle machine. This is what they call minute steak in the grocery store and you can usually get it done fairly cheap. Age a grain fat cow properly(providing she isn't really old) and the rib eye, strip loin, chuck tender, tenderloin will all be good. The sirloin butt and tip will make decent roasts. The rest is hamburger I'm afraid.

[15444]

Butchered two animals, one cow and one heifer last fall. Cow was a 'K' so I guess the puts her at about 3 1/2 years, the heifer was a 'L' so she was 2 1/2. Both were about 7/8 Hereford.

Have been using a purebred son off of the Polled Hereford A.I. bull 'MSU Optimum Z03' for quite some time. The 3 1/2 year old cow was off of that bull. Now Optimum is know to be the highest marbling individual bull in the entire Hereford breed, and man, does he ever produce great tasting cattle. For being 3 1/2, that cow tasted better then anything I have had before.

She had two chances to beef up as she had lost both calves that she conceived, at birth. So she was on pasture for two whole summers and then on grain for September and October of last year. Dressed, she was 853 lbs, Total meat came to around 600 lbs. She was cut up into all the usual steaks and roasts.

Now I had always believed that cows past their second calf would never be good for anything more then hamburger. As long as they have quality genes and are fed right, I think any cow will taste fine!

[WoolyBear]

The beef that we are eatting is likely 4 years old
Another decent shaped one that was open, and occasionally one that looked at you weird when you tried to do anything with her calves. ANYHOW........... That hamburger tastes pretty darn good, but then that just might be the wife's cooking too <GRIN>. Meatloaf, chili, burgers, hamburger soup, mix it with a little ground pork for a different flavor now and again, meatballs with at least 3 new sauces.......
Nice thing about using your own beef, or even your neighbors.......... You know where it came from, and you aren't supporting the "corporate grocery and packers".

[15444]

WoolyBear,

Not only NOT supporting the grocers and packers, but safety as well. I have never been able to eat meat from Safeway since our family started eating only our own meat in 1998 as I always get sick Safeway's meat.

Sold 1/2 a side to my sister and brother-in-law last fall from the 2 1/2 year old. Before they got the meat, they never believed that I got sick off of Safeway's meat. Boy!, they became believers pretty quick! Combine this with the fact that my brother-in-law's uncle used to be head butcher at the local Safeway and you have the inside scoop on all the shit that Safeway puts on and in their meat to keep it that pretty red colour when it should be green as a poplar leaf. All in the name of profits for an SOB corporation.

[Junebug]

Was your meat government inspected ??
Because its probably not safe if it wasn't (LOL) .

I would say its alot safer than that Safeway / IGA stuff. Just think how much more beef people would really eat if they tasted the kind of beef farmers eat !!!

[WoolyBear]

Yes it was slaughtered, cut and wrapped at a provincially inspected plant. Some fellows would call us lazy maybe, but at the same time I think that certain jobs are best done by those who know how. Beside if would have meant getting a new blade for the skill saw, and an FAC license if I had done it <grin>

[15444]

Not mine. Shot and hung on the loader of the tractor, as always. Got some help from the guy who did the cutting and wrapping, local fella who worked in the local abattoir before it shut down. $45 bucks to slaughter the animal and about another $100 to cut and wrap. We keep the hide, although it isn't worth anything. Livers usually no good as liver fluke already has done its damage.

Lets it hang for 14 days, 12 days minimum. Probably should have pleaded with him to hang it for 21. Neighbours had a steer hang for 21 days one time. Equaled alot, and I mean ALOT, of trimming, but it's how tenderness should be defined!

[cowman]

15444: Do the same thing except bone the animal out and do the grinding(I have a large commercial grinder from the old days). Takes up a lot less room in the freezer.
One thing I would like to do is add a cooler. Have a guy looking for a reefer trailer...he tells me I should be able to pick up an older one for about $1500.
One other thing I have done is bone the animal hot and age the tougher cuts in a refrigerator out in the shop. Works pretty good but I've never gone beyond 10 days.