Buying whole pigs/cattle?

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  • Cavman

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    I bought a pig off a buddy. 150 bucks. I processed it all myself. Just did bacon, chops and sausage and burger meat. This is 2nd hog I've bought so my grinder has already paid for itself.
     

    Ballstater98

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    Picked up my order this morning. Here are some numbers for you:
    Beef weighed 1150. $1.35 per lb. Half is $776.25
    Whole hog 300 lbs. At $.54/lb was $162.
    Processing:
    20220122_095013.jpg
     

    Leo

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    Lamb is not very common in stores in Central Indiana. Some will have a little bit around Easter. I bought live lambs for a while. By the time we picked the packages up at the processor, it was not cheap. Not a lot of yield from a lamb. It was about 50% more per pound than what I was used to paying in Chicago. Even though it was more, I just wanted lamb, and did not want to drive to Chicago and back with a trunk full of ice chests.
     

    phylodog

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    Mailing a check for my 1/4 beef off Monday and driving up to Royal Center to pick it up. I still owe the processor fee but I don't know how much that'll be. I figure if it's less than $200 it'll be cheaper than the diesel I burn on the trip. FJB
     

    Ballstater98

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    Wait until fall. Input prices are already ridiculous and folks will be expecting farmers to do all the work and take a loss. With the prices now, farmers are raising less with things like $7 corn.

    China has banned phosphate/urea exports until June 2022. Maybe longer.

    Russia banned exports of nitrogen fertilizer until June 2022. Maybe longer.

    The #2 and #3 producers of potash are l likely to be hit with sanctions, so that too will be affected.

    This has never happened in a globalized world dependent on modern agriculture. Farmers, already hurting thanks to the drought, need to prepare for more pain. And consumers better plan to spend more money on food in 2022 and beyond. Not good.
     
    Last edited:

    yetti462

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    I talked to a farmer that locked in his 2022 herbicide and fertilizer costs. They went up 300%. He said if you think prices are high now, just wait.

    One of my buddies that is in cattle business said this will be the first time he's skipped fertilizer on his hay and pastures.
     

    phylodog

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    Drove up to Royal Center today and picked up my 1/4 beef. I'm very pleased with how the entire process went. 251lbs hanging weight for $3.44/lb (total cost) and the quality of the processing, packaging and appearance of the beef is top shelf. That's a 145qt cooler on the right and a 100qt on the left. Even with the 80 minute drive on $5 diesel it's well worth the effort, hopefully I can do this every year.
    dQ8405gh.jpg
     

    hooky

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    Drove up to Royal Center today and picked up my 1/4 beef. I'm very pleased with how the entire process went. 251lbs hanging weight for $3.44/lb (total cost) and the quality of the processing, packaging and appearance of the beef is top shelf. That's a 145qt cooler on the right and a 100qt on the left. Even with the 80 minute drive on $5 diesel it's well worth the effort, hopefully I can do this every year.
    dQ8405gh.jpg
    I finally talked to Mike. He said you shouldn't be shy about calling when you're ready again. He'll have more ready to go.
     

    phylodog

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    Ok I'm starting to feel guilty about not posting this in the general section since everyone might not see it in here. Yesterday I browned up a couple pounds of the ground beef and I have never had anything like it. It actually smelled good raw which is something I am not used to. Once it hit the cast iron the smell only got better. It was the best ground beef I've ever had in both taste and texture.

    Tonight I thawed out a couple of T-bone steaks and my wife and I were both absolutely blown away. We just renewed our Costco membership after a couple of years away primarily because we missed the quality meat. I can see our membership expiring again, I'll never buy beef anywhere else so long as it's available. Absolutely phenomenal all the way around, I am in heaven. Next year I definitely need to look into buying half a hog as well.

    JSsiyqFh.jpg


    For those of you who have never reverse seared a steak, stop eating sub par steak!! Check this bad boy out, there is no gray meat. It goes immediately from crust to pink and it's absolutely perfect. Cooked indirect to 135 internal then pulled and covered with foil while I cranked up the BGE to 550*F and gave them 60 seconds per side then a 5 minute ret under foil. I'm usually a ribeye guy but man - oh -man, this was something else altogether.

    FuMNOw6h.jpg
     

    Ballstater98

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    :thumbsup:
    A lot of store meat has been frozen and thawed a few times. This is why your meat was bloodier out of the package and juicier. Frozen once, thawed once.

    I worked in a meat department in high school. Some folks who saw a bloodied package passed it by as being "bad." A few customs knew my dad raised animals. They would ask what I would recommend when they came in. Some would wait for me to serve them. While I couldn't necessarily tell them, I could steer or indicate subtly what to avoid.
     

    indyblue

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    Ok I'm starting to feel guilty about not posting this in the general section since everyone might not see it in here. Yesterday I browned up a couple pounds of the ground beef and I have never had anything like it. It actually smelled good raw which is something I am not used to. Once it hit the cast iron the smell only got better. It was the best ground beef I've ever had in both taste and texture.

    Tonight I thawed out a couple of T-bone steaks and my wife and I were both absolutely blown away. We just renewed our Costco membership after a couple of years away primarily because we missed the quality meat. I can see our membership expiring again, I'll never buy beef anywhere else so long as it's available. Absolutely phenomenal all the way around, I am in heaven. Next year I definitely need to look into buying half a hog as well.

    JSsiyqFh.jpg


    For those of you who have never reverse seared a steak, stop eating sub par steak!! Check this bad boy out, there is no gray meat. It goes immediately from crust to pink and it's absolutely perfect. Cooked indirect to 135 internal then pulled and covered with foil while I cranked up the BGE to 550*F and gave them 60 seconds per side then a 5 minute ret under foil. I'm usually a ribeye guy but man - oh -man, this was something else altogether.

    FuMNOw6h.jpg
    The reverse sear FTW!
    I concur this has to be the best way to cook a steak on a grill.

    Last weekend he girlfriend and I had a couple of New York strips from this year’s 1/4.

    I made a whiskey peppercorn cream sauce for them.
    Fresh local cows are the best imo.
     

    mom45

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    Nov 10, 2013
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    Ok I'm starting to feel guilty about not posting this in the general section since everyone might not see it in here. Yesterday I browned up a couple pounds of the ground beef and I have never had anything like it. It actually smelled good raw which is something I am not used to. Once it hit the cast iron the smell only got better. It was the best ground beef I've ever had in both taste and texture.

    Tonight I thawed out a couple of T-bone steaks and my wife and I were both absolutely blown away. We just renewed our Costco membership after a couple of years away primarily because we missed the quality meat. I can see our membership expiring again, I'll never buy beef anywhere else so long as it's available. Absolutely phenomenal all the way around, I am in heaven. Next year I definitely need to look into buying half a hog as well.

    JSsiyqFh.jpg


    For those of you who have never reverse seared a steak, stop eating sub par steak!! Check this bad boy out, there is no gray meat. It goes immediately from crust to pink and it's absolutely perfect. Cooked indirect to 135 internal then pulled and covered with foil while I cranked up the BGE to 550*F and gave them 60 seconds per side then a 5 minute ret under foil. I'm usually a ribeye guy but man - oh -man, this was something else altogether.

    FuMNOw6h.jpg
    We get a whole pig, a quarter of a beef and farm raised chickens. That lasts us most of the year. We fish for bluegill and crappie and put a lot of filets in the freezer. Prices are cheaper than individual cuts and it is all so good. Pigs aren't all that heavy so a whole pig is comparable to a quarter of beef.
     

    phylodog

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    59   0   0
    Mar 7, 2008
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    Arcadia
    Pigs aren't all that heavy so a whole pig is comparable to a quarter of beef.
    Thank you for that detail! That was a question I've been curious about but hadn't had a chance to ask anyone yet. I'm going to have to reconfigure some cold storage before I bring a pig home. :lmfao:
    cAULZ2ah.jpg
     

    chubbs

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    51   0   1
    Jun 2, 2009
    1,526
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    North of hell, south of heaven
    Picked up my hog yesterday. Paid a buddy .67 a pound for the hog, it was 298#. Paid .85 a pound to process, but that included smoking my bacon and smoked sugar cured hams that were then sliced and vaccum packaged into individual 1# packages. A little higher on both fee's this year, but I know what it's ate and the processor does a great job.
     
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