Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Hunter's Campfire Beef Prices

I think the theory is that grass fed beef have higher omega-3 fatty acid content as well living under better conditions than a feedlot cow.

If it wasn't for the high food prices, gas, taxes and medical insurance we would have a pretty good life. It used to be food and taxes. I am going to put in a garden next year and apply for cow elk tags only to try to keep up.

if you wind up with more than your freezer can hold im in the market for everything but burger....pulled the last two roasts out of the freezer this week.....still got a chit load of burger though from the last half a steer we bought dont have teenagers in the house frying a package up for an afternoon snack anymore

Not all corn is a GMO. Many variety's are just hybrids. The grass fed beef campaign mostly comes from the all natural crowd, because beefers didnt eat corn in the wild. Therefore its unhealthy to eat beef that was raised on corn/silage.

Personally I prefer a corn fed animal. We sell a small portion of our fed cattle by the half. Some of our customers have tried a grass fed animal and hated it. The problem with grass feed beef is that it can a long time to raise a steer to full size. So you can wind up with an old animal who is as tough as leather. Plus grass fed is cheaper to raise so a lot the time if the farmer is being cheap, they may be using a "cheap"/chitty animal to start with.

i can't remember exactly, but seems like there was a time that grain-fed feedlot beef was marketed as superior, as it had more flavor and marbling.

then the kick came along to raise and market pasture fed beef, was healthier and more flavorful. who knows what they will try to sell us next.

I remember that period of time as well. The grass fed beef was marketed in the stores as a less expensive "thrifty" alternative to the higher priced grain fed beef.

We whacked 5 on April 23, they'd been grazing the spring flush for about two weeks and turned off on dry hay. They were still getting 2% bodyweight of a 14% commodity pellet and ground corn, though they were starting to leave some due to the heat setting in. We usually butcher a few weeks earlier to avoid any spring grass (and wild onions), and neither the wife or myself or any of our buyers have noticed a change in flavor.

Some of the best beef I ever ate was from those funny wooly looking Scottish Highland buggers. A buddy of mine raised them and fed them only the feed that he raised. It was non-GMO feed that had been grown using natural fertilizer (manure I assume) and no pesticides. I bought a side from him and was damn happy with ever bite.

I'll take corn-finished beef that are still grazing around the pastures close to the barn over pure grass-fed any day.

[bleep] grass fed beef ,give me the corn fed stuff. More flavor no doubt.

I have some Angus for sale $3.00 lb hanging weight total cost includes all processing fees and cut/wrap. Will be ready around Aug 7. 300-400 lb half.

was raised eating grass fed, dont care for feedlot beef.....when your raised on one the other doesnt taste right.....

In the last 10 years, or so, hay has gone from about $90 / ton to nearly $300 / ton. Range cubes have gone from $168 / ton to $483 / ton. Gasoline from (IRC) $1.68 / gal to $3.67 / gal.


Feeders from (IIRC) $110 / cwt to $143 / cwt. Expenses have doubled to tripled - returns have increased app 25%.

Yeahhhhh - we're making a killing!!!

Mark
(A rich cattleman!)

Sorry to hear that Mark.
I was sure hoping the beef prices were helping you guys at more then that, but unfortunately you confirmed my fears....

Mark has it right. Everything has gone up in price in the last decade including fuel, feed, land, vehicles, taxes......... But beef is supposed to be cheap?

I havent read the whole thread, but I read in the newspaper yesterday where the cattle count was the lowest since 1952. The drought was the main cause.

Thus the high beef prices

Corn is used in many types of food as a supplement as in corn syrup. Feeding cattle a corn diet to finish them, overwhelms their system with glycogen and causes many changes most of which are not good. It does increase the fat and marbling which is desirable in the traditional sense of evaluating a carcass.

There are many health benefits to grass fed beef and benefits to the beef raisers if they can market directly to the consumer. Feedlot cattle are in close confines with thousands of other animals. They are fed lots of anti-biotics and hormones.

Feeding them corn might alter them some but i'm guessing the bullet to the head is a bigger change. ED K

I buy grass fed beef around here from local farmers and let the feedlot sh.it get displayed in it's 'wet aged' styrofoam cloak at the supermarket.

You know this from firsthand experience? Meaning you have actually witnessed it with your own eyes? Or, are you just repeating what some "expert" said? We feed our cattle to finish hormone free and the only time they get anti-biotics is when they are sick. I have no problem with grass finished beef but be careful about using a broad brush to paint the rest of the industry. Much of the information provided by the "experts" is provided in a way to further their own agenda. And, that agenda most of the time is not only against animal agriculture but also against hunting and fishing.