Any butchers on here. I called the butcher today to get on his list for a couple of steers. He is 2 years out! Crazy!

Something wrong there, at least here it is only about a45 day waiting period for a butcher with a very good rep.

Butchers in W WA were booked up months out back before the covtard struck. Id call in March or early April and would be lucky to get a date before Thanksgiving. Usually something opened up before.

It doubled to a year plus after 2020.

Supply and demand.

Year plus for most people around my area

It’s a year wait around here for any new customers, old customers 1-2 months longer than normal

We have a date booked every year for our hogs to be killed and scalded. Confirm it a year out.

Beef same way, but the kill and butcher the beer.

The two local shops aren’t taking any new customers.

2 local shops have disappeared. 1 retired, the other burned down & isnt rebuilding. That put a big hurt on home grown meat

Same here

Shortage of custom kill packers.

The one I took a beef to awhile back was about a 4 month wait, which is pretty long compared to what it used to be.

It’s down to about 45 days average now, was 1-1/2 years during Covid , you can always do what I did , buy the processors beef and you cut right in line, if you buy there’s, no waiting list.

As I've said, a bad deal, not salvaging good beef, it's not for sale.

Wow! I smell opportunity.

Where in Texas.

Westphalia has a custom shop. We took a hog in with a two week waiting period.

I also buy the show hogs the processors get from kids that are not good enough to win in big shows, but are fattened up for a small price and he works those into line , about two weeks to get after he purchases.

Price of fats might have slowed some buyers down a bit. Waiting time in our area has shortened up some.

Neighbor heads the meat dept at local IGA. He talked his boss into springing for facilities to process beef and hogs in addition to their normal retail business. He is staying busy. I think he wished he would have built his hanging cooler 2x the size... He normally went in around 6:30am. He is now going in at 4:30am to get his retail work done to allow more time for processing when the full crew arrives.

Now, the shortage in our area is finding someone to kill, skin and quarter on the farm before you take them to the cooler to age. Only two guys doing it, side hustle. Generally only on Saturday mornings...

Welcome to the 'fire!

Even the shops that do a mediocre job are very busy. Getting an elk cut and wrapped is almost impossible.

Someone with some real, old country style, skills and knowledge about making hams, speck, wursts and other high end smoked goods would make out like a bandit. All the California immigrants would lose their marbles…..

All that I have checked with are about 2 years out. I haven’t checked Westphalia because it’s not as close. I’ll look into them because they’re about an hour away. The butcher I like using is R&R in Aquilla

Year plus wait around here.

It's a dying trade. Not near as many people see the animal go from swinging sides to ready for sale cuts.

In the chain store meat rooms, all the meat comes in "block ready". The cuts are broken down into mostly boneless pcs. This doesn't allow anyone to train up on breaking down whole animals. Even worse than that in the larger cities the meat comes into the store pre-cut and packaged including the grinds. All they have in the stores now are a couple cuts for custom orders like thicker steaks or large prime rib roasts.

Meat cutters are common, butchers are not.
Most meatcutters of today would know the first thing to do with a whole carcass.

Why would anyone want to be a butcher or a mechanic?According to a lot on here there the biggest crooks in the world.Steal you meat charge you parts they don’t put on their vehicle.Do a lot of people good to be a butcher or a mechanic for a year or so.

The blow hards are always the loudest. The biggest complainers at the meat room door didn't have a clue what they were talking about and they'd be the ones crying the loudest how they got ripped off.

Is this to custom slaughter your steers or to buy a processed steer?

Due to the extended winter and shortage of feed, Son and I just cut up a skinny winter fed steer a couple weeks ago, we are poorly equipped yes, but it is still hard work and amateur skills that work on deer and lamb don't translate to success with beef. IMO...Meat cutters earn every dime they charge.

Too many don't have a clue as to how meat comes off a carcass. They think a 1000lb steer will yield 900lb of packaged meat and they yell when it doesn't.

Here's an estimate of what a 1200lb steer will yield. It works out to taking home 40% of the live weight.

Example Meat Yield Calculations
Live weight x typical dressing percent = hot carcass weight 1200 lb x 62% = 744 lb
Hot carcass weight x (100 – shrink) = chilled carcass weight 744 x (100% – 3.5%) = 718 lb
Chilled carcass weight x carcass cutting yield percent = pounds of take home product 718 lb x 67% = 481 lb

That said, steers are typically larger now than they were 50 years ago. Back in my 4H days in the early 60's, a finished steer averaged around 1000lb. Now 1200 is closer to average. I once took a 1200 finished steer through a 4H sale ring and I remember the auctioneer saying 'Now here's a BIG steer.'

Custom slaughter

Does 18K dead cows have anything to do with the shortage?

Not a bit.

Those were Holstein dairy cows. May see some displacement in milk production, and a small drop in packer cows used for hamburger meat, but that's about it.

Custom Slaughter operations are usually small, mom and pop packing company businesses that serve a local area.

We are a full year out to get ours done in November. Been that way for several years. I keep the same number year after year.

What are ,,fats,,

Finished Fat beef cattle, steers, or heifers, not cows.

thanks , kind of thought that but different areas different terminology

norm

🤣🤣🤣

GFY.
I sell people exactly what I would buy first.
I have absolutely zero financial gain in ripping anyone off.
My reputation is extremely important to me.

I see morons complaining that their deer fit in a certain size box all the time.
I don't want your crap.
You realize a deer or any other hooved animal is like a chocolate Easter bunny, hollow on the inside?

So tired of clowns like you.
Been dealing with you people like you for 45 years.

you read that completely wrong....re-read....bob

I understand.
Open apology.