Jim i have a few questions for you....do you sell direct to the public.....if so is there a butcher where you are at that could handle it...am looking for a whole, finished to a prime level..


if so we can take this to a pm if you would rather....thanks........bob

I'll just say after eating mostly local grass fed beef for years, it's so much better than the feedlot beef. We have friends that do cow calf and usually have a cow or bull that needs to be processed, so we get all all burger that way. They usually do a couple feeders each summer for family and friends that are mostly steaks.

I just read they are giving away potato's in Idaho by the semi load. I wonder how those would feed out.

jim says he likes a barley finnish.....i want to try one........plus support a mt rancher.......bob

We split a calf with friend. We buy from a friend. Way better meat than store bought.

We used to feed a mix of ground oats and barley when I was young. This was on pasture or hay year round. Ed k

hanco….I am surprised you didn't reply with ….pussy!.....ha......the last beef I got was good....one before that good taste but you needed a chain saw to cut it......one before that fat had a taste of rancid to it....need a good butcher for sure.....bob

When me and the old woman meet up tonight....I will see what she thinks.

fair enough......bob

I live in AZ, buy my beef from a rancher outside of Riverton WY and the beef is processed in Thermopolis. Last year we took a road trip to get it, this year they dropped it off at the house on their way to Wickenburg.

I picked up a half a beef from my rancher here in Florida last Saturday, It took six weeks from when I ordered to when they called to say it was ready, they had sent it out to their butcher for processing. I paid $1280.00 wrapped and frozen. I am buying from The Dam Ranch @ about $5.45 a pound after processing weight.

Right after I got home I saw the following post here.



I'm assuming Joel is doing his business in Alaska, could be wrong.
Price seems kinda steady across the board.

Joel/AK Lives in Michigan now.

Thanks, I knew I was guessin', still find it interesting we both paid the same price so many miles apart.
Guess that is just how it rolls....

I believe there is a pretty big delay in processing no matter where you go.

We just had a steer butchered and called around in roughly a 100 mile radius from Billings to find options. Most were out 2-3 months to butcher and process a steer.

I did find a little butcher that a friend recommended. He actually called me tonight to clarify the cutting instructions as they are breaking our steer down tomorrow. This was almost 2 months faster than the others in the country.

If you want some info on contact for the guy, and after the end of this week when we get our beef back, a review on the job they did, drop me a PM and I will share with you our experience.

If you have a source, do it or find one.

SO much better than store bought beef.

This smoked t-bone did not suck yesterday.

Our local butcher is booked through December, we have plenty of beef if you can do it yourself or haul away...

That’s pretty much the situation around here.

One shop is stopping all their custom butchering. They were all backed up before that. Now it’s worse. We have appointments for 6-8 hogs early this fall. We get those slots a year in advance.

I know of a guy down Saddle Butte that does butchering and he did a great job for us.

I can't remember his name but I can tell you how to get there if need be.

I just called my cousin and ordered another quarter.

Thanks, BOB!

lol

Off topic but...

Any tips on buying local pasture raised that WON'T taste like dirt? The meat we've got is OK but the fat tastes like dirt. This is from local farms in GA claiming grass fed and grain finished. If you're the Worcestershire well done steak sauce type that is OK, but not for me. That's why I trim fat off venison.

My source is a cow/calf operation. He raises them on grass and hay. And feeds them twice a day on corn silage and ground corn and oats. The flavor is outstanding. I'd look for someone that does similar or finishes them with barley like Big Jim does.

We have the same issue here with local producers. Unless the burger is cooked/burned to "well", I can't eat it. A local restaurant serves it in their burgers so I have to order a chicken sandwich.
This "grass fed " label is a marketing stunt. What the hell do the other cows eat?......sawdust? A few years ago, we had a f___ton of moose meat to process so we took the burger to a local shop
with a great reputation and they took the liberty of grinding 10% of their local beef fat into our burger. They ruined several hundred pounds of good moose meat.

Local farmers grow barley successfully.....is that good for fattening a beef and if so, how long should they be on the barley? No corn here and very little oats.

Grass fed and grain finished shouldn't taste like dirt. Critters taste like what they eat, so it wasn't fed out correctly. I've finished lambs that tasted like the most tender beef you have ever had. Don't expect that from any store bought cuts though.

Wow and I thought I was strange for thinking wild turkeys tasted like river bottom mud. (Sort of the reason myself and renegade make dog meat out of them)

Holy schidt! This made me laugh!

I picture a cow laying in a wood shop chewing it's cud, saw dust on it's lips and nose. hahhaha

and that is what i am looking for......we will see if jim is interested......bob

The ones around here taste like the ones from the store, just a smaller. But we shoot jakes and hens and leave the big toms for someone else

Still $1,200 - $1,400 for a half, butchered and wrapped here.

If it drops below $1,000 I'd be a buyer but there doesn't seem to be a supply and demand issue here, which is good for the ranchers.

I’ll sell you one for $2,000. It’s PRIMO !

The place I take my steers to is now backed up till the end of the year also. I called the other day and made appointments for 16, two month old calves I have out in the pasture right now for April and May of 2021.

There used to be a butcher shop in about every town around here. I can think of maybe three now. And, as said, they charge more, and can not pick up an animal at the farm.

Just saw a message from one plant about 100 miles away that we’ve used and they said their first opening to butcher cattle or pigs is in early December.

THAT’S 7 MONTHS OUT!

That plant in particular is for sale if anyone is looking for a business to buy that has plenty of work lined up.

Sounds like a great time to get a butcher shop/slaughter operation up and running.

Mmm where’s the beef??

Upped my post count

Small operations can’t keep up with the food police.

I wish they bred cows to yield all ribeyes!! 😂😂😂

I bought 1/2 beef (1) time, over 60% burger. Never again.

Just bought a cow for $1,400. We have to pay to have it killed and butchered, wrapped and frozen. Total cost estimated to be under $1,900. Three of us are sharing the estimated 500 pounds of meat. We have to wait 90 days to pick it up. I thought that was a good price and from what we are hearing, a short wait.

I did that before, seemed like I ended up with a cordwood pile of bagged tubes. I was a 4-H bovine though. You could taste the brushing and pampering. lol

I think the toothless wonders at the packing house kept a few ribeyes back for their trouble.

Well, it all depends on the quality of the beef and the instructions you give the processor. Bring in a dried up old cow and it's a different story than a 2 year old corn finished steer. And what do you like to cook. I prefer roasts and chili/stew meat so I never grind venison. (And adjust cooking method to the age of the animal.)

well...bit of a bump I guess.

Hope Bob sees it.

We have selected some steers to put in our fat pen.

10 of em.

We finish our own beef with full feed barley.

So......we bought a big expensive feed grinder! Its currently north of Glasgow like 60 miles.


We think it will take at least 200 days.

We have no ieea. We don't ever really keep track on our own.


We don't even know what our costs will be. We know that barley is cheap...and want to grow some.


I dont suppose these will be economical beef!


Looking to feed hogs too.


Anyway..........we have started out.


No idea where we are going...but there is no sense in being late!

Choice, or prime beef is a premium product, it is not going to be cheap.

jim thanks for replying....I am interested in a beef and 2 hogs.....not looking for a killer deal.....just a fair one for you and for me.....will pm you later if you would like to proceed with this.....bob

you are right......but if is primo tasting...its worth it......bob

I'm told the lockers around here a booked up until after the first of the year.

Maybe you should be opening a new locker plant.

Been learning a lot this morning Richard.

Canada feeds a lot of barley.

Also learned that I bought the wrong machine for processing the barley!

Can you make it work for what you need?

How's the temperatures there, as far as feeding out beef this time of year? I know it varies from area to area.

Down here, it better to feed them out in cooler weather, as far as weight gain per pound fed.

Before the "BSE" hit, some big feed lots fed salvaged foods, breakfast cereals, candy bars, most anything that was cheap.

My father-in-law fed up to 10,00 head, all steers. They used a steam roller to make what they called corn flakes.

High maintenance machine, they had the rolls sharpened a couple times a year.

Some folks in the area use spent grains from breweries and distilleries.

We dont grain ours and some people dont like the flavor. Has a slight wild game taste. Not everybody that is used to grocery store beef from Argentina can get used to that taste. They like the chemical taste of imported beef.
Our cutter has been 12 weeks out for the whole year.

We think its gonna work.

We bought a grinder mixer. OMC 430 model. Sight unseen....but from the pictures it looks new almost.




In reading this morning...you do not want to grind the grain too fine or you will cause sickness. Also, fine ground barley cant be fed at the same rate as dry rolled.



However...if we use the largest screen (1 inch) and go slow....its supposed to be fine.



Hope so! Might not be ideal, but probably a more versatile machine. Especially for hogs and chickens and such.


We just have to be careful and not produce fines.

Barry, we struggle with it being too cold up here for feeding cattle. We dont have near the heat and humidity problems you guys have.



It is really hard to fatten at 30 below. Maintain body condition is possible, but gain is difficult.

Grandpa hand fed 1000 hogs one year.


Made a dollar a head.


Said he would have really had something if he had been feeding a million of them!

We fed wet distiller's gran for years. Jake got hit hard with high Sulphur one spring. I'm still sore at his feed salesman, he knew what the trouble was. Our veterinarians did not know anything about it either. I think when they go to Los Valgus for schooling they like to take horse classes.

Tell us about it Richard.

The high sulpher in the ration cause paralyses in the bovine's entreaties. They would struggle to get on their feet, the doc's kept treating with B12, that helped, but not nearly enough. I finialy got Jake to call the state beef specialist.

He had him cut back on the DG, that stopped the trouble, but not before he lost many steers, and a lot of money.

Jake was able to get in on the seven dollar corn market a few years later, that helped out a lot.

I spell much better when I talk, rather than type!!!

Why did that lot of DG have such high sulfur content?


I killed a bunch of cows during a tough winter with nitrates.

I read it just fine.

The ethanol plants use Sulphur acid for two things, to keep the yeast working longer, as do most wineries, and to wash up the equipment. Some of that ends up in the feed. Deep wells can run a higher Sulphur content in the spring.

Jim i am wondering what you bought to process barley ? We used to feed a lot of barley to hogs way back when we started farming ,and also some to cattle .We ran it through a hammer mill but i imagine a roller would be better for fat cattle . Rolled barley would have less fines and dust . Barley works well , it may take a little longer for hogs to finish because its lower in energy then corn but on the flip side you purchase less protein to add to your finish ration ..For those not farming - corn is higher in energy but barley has more protein so in a corn ration you have to add more soy ..Hogs are cheap in my area of SD right now - sons friends processed 5 this weekend . These hogs were open gilts , over 300 lbs and cost 50 bucks a head ..his friends did thier own work and made a lot of sausage . we have a couple more coming for our familys in a month but they are going to the local looker ..Due to plant shut downs i hear that a local big hog finisher sent three loads ( over 600 head ) to a pet food plant in Minn for euthanizing and pet food just to get rid of them..On the beef subject . Grass fed beef can vary a lot , i want mine fed grain for marbeling and taste , if its hamburger your after grass is perfect and most any used up old cow will be as good or better then store bought as thats where hambuger originates..I used to buy short term cows and run them on cornstalks and often sold some with imperfections to a local family with a bunch of kids for hamburger ,Good beef will not be cheap if your going to be fair to the guy that raised it and did the work , processing is expensive but unless you have a lot of freezer space and know how a do it, your self project is a lot of work, a 1400 lb animal it not like rolling a 150 lb deer over,, any way we have raised and eaten our own meat in my nearly 5 decades of farming and all beef is not created equal even out of your own feed yard..

Thanks for the info Winchrman.


We bought an old OMC 430 grinder/mixer.



It has a 1 inch screen that we hope will crack in coarse enough. If we run it slow enough.

Butchers are well known for pinching the best cuts to take home.

Jim i just read your reply on the grinder mixer - you posted while i was replying , you have it figured out . Fines are not as much of an issue if you blend with a silage ration for cattle ..you can auger grain into the supplement hopper and mix a ration with mixed grains with out hammering also ..as in chicken feed ..those grinder mixer are a versatile machine

I will look around and see if have any old screens in the iron pile , prob the same as the IHC mixers as owatonna or some one made serveral different brands . used to have a bunch of screens ..and still have a couple scrap mixers ,ground ever thing from milo to ear corn ..

Canada beef tastes terrible, even prime grade. To get prime grade beef that tastes good you need to feed them at lease some corn.

I think Canadian beef is good. They us a AAA rating instead of good, choice, and prime.

We prefer barley beef and pork.

But then again.....we dont live in corn country.

Sawdust ? Yes ! And chicken chit too. I can’t remember the portioning but my friend owned a dairy and sawdust and chicken chit was a good portion of the feed. He also had a supply of bread trimmings from the bread plant. I think using chicken chit got banned but as far as I know sawdust is still part of the mix. He sold out to a developer and got out of the business.

i have always wondered about that........bob

Barley, corn, wheat, milo, most ant grain will fatten cattle well. I can't say about barley, but corn makes for white fat.

wabi...what grains turn it a differant color........bob

All I know is what I've heard. I've seen white fat on corn fed beef of course.

Getting to prime beef depends a lot on the breed more than the feed. I don't know what Jim is feeding out, but he might have something that will make it fairly easily. It also depends a lot of frame size, beef that grows really large frames take much longer to reach a prime level than a smaller framed beef. I'd try to find a RED Angus or Shorthorn as these are smaller framed cattle that put on weight really well and have highly marbled meat. Also realize that you're going to have to feed the beef longer than normal so expect paying a premium to get to prime.




As a young man Dad fed out a few steers on onion tops one year, kept one to eat and said it smelled like frying onions every time he cooked any of it. You need to find out what they finish the cattle on for grain and/or keep them completely off the grass they're eating. This is what's putting the flavor in the meat.



What is the live weight? If it's in the 1200 lb live weight range you should be close. You loose about 40% live to hanging weight, and then you'll loose some more weight in the trim. Packaged beef usually weighs in around 40% of live weight.




Hey Jim I grew up feeding cattle ground milo, wheat, oats, and barley, and you're correct it just needs to be cracked/rolled for cattle. However, you'll get some fines still in the mix and I wouldn't worry too much about it. A simple roller would have been better, but the grinder mixer is more versatile. You can add in trace minerals, salts, and other sources of proteins to help get your cattle to grow.

Too cold or too hot slows down gains with animals that is for sure. You should be able to pack on some pounds now as you're not as hot. Cattle gain the best in cool weather.

We have about another 75 days to go before fair (if it happens) with Waylon and Willie here (Daughter's FFA project). However, we're already in the mid 90's a lot and we'll hit 100+ before too long. We will more than likely loose our A$$ on these guys because of the market, but not as many as other kids that spend a lot more for their cattle, feed, and keeping them in a cool room than we did. Since the lock down we've just been feeding straight rolled corn, sorghum hay, and trace minerals just to keep the costs down.



BTW they'll be for sale and will deliver up to 200 miles from La Junta Colorado to processor of choice if the fair doesn't happen. Hit me up mid Aug to Sept.

I've heard that all my life.

But, I've never seen it. Even once.

And I grew up working in my family's meat packing company.


Which is more valuable? Stealing a few dollars worth of meat, or establishing a reputation as a good business, which grows through word of mouth through the community?

I'm sure some disreputable meat packers are out there. But they won't be in business for long.

I lay the vast majority of those stories on the ignorance of people not knowing what cutting loss percentage is.

My experience is "grain fed" versus "grass fed"...

It's easy to tell grain fed beef from grass fed beef.

The fat is indeed white on grain fed cattle, and yellow on grass fed cattle.

Seen differences in taste too.

Grass fed cattle can be quite strong tasting, and even more so if that grass is green.

pm sent jim....bob

Some where in the house i have an old dairy book with grain conversion tables.

Back when i raised hogs milo was a 1-1 sub to corn.

Grass fed does have a yellow tint if not fed some grain a few weeks before being butchered.

I had some hogs on an old alfalfa field and the first butchered had a green tint and you could taste a slight taste of broccoli.

Peanut trash would turn the fat tan to light brown.

Got a half a beef for sale.

Local pick up.

When I only ended up with 5 ribeyes for my whole half of a 1200lb animal, i assumed more than ignorance.

What’s done is done.

I won’t work with Livingston’s packers in Hopkinsville, Ky anymore.

The guy who used to kill them always took the hanger steaks.

Always.

Haha!

Bump.

Half a beef for sale.

Prefer corned beef

Not so much on the grassed. Reminds me of a deer.

Best 1/2 beeve I ever bought. I will again.