From time to time people talk about grass fed beef, and how expensive they
have found it to be. Well for many, there is another way.
Many farmers raise from 20 to 100 head of cattle, and will sell from a
quarter to a whole animal to anyone who wants it. No, you don't have to take
it home and shoot it, they usually will have a relatioship with an " on the
farm butcher", who will kill it, take it to his cold storage, age it and
cut, wrap and freeze it. Around here( NW US) the butchering and wrapping
costs about $20 +$.25 to $.28 per pound of hanging weight.And the price to
the farmer is somewhere around $1.25 per pound HW additional. So you pay
for the bones, and more fat than you will likely eat. Although, if it is
grass fed, not so much carcass fat is present anyway. As for the bones, they
make a great stock for your stews, ragouts, etc. Here nobody wants the
liver, heart, etc, so you are definitely welcome to have it. We always took
that stuff home in a bag on slaughter day, thus no pay for cutting or
wrapping. You'll be amazed at the size of a beef liver!
The only negative, if it is that, is you wind up eating alot of beef, and it
is all frozen.
Usually there will even be a breed choice, as different farmers and ranchers
have different interests. Right off grass, I prefer the British breeds like
Angus or Hereford, as they will still put on some fat, and be fairly tender,
although they usually will not have that very "rich" taste of a prime corn
fed steak. Also these are smaller, and the steaks are a more manageable
size. There are leaner and larger cattle mostly originating from Continental
Europe, like Limousin, Simmental, etc. These are larger, and very lean.
Sometimes a little tough, unless you braise the meat. Of couse a cube steak
machine will handle that.
Often, the steer will be a cross, but usually one type or the other will
dominate.
Another possibility, to get the meat even cheaper, is to buy a dry
heifer(young female) at a sale barn. Wherever there is a dairy industry,
there will be some females that are raised to early maturity, then fail to
conceive. These go to the sale barn quick. Many are an intersex, called
freemartins. At the local sale, these go around $.35 per pound on the hoof.
Of couse you still have the killing, cutting and wrapping. These are quite
tender, but they have often been fed some grain.
Let me know what conditions are like where you live.
Michael
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