> Then why in the name of time does free range/grass fed cost so much more?
> Oliva

well, suppositions all, but here's three:
1) more time is required to get any one animal up to "market weight" on an all
grass diet (just like people: give em grain side dishes in addition to normal
calorie paleo meals and weight is quickly gained).
2) its a "specialty market".  Many food items cost more because ingredients are
omitted. (strange as this is).  its gimmicky marketing with a willing buying
public.
3) the breeding stock itself is sometimes more expensive because of the animal's
genetics to prosper and gain good weights on poorer quality feeds in less time.
(some states have less grass/acre as a norm than others).  The range of breeds
has changed a lot over the decades.  Blacks with angus blood lines became very
popular, now many are going back to stronger Hereford lines.  All this parentage
genetics messing around also costs money above and beyond putting a calf at
mother's side and turning them loose on grass.

As a generalized BTW:  from what I know, ANY cow will just flat bloat up and die
in a short while if they were fed nothing but grain.
I'm only making these comments because I've seen several posts here that make me
think several paleo eating enthusiasts think most commercial cattle are fed
nothing but grain.  That just isn't true.
The grain is a side dressing to hay or grass type food, usually offered during
the "finishing" period that most commercial beef undergoes.

I think anyone who drove up to a cattle ranch with an appropriate trailer could
buy a steer that had been pasture/grass fed all its life past weaning, and just
haul it to their preferred butcher shop and have it processed and get a good
quality meat that avoids the grain finishing.
One could probably arrange it over the phone also...so someone else is paid to
get it done and then one just drives to the locker plant to pick up the packaged
meat.

Katy