Ground beef Prices

[bacpacker]

I'm sure most all of you have been seeing, ground beef and beef in general prices are spiking quite rapidly. Here is a pretty good article discussing it.

http://www.keloland.com/newsdetail.cfm/ground-beef-prices-skyrocket/?id=159715

[LUNCHBOX]

BP, good article. We have it here around $3.20 a lb.

Meijer has their own 1 lb packages of ground turkey holding steady at $1.79 (on sale 2 for $3.00 occasionally)

[bacpacker]

Wally world has it for around $4/lb give or take here. We have started keeping an eye out for sales and trying to start stocking what we can here and there.
At this point I have started considering fencing in my property and seeing about leasing a couple acres from my next door neighbor and starting to raise our own and maybe a feeder calf or two to sale. If I had a barn up already and a pond dug, I wouldn't hesitate.

[LUNCHBOX]

BP, if you remember my pics from a while back. I raised my and Kodiaks' cows with just a 3 sided walk-in. I know you could do it also.

Wait...what am l thinking. Remember the chicken coop.

[bacpacker]

Yeah down here, just a run in shed would be plenty for the cows. Hay storage would take more to protect.

I wish I had a band mill to saw up some lumber. I have several projects I need various lumber for and prices at Lowes and HD are just too high.

[izzyscout21]

Ya know, BP, i think theres a friendly farm down the road that might help you out with that hay problem..... :)

[bacpacker]

They have helped with beef before! I'm just thinkin now would be a good time to raise and sell some beef. Maybe at least get mine for low cost.
My main issue with hay is storage without leaving it in the weather. So many folks do the round bale thing now days, which is a huge labor savings, but then they fail to cover or protect the bales and lose 30-50% due to rot and the rest of the hay's quality is less as well.

[Possom]

Bacpacker, on a small property I think you would be better off raising a few goats for burger. 2 years ago I had 4 wethers slaughtered and ground into burger. That carried my family of 6 almost a year without buying ground meat. It is also better for you then beef. Lower cholesterol and trans fat in goat meat then most any other meat produced here.

They are a heck of a lot easier to work with as well.

[helomech]

We will be going with goats. Other than fencing them in they are way easier to deal with than cattle.

[ladyhk13]

We like bison because it's lower in cholesterol and healthier. They are also easier to raise than cattle.

[helomech]

I am planning to get a bison one day and split the meat and cost with a friend. Need to buy another freezer first though.

[ladyhk13]

I am planning to get a bison one day and split the meat and cost with a friend. Need to buy another freezer first though.

Yeah, they take up a lot of space. But yummy.

[helomech]

Going to have to try it before I bring home 800 lbs of meat

[ladyhk13]

Going to have to try it before I bring home 800 lbs of meat

Find a butcher that slaughters them and ask for a couple of center cut rib eyes or filet. They can custom cut them for you if you let them know ahead of time, we do them at least 1.5 inches thick on the ribeye. Season them just like you do with beef but cook them no more than med rare or they dry out because they are so lean. You can find recipes online for different cuts. Buy some different ones and see if you like it before jumping in and buying a whole animal.

[msomnipotent]

My eyes popped out of my head the last time I bought ground beef. It wasn't that long ago that I could find it on sale for $1.29lb and it kept rising from there. A decent sale price now is $3.99lb because it is usually closer to $5. We switched to more pork and chicken, but those are rising, too. And we are getting pretty tired of chicken or pork every day.

If you are going to buy a side of beef, I suggest asking if they change their feed at all. I bought 1/4 a cow from a farmer who advertised as all-natural grass fed beef and we really liked the taste. Then we bought 1/2 a cow and the meat smelled and tasted rancid. We couldn't choke it down. I sent some meat back to the rancher/farmer to try and was told that is how grass fed tastes (which I disagree. I have had grass fed before and none of it tasted like that). It turns out that our first order was completely grain fed in a feed lot and the second order was partially grass fed and finished on grain, so it wasn't at all as advertised. And it still should have tasted like grain fed if it was finished on grain. Long story short, ask a lot of questions and understand exactly what you are getting for your money before you buy.

[ladyhk13]

They do taste different depending on what they eat. Even different grasses will change the flavor.

[helomech]

Ground beef is about 2.99/lb here. We rarely ever buy it, but I looked yesterday.

[ladyhk13]

We rarely ever use ground beef either, a slab of ribeye was $6.99 (cut the steaks yourself) last week. That is pretty normal for us. What was unusual is that Costco was not carrying any chicken breast. They had dark meats only and then some super expensive organic chicken. That was the first time I had seen that.

[tystone48]

Hello Im new ..just want to say hello and I like the page! Im a prepper/ truther and Organic grower..I feel at home here...I dont eat much meat...but I love it! Just dont eat much because of my health. ..I have several pages on Facebook. .tystone48 truther/prepper...Kinetic Truth and learning to Eat and Drink for Great Health and Truth in Motion ..and several more that I am amitatrater. Im also a member in paltalk
I just wanted to say hello!! : )

[helomech]

Welcome.

[tystone48]

Thank you ! Love the page