1/2 a Steer

[Half Dog]

Due to the cost of meat these days, I’ve been entertaining the idea of splitting the cost of a steer with another family. The problem is that I don’t know anything about it. I see there are mobile butchers but aging the meat, final feeding, etc... I don’t know anything about.

Please educate me.

Thanks in advance for your time and effort.

[Markopolo]

Usually when I got 1/2 a beef, it was skinned, gutted, clean and hanging waiting for me to pickup. Not sure if it’s that way anymore, but that is 1/2 the questions…

If you are going to raise it yourself on your land, completely different scenario. It’s a lot of work, but very enjoyable if your asking me. I always treated mine like it was wild game, Kill, gut, clean and hang. Be sure you have a place to do all of that before you decide how to go… not only that, but a steer is heavy. Block and tackle is your friend. Everything is easier with a nice tractor if you have one. Grass fed beef is really all we ever did. You could get a mobile butcher that is all tooled up, but they get a flat fee usually, and if you aren’t prepared to do everything yourself, then it’s money well spent. Also, think about the gut pile and such. We used to dig a whole with the tractor and bury as we did not want a bunch of critters attracted to the area, and some places have refs about that sort of thing. Do your homework!

Good luck. Hope this helps a bit.

Marko

[funnyjim014]

We split a side with my parents. Local farm. Was fed good and it tastes it. We never even went to the farm. Sent the check and 2months later we picked it up from a local butcher. So glad we did it because right after meat prices started to sky rocket

[Gator 45/70]

Split one with the boy last year, Still eating the hamburger off it.

[MUSTANG]

Look up your local small business laughter/Packing houses. They will usually have cattle they buy; or others have processed and want to "Part Out"; kind of like being a broker on large quantity packages of beef. We bought two calves from Dairy four years ago; raised them for 20 months and had them processed. We still have quite a bit of meat in the Freezers; but then again it's just the wife and I unless we have guests/visitors.

[contender1]

As noted,, it can be "easy" as in just going to a butcher & buying 1/2 a steer,,, or harder if you do it yourself.

One thing you MIGHT consider,, is to look around locally to see if you can find a cattle rancher. Find one who's willing to sell you one ready for the butcher. And if you can find someone to go into buying one with you,, the two of y'all can buy a beef, then either pay to have it butchered,, or if you know how & have the stuff,,, butcher it yourselves.

I hunt,, and I kill enough meat annually to where I don't buy any beef. I also do my own butchering,, so I KNOW how it was processed,, and I KNOW what cuts I'm getting,, and I KNOW how much I'm supposed to get of the end product.

If I were to personally want to buy a beef,, I'd be the type of person to buy it "on the hoof" then do the processing myself.

[JonB_in_Glencoe]

When buying a 1/4 or Half, you'll likely pay more per lb of finished product, especially if you normally shop the sales at Grocery stores...BUT you'll likely be getting better product.

Around here (MN), The farmer/rancher generally has their own system and relationship with a butcher. So the best thing would be to find the best farmer/rancher and get the details from them. The first time you buy a 1/4 or a Half, will likely be a learning experience, in regards to what to order processed from the butcher.

[MrWolf]

We bought 1/2 a steer lil over a year ago. Asked around and got a local rancher that we kinda knew the last name. He hooked us up with a butcher. Took a month or so then to get the butcher appointment (now it is over a year wait from what I have heard). Averaged about $3.50lb for some of the best meat I ever had. Ended up with around 350 lbs or so. We got a great deal. Even met the rancher at their family store a week or so ago. My only complaint is man did those steaks go fast, they were phenomenal.

[waksupi]

Shop around a bit. We have several ranchers selling direct to customers. I bought a quarter a couple weeks ago, grain finished. Grass finished beef is going a bit cheaper. I payed about what it would have averaged in a store, but prices are going to take another jump real soon, and I prefer to keep ahead of the game. A plus for me, not only did they make the cuts I requested, but also delivered it, and put the boxes in the freezer for me!
I was going to buy half a hog from a processor, but looking at grocery store sales prices, I can buy cheaper there, and repackage to my needs.

[rockrat]

Luckily for us, our neighbor was raising a steer for butcher and had a 1/2 steer available, so we told him we would take it. This was last fall. Should pick it up later this month.

[rancher1913]

I always kept back 2 calfs every year, usually the smallest or largest depending on the group, buyers want an even lot of calfs, anything much bigger or smaller than the group is discounted. takes 2 years to grow one out so every year we had one for us and one to sell. raising animals takes work, 24/7 work. find a local rancher and go in with him, just remember its easy to buy a cow but hard to get a locker appointment, make sure if you are not going to butcher yourself, you get an appointment before you buy a cow.

[redneck1]

Check with your butchers before buying off a farmer on wait times .
Every butcher in my area is so back logged with all the extra animals people raised from covid boredom and not being able to find workers it's a year or more wait for an appointment with the knacker.

Edit ... silvercreek beat me to it .

[MUSTANG]

Scheduled "Butcher" date has become a "MUST" in most places. The butcher we used last time is taking Butcher dates for 18 months from now.

[shaggybull]

Contact local butcher shop for available kill dates, they can also recommend a farm kill guy. Our local guys are a couple months out with kill dates. If you want to finish grain for 14-30 days before kill. I used to kill with grass finish, if during winter give them all the hay they can eat. If you are selling they other have chg 1/2 kill, fee sell by hanging weight, plus cut/wrap. Last beef I sold got $5.50 on hanging weight.

[SSGOldfart]

Humm you figure it out please let me know we are looking at the same ideal.:bigsmyl2: I might go in for the other half.if we can work out the details

[M-Tecs]

In the past I've done grain feed and grass feed. I only did grass feed once. Of course, tenderness and flavor do very from animal to animal, but one grass feed was enough for me. I process 100% of the game animals my family takes. That total is well north of 350. I have also been thru a meats cutting class in the late 70's. I normally will not process steers myself due to the cost and complexity of the cuts. Too easy to make mistakes and mess up valuable cuts.

I have processed a couple of "bologna bulls/cows" which is a low-grade bull/cow supplying beef of inferior quality. That is a term used for slaughter bulls/cows that are sterile, too aggressive or bull that broke a leg fighting (has to be done before fever sets in). If it's a sterile or aggressive bull it's preferred to grain feed them first. The meat is lower quality and really only suitable for sausage/bologna so no worries about messing up valuable cuts. Even in summer sausage I was able to tell it was a "bologna bull/cow". Same for hamburger. Still edible but darker in color and a stronger flavor. Some people claim differently. I am just going off of my experience. The one I remember most was an aggressive bull that was over 2,000 pounds. It was grain feed for three weeks before slaughter. Normally I got to shoot all the slaughter animals but my uncle hated that bull. It almost killed him and his hired man. He got it cheap since it was labeled as "aggressive". It was so aggressive that he would not sell it to anyone. He used his .243 for that one.

[buckwheatpaul]

We raise our own cows and earmark a bull calf every other year and we split it with another couple. We raise it and they pay for the butchering. Last year we processed one and it was $2.38/pound. We raise our cows on grass with some grain in the winter as the protein is down in winter in grass unless you plant a winter rye grass field. If you are going to raise your own then you need to secure a slaughter date as much as a year in advance because there are a lot of people jumping on that band wagon and these small packing plants are overwhelmed with demand for their services.

If you are not going to raise it yourself you might get in contact with a local packing plant and you can usually buy by the half from them.

The quality we get is so good because we know what we put into our animals.....good luck in this adventure!

[ascast]

"butcher "time seems to be a common problem. here in upstate ny peeps are scheduling a year or more out. I would do it myself, but it takes longer than planned SO plan on busting in quarters at least so you can get it all hanging indoors away from yotes, nerighbors dogs etc. A cool garage and you can work on it all weekend, take breaks. It no small task to get one in "meals for two" size and then wrapped for freezer.

[Outer Rondacker]

If you check with any farms in the area most likely they will know the farmer who raises the meat cows. Chances are the same farmer works with a butcher. Even has other families looking to split cows with others. Prices are not so bad if you go this route. If you buy at auction and have your own butchered it can be very high.

[Cosmic_Charlie]

With butcher dates that far out, I would be tempted to take the plunge and butcher it myself. Probably a lot more work than a deer though.

[M-Tecs]

With butcher dates that far out, I would be tempted to take the plunge and butcher it myself. Probably a lot more work than a deer though.

It's not the work that the issue it's knowing the proper cuts. Without that knowledge you will mess up a lot of your cuts. Skill comes into play also. Some people still have skill to cut T-Bones and Porterhouses with a handsaw. Most don't so a band saw is a must for most.

Some good pics here of the various 42 different cuts. Saying it's somewhat different than doing a deer is an understatement.

https://www.clovermeadowsbeef.com/cuts-of-beef/

https://dsrcattle.com/beef-sizes-and-cuts/

https://www.angus.org/pub/beefchart.pdf

https://smokegears.com/beef-cuts-chart/

[Plate plinker]

Scheduled "Butcher" date has become a "MUST" in most places. The butcher we used last time is taking Butcher dates for 18 months from now.

This is the real issue. Hope you Texans still have local kill houses/butcher shops. In our area there is a very tight schedule. Good luck.

[Rapier]

Be very careful about the understanding right up front. You best understand the cuts you get, the cuts they keep and who gets the horns. Not all processors are honest to start with. It is real good to listen very close to the deal. I actually had a guy, smiling, tell me he kept the steaks…. Not bad if anyone is a sucker enough to buy into that BS.

[PhilC]

Have been buying a whole steer from the same local family for over 20yrs. I know everyone involved in the process personally, as from the farmer to the small family owned and operated butcher shop that kills & dresses the steers, hangs and quarters the halves, and processes the beef.

The nice thing about this process is the farmer and butcher handle everything, farmer delivers steers to butcher shop for killing/processing. My cut instructions and my brothers' are on file, the butcher doesn't even call to confirm since we've been doing this so long. I get two calls, one telling me the steers have been delivered, and a second telling me when our orders ready.

I pay the butcher and farmer separately both based on hanging weight.

If you don't mind paying the same price for lesser cuts like stew meat, hamburger, and chuck as you do for T-bones, prime rib, and sirloin, it's a good way to go. I wouldn't have it any other way.

[chambers]

Same here as PhilC above, the problem is the local butcher shops are dwindling, they are a year out and we have done five steers from same farmer last 30 years, same butchers also. Cut and packaged. We use to have pigs but farmer got out. Use pork trimmings for venison/elk sausage. Getting harder these days to find but better meat and cuts.

[CastingFool]

Gonna be a new experience for our family this year, as we're buying a whole steer. Should be ready on March 17.

[Half Dog]

Thanks to all who have contributed. I feel better now and educated enough to know what not to do. Also, I found the links very helpful.

[remy3424]

Lots of good information. It is nothing like boning a deer out, well the way 90% of the people would process a deer anyway. The last posts are good. from M-Tecs, Phil and Chambers. I have processed a ton of deer and and would not consider processing a prime beef animal. 40 years ago there was a Meat Locker in every little town (NW Iowa, tons of livestock raised here), I would say way over half are now gone (still 4 within 50 miles of me). I would ask around and see which lockers your friends or neighbor use, might not be much of a choice. Their prices can vary, we have a great one in the area, a little pricier, but the meat is vaccum sealed, not wrapped in butcher paper...I am willing to pay more for that and anyone who thinks they might not have it consumed in 6 months or so, should also be willing to pay more for that. Timing sound like they are 12 months or more out across the country. Once you decide on the locker, contact them about your desires and they can like put you in-touch with one of the producers who have kill dates scheduled. You will likely pay the top of the market price for the day it is delivered, but if you think it is cheaper to get a kill date and when that time comes try to find a producer with one ready or try to save money and try to find a "heathy" single at the sale barn (if there are any left in your area) and then find a way to get it to the locker, hey, have at it! Good luck, with store meat prices today, it might be a better deal financially than in the past.