How much should 1/2 cow cost?

[Bens Momma]

What a thread title, right?? :D One of DH's coworkers just purchased 1/2 a cow and now he's taking a new job and moving. We've been talking about buying one locally, but haven't had the time to look into it. This just kind of fell into our laps, so for those of you that have experience what's a reasonable price? The only info DH knows is that it's from a local, grain-fed, non-homone treated cow and that his friend has bought from this farmer before so I assume the meat was good and the farm has a good rep.

New to this idea so thanks for any info!
Momma to 2 DS

[Bens Momma]

.......................bump for any info..........

[trales]

I hope you have a lot of freezer space. Do you get to pick the cuts you want, or is the cow already halved and frozen?

It seems like if the total cost is less than the per pound cost for equivalent meat at the grocery store, then it is worth it.

[brittone2]

It depends on cuts, how it was wrapped, how many cuts are "bone in", how much ground beef vs steak/roast, etc.

We paid about $700 recently for around 150#. We originally were thinking 1/4 and I cut and pasted this from an email w/ the farm-

cuts included w/ a quarter. A half is about double the following amounts:
NY strip 1#
cube steak 3#
shank cross cut 5#
t-bone 2#
chuck roast 6#
chuck eye steak 3#
pot roast 4#
sirloin tip roast 3#
sirloin steak 4#
ribeye steak 3#
short ribs 3#
flank or hangar or flat iron 1#
Burger 24#
stew beef 7#
patties 6#

Also, most places here do "virtual halves" etc meaning they work out bulk prices, but the cuts may not all be possible from one "real" half of beef, kwim?

Ours was hormone/antibiotic free, and 100% grassfed. That's all big in our area, so because of demand our price may be higher than in other areas of the country.

ETA: grassfed antibiotic/hormone free ground beef goes for 5-5.50/lb locally now, so buying in bulk brought the price per pound under $5/lb, and included steaks/roast for that price (vs. all ground beef).

[bethie_73]

it depends on where you are too. this is our local farm.

http://www.againstthewindranch.com/naturalbeef_againstthewind.php

[daisymommy]

We just bought a 1/2 cow for $500. And a half a hog for $250.

I am BEYOND EXCITED! We got it from Polyface Farms, a.k.a Joel Salatin's Farm that has been written about in The Omnivore's Dilemma, Real Food, and numerous other books and magazines.

They are SO NICE! We are going to visit the farm this Summer for family day.

http://www.polyfacefarms.com/

[Sillygirl]

It depends which half.

Sorry, I thought a thread title like that deserved some levity.:D