Curious about pricing

[oscar]

I'm going to pick up my half of beef tomorrow. It's black angus, and came to $965 all inclusive. I've only done this once before, just as covid hit, and that one came to $5.15 a pound. We're in Central New York. Different butcher this time, a few pennies more per pound, so I'm expecting an average of $5.50 or a bit higher. After looking at an 8oz. organic NY strip for $16.99 today at the local Price Chopper, I don't think we can go wrong here, but I'm curious as to what others who buy this way have seen recently in other parts of the country.

 

[DougE]

Right now, we're getting about $1.40~ $1.50/lb live weight for a beef, buyer pays kill/processing fees. We arrange processing and haul animal to processor. I think, in the future, we are going to change to a hanging weight system for charging buyers, but either way, we are going to pretty make the same per animal.

 

[oscar]

About the same here in terms of who pays for what. I think the kill fee is $40 each half, we're at .63/lb. for processing. Last butcher also had a small disposal fee. We bought from a different farmer this time, and he's at $2.00/lb. hanging weight. In the current climate, I think it'll work out for us. Hope it works out for the guys on your end, too. Not much interested in mass produced food anymore.

 

[DougE]

We bought from a different farmer this time, and he's at $2.00/lb. hanging weight.

Hanging weight price is going to be higher than live weight price, so that sounds reasonable.

 

[mneeley490]

That doesn't sound too bad. Around the PNW, it's $3.50-$4 lb for hanging weight, plus kill and butchering fees.

 

[oscar]

Went to pick up the half tonight....been playing with my meat ever since! My wife's a farm girl, and didn't understand why I had her playing secretary. Her father had his own butchered and just tossed it in the freezer. I just spent hard earned money.....want to know how I did! Granted, I had them leave the bone in where applicable, (short ribs look awesome), so it's a lot of bone weight, but it worked out to $4.20/lb.. Gotta go. I've got a lawn chair and cold beer waiting in front of the freezer.

 

[DougE]

it worked out to $4.20/lb.

If that includes the price for the animal, and processing, you can't beat that! I get off cheaper per pound because I raise them, but if I eat it, I lose what I would have sold it for, so it pretty much equals out.