Description
We raise grass fed & finished beef at our farm in Kuna.
Some cattle producers raise their cattle on pasture and for the last 6-8 weeks of the animal’s life it is fed grain or grain and grass to “finish” and marble the meat.
Over the years our customers have asked for beef that is both raised on pasture and finished on pasture without any grain added. We listened, and now all of our beef is raised and finished this way.
This was a change for Autumm and I, as we were raised on beef that was finished on grain. We definitely love the grass finished beef just as much.
If you are only used to eating grain finished beef; or if you just don’t know how your steaks are finished, we suggest buying a grass fed and finished steak at a store like the Boise Coop or Whole Foods and cooking it up.
Make sure to get good cooking instructions for a grass finished steak as the art form of grilling a grass finished steak is a bit different than grain finished. Then sample the steak to make sure you like its taste.
This helps you in two ways:
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- First, if you do not like the taste of the grass finished steak, you do not buy it in bulk from us only to not enjoy your investment.
- Second, you get to see what stores charge for a grass finished steak and then realize how wise a decision it is to purchase your grass fed & finished beef in bulk with the savings involved.
Our Price & Process:
We charge $4.50/lb based on the hanging weight of the animal.
If you purchase a whole beef, we are happy to deliver the animal to the butcher of your choice in the Treasure Valley for processing.
If you purchase less than a whole beef, or just do not have a favorite butcher, we will deliver the animal to Greenleaf Meat Packing in Greenleaf, Idaho.
After the animal is delivered, it will hang and age for approximately two to three weeks. During this time you will call the butcher and provide them with instructions for how you want the animal processed.
Once the animal has been processed you will pick it up at Greenleaf Meat Packing, and pay for your share of the butchering process.
If you purchase a whole beef, you will pay for 100% of the butchering process.
1/2 beef = 50% of the butchering process
1/4 beef = 25% of the butchering process
**There is a caveat when you purchase 1/4 beef.
When a beef is processed the butcher breaks the animal into 2 halves. Then each halve is processed individually.
Each halve has to be processed identically all the way through. This means that if you are only purchasing 1/4 beef you are splitting a 1/2 beef with another customer.
Because the butchers only break down the cut instructions per 1/2 beef, you and the person you are splitting the 1/4 beef with need to be in agreement on how the animal will be processed, i.e. 1/2″ steaks vs. 1″ steaks or percentage of ground beef vs. percentage of roasts, etc.
If you are purchasing a 1/4 beef we will put you in contact with your “beef partner” so you can come to agreement on how the entire half should be processed.
Final Pricing:
Our grass finished beef tend to average around a 650lb hanging weight. This can vary depending on the mother’s milk production, the animal’s genetic makeup and date of birth or “days on feed”.
For this example we will use a 650lb hanging weight as a reference point:
Money paid to Grass Fed Boise: 650lbs hanging weight * 4.50/lb = $2,925
Money Paid To Grass Fed Boise:
Whole Beef = $2,925
1/2 Beef = $1,462
1/4 Beef = $731
Money Paid To The Butcher:
You will also be paying the butcher based on the hanging weight of the animal. We do not have any control over the price that the butcher is charging for processing, and this fluctuates depending upon the year.
$0.80/lb is a good average to use for estimating your payment to the butcher:
Whole Beef = $520
1/2 Beef = $260
1/4 Beef = $130
Kill Fee – the butcher is also going to charge a kill fee on each animal that is slaughtered. Again, we do not have any control over this fee but around $100 is a good estimate for a year to year average:
Whole Beef = $100
1/2 Beef = $50
1/4 Beef = $25
Final Out Of Pocket Expense To You:
Whole Beef = $3,545
1/2 Beef = $1,772
1/4 Beef = $886
How To Compare This Price To The Same Beef Purchased At Whole Foods Or The Boise Coop:
The hanging weight of a beef does not represent the amount of beef you will actually be putting into your freezer. Hanging weight includes bone, fat and trim that will be removed during processing.
Generally you can estimate that the actual weight of processed meat you will be putting in your freezer to be approximately 66% of the hanging weight (sometimes called the “hot weight”) of the animal.
**This percentage can go down depending on the breed of beef you purchase. Take for example, Holstein cattle (black and white dairy cattle). Holsteins actually produce very tasty beef. However, by the time a Holstein steer is finished and ready to be processed it has grown very tall, as Holsteins are one of the tallest breeds of cattle. This means there is more bone in a Holstein, and the bone is thicker as it is supporting more weight over a longer span. With the increased length and thickness of bone comes an increased weight of bone. Therefore, the weight of the bone in a Holstein makes up a larger percentage of the animals hanging weight. So, once the animal is processed and the bone is removed, your percentage of meat compared to the hanging weight is actually lower.
We raise Hereford, Angus and Charolais cross cattle which are very good beef breeds. Because they finish sooner and are bred for producing meat, not milk, they produce a fantastic amount of delicious beef on a moderate frame. This helps us keep the 66% number in play for you.
So, if the hanging weight of your beef was 650 lbs, and you are taking home 66% of that weight in steaks, ground beef, roasts, etc.; you are taking home 429 lbs of meat, if you purchased a whole beef.
When you divide the total cost of the animal and butcher fees by the amount of meat you are putting in your freezer ($3,545 divided by 429 pounds) you find that you are paying $8.26 per pound for all of your meat from rib steaks to ground beef.
This is why we urge you to go to the Boise Coop or Whole Foods to purchase a grass finished steak. And, while you are there, purchase some grass finished ground beef as well. You will see that a grass finished rib steak will cost you somewhere between $20.00 and $25.00/lb. You will also see that grass finished ground beef will cost you around $8.00/lb, especially considering inflation.
When you purchase in bulk from local farmers like us, you end up paying $8 – $9/lb for the same ground beef you would buy at Whole Foods, but you are also paying $8 – $9/lb for the same rib steaks that would cost you $25.00/lb at Whole Foods. You can see why this is such a wise decision.
And if that were not enough, there is something very rugged and independent about stocking your freezer with enough meat to get you through the winter. When the temperatures are falling, the days are getting shorter and the leaves are changing color, it is a visceral feeling to have your food stores stocked before winter sets in!
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