# Just Got Back from the Processor



## Ironman (Mar 21, 2012)

All,

I have benefitted from reading and learning from all of you....I hope this is helpful to someone else.

We just processed our first cow....bottle fed him from day after he was born. He was a holstein....18 months old, about 800lbs on the hoof. Picked up the meat yesterday. I had a delicious T bone steak for dinner tonight!

Here's the breakdown of what I got back in terms of meat:
123 lbs of ground beef
68 round steaks (about 1lb each)
36 sirloin steaks
32 Ribeye Steaks
52 Chuck steaks
32 T bone steaks

All total it was 390lbs of beef. I don't know about the other steaks yet...but the T bone was delicious! 

In terms of fees, the processor charged a $45 kill fee....plus .45/pound of the hanging weight.....therefore a total of about $220. 

FYI....the processor asks if you want roasts, beef ribs, etc.....I told them I wanted all the steaks possible, and the rest in burger.

It's been a great experience for my family and I.....can't wait to process the next one! Hope this info is helpful for others.


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## notbutanapron (Jun 30, 2011)

Ah that explains the amount of mince. I have the rest of mine usually turned into roasts and then only get a little mince out of it. I find I don't use it much and much prefer roast, but that's why we all kill our own, right? It's so nice to be able to hold up your fingers and go "I want all my steaks this thick." or half and half.

I am SO SICK of steak though. And only homesteaders really can understand that hahahaha.


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## Ironman (Mar 21, 2012)

I already thought of something I forgot to mention....I fed this cow grain for the last 2 months of his life....sweet feed from Tractor Supply.....started slowly and worked him up to about a 5 gallon bucket per day.


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## arabian knight (Dec 19, 2005)

Ironman said:


> I already thought of something I forgot to mention....I fed this cow grain for the last 2 months of his life....sweet feed from Tractor Supply.....started slowly and worked him up to about a 5 gallon bucket per day.


Yes that is what I do only stat a little sooner that is all I do. But grain with lots of corn in it. And that really finishes off one very nice.


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## Dreamfarm (Dec 10, 2011)

Thank you. Very good to know. What state is this in? Just wondering if this is an average price or a lower than average price.


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## dbarjacres (Feb 2, 2004)

That's about average price for us here in WI.

MAKE SURE they give you your own meat back. Some don't.

Also, processors that package their own products and sell retail have higher prices than the small guys.


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## MO_cows (Aug 14, 2010)

Congrats! Glad you are enjoying the meat. 

800 pounds live weight at 18 months, I would have thought a Holstein would get bigger than that.


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## Awnry Abe (Mar 21, 2012)

That is almost exactly what we pay down here in west central MO for custom processing. The USDA inspected joints are a tad higher.


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## arnie (Apr 26, 2012)

I'v raised my own beef for years I have a brown swiss milk cow so far 4 of 5 calves have been bulls iv crossed her with an angus because he is here with my cousins beef cattle and convient free .at 10 months this year it was 750 pounds and dressed over 350 .tender and delishious , I tell the butcher 2 inch prime steaks the best roast the round steaks run through th cuber the rest hamburger.40 $ kill fee and 40 cents a pound hangingweight all vacume packed labled .buy keeping him up in the barn. Lot and shareing 1/2 the milk feeding hay grain the cow comes in from pasture right on time for milking I only ween him for about a month and fedd him extra well this baby beef tastes great the calf never has a worry of stresful day butchering at this young age holds down on the amount of purchased feed after weening this is plenty enough meat for me .I haven't bought chicken beef rabbit eggs or many veggies n years. Glad to be a homesteader


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## SSacres (Mar 13, 2011)

Thank you for posting this, we are raising our 1st Holstein steer and this gives me a good idea of what to expect.

Now to figure out how much freezer space is required


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## FarmerDavid (Jul 16, 2012)

CrownRanch said:


> That is almost exactly what we pay down here in west central MO for custom processing. The USDA inspected joints are a tad higher.


Would you mind me asking where you take yours? I've heard quite a few question if they get their own meat at our local packing plant.


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## Awnry Abe (Mar 21, 2012)

FarmerDavid said:


> Would you mind me asking where you take yours? I've heard quite a few question if they get their own meat at our local packing plant.


Hetherington's in Clinton, MO. Excellent meat processor. I also just picked up a hog from another meat processor that was part of a multi-family deal where I didn't get to pick the processor. They were in Holden, MO. They too were .45, but I noticed that they are raising their price to .54 starting 2/1. The first pork chop is in the fridge for tomorrow. I can't wait. It has been eons since I've had anything outside of bacon and ham.

Where is yours? I live in Cass County. I imagine I am due North of SW MO.


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## Awnry Abe (Mar 21, 2012)

SSacres said:


> Thank you for posting this, we are raising our 1st Holstein steer and this gives me a good idea of what to expect.
> 
> Now to figure out how much freezer space is required


YMMV based on the frame and weight. I bought a very large "commercial" upright freezer at a farm auction. I wish I knew how may CU FT to quote, but I really don't know. It is big, though. 

We had a huge 1400lb steer (hoof) that came home and didn't fit into a freezer that started empty. Fortunately, I had other nooks and crannies to stick things. He was 700+ lbs of meat. 285 of individual ground beef alone. And I opted for the "more roasts, less ground" choice on the cutting card. Our family couldn't eat that much in 2 years, let alone 1, so we gave a bunch away.


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## FarmerDavid (Jul 16, 2012)

CrownRanch said:


> Hetherington's in Clinton, MO. Excellent meat processor. I also just picked up a hog from another meat processor that was part of a multi-family deal where I didn't get to pick the processor. They were in Holden, MO. They too were .45, but I noticed that they are raising their price to .54 starting 2/1. The first pork chop is in the fridge for tomorrow. I can't wait. It has been eons since I've had anything outside of bacon and ham.
> 
> Where is yours? I live in Cass County. I imagine I am due North of SW MO.


Barton county, could always take a steer up and go to cooks auction.


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## collegeboundgal (Jul 17, 2005)

farmerdave, if that's to far north for you, the one most everyone around here uses Shrock's. run by a well known mennonite family in the buffalo, mo area. but you have to schedule a day months in advance, and they only do deer during deer season. last steer we had done the price was *I think* .42/lb +kill fee, but they were raising it to something like .50something?/lb. all clear vac wrapped, except the hamburger.

edit to add just looked up barton co. You're WAY west! lol. never mind.


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## WJMartin (Nov 2, 2011)

I just brought home meat from a 1200 lb. coming 3 yr.old heifer Holstein/Angus who wouldn't breed. I didn't feed her out but she was in very good condition, which may be why she wouldn't breed. She had enough fat cover to hang for two weeks. 

Live weight 1205 - Dressed weight 676 - Take home 437 - Cost $526.13. 

This is the first tiime we used this processer, meat looks good but he is high, .63 per lb. $40 kill. We had 1/2 of ground made into patties, extra 38.25 and he made up some cube steaks that we don't normally do 6.00. I really thought that I should have come home with more meat but she was built more dairy than beef.

Unfortunately I don't have much choice in processors.


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## FarmerDavid (Jul 16, 2012)

collegeboundgal said:


> farmerdave, if that's to far north for you, the one most everyone around here uses Shrock's. run by a well known mennonite family in the buffalo, mo area. but you have to schedule a day months in advance, and they only do deer during deer season. last steer we had done the price was *I think* .42/lb +kill fee, but they were raising it to something like .50something?/lb. all clear vac wrapped, except the hamburger.
> 
> edit to add just looked up barton co. You're WAY west! lol. never mind.


im not WAY west, i can throw a stone into dade county and ive got cows in both counties. Buffalo wouldnt be bad, the last one my inlaws had done was in Humansville, i think they were happy with it. Id rather drive aways to get a satisfactory end result. We have 2 local places ive just heard of lots of problems with getting someone elses meat.


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## bigmudder77 (Jun 9, 2008)

We have a 6 or 8 month old jersey that's pushing 600lbs were trying to push them pretty hard gonna try to make it to 18 months with them and see what we get 

But we have raised a lot of calves over the years we had 2 that didn't grow much and had a 2 year old jersey that was only 800lbs live weight and only got back like 380lbs of meat 

We usually just get regular cuts but we got 1 regular and one all ground beef its really really lean meat and we use ground beef way faster than all the other stuff so its a good thing we always raise 2 at a time some times 4 right now we got 12 we upped it this year we got some were selling


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## RockyRidgeFarms (Sep 5, 2012)

Man, you guys sure pay a lot less out East then here in Ca. We pay $75 for pigs and $105 for beef for kill out here. They do come out to the farm and take it back to the locker though. I'm not sure if your prices reflect that. The Holstein steer we just had done was 30months old, 100% grass fed and finished, went to the locker at nearly 700lbs hanging. Our going rate for butcher fees out here is .80/lb. One more reason to leave this state:hair!


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## steff bugielski (Nov 10, 2003)

Ironman said:


> All,
> 
> I have benefitted from reading and learning from all of you....I hope this is helpful to someone else.
> 
> ...



800lbs from an 18 month old seems like a small animal.
I raise up a Holstein bull calf every other year and typically slaughter at 10 months around 800 lbs. 350-400 lbs of meat. No feeding through the winter.


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## HDRider (Jul 21, 2011)

RockyRidgeFarms said:


> Man, you guys sure pay a lot less out East then here in Ca. We pay $75 for pigs and $105 for beef for kill out here. They do come out to the farm and take it back to the locker though. I'm not sure if your prices reflect that. The Holstein steer we just had done was 30months old, 100% grass fed and finished, went to the locker at nearly 700lbs hanging. Our going rate for butcher fees out here is .80/lb. One more reason to leave this state:hair!


Look in my area if you want to find cheap land and a lower cost of living.

Curious, how was the eating on that Holstein? No grain right?

Thanks


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## KnowOneSpecial (Sep 12, 2010)

SSacres said:


> Thank you for posting this, we are raising our 1st Holstein steer and this gives me a good idea of what to expect.
> 
> Now to figure out how much freezer space is required


I grass feed our Holsteins and they usually take a whole chest freezer. I always think it will be too much space, but nope. If ther eis extra space just fill double ziplock bags or milk jusgs with water and freeze them. That way the freezer doesn't work as hard and if the power goes out your beef is still frozen. 

That's about the price we pay for our butchering. Our butcher is great. I go to Church with some of the guys that work there. Gotta love it when one says, "Oh, you brought Tupac in last week. He went down nice and quick." 

We are on a farm that's "in town" and the town says we can't raise pigs. Our butcher makes his own cajun flavored bacon. He's picky about the pigs he'll turn into bacon and the bacon is at least a quarter inch thick. I still say there is nothing like a nice warm summer night with your own beef on the grill and burgers topped with good bacon to make it all right in the world!


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## WJMartin (Nov 2, 2011)

Just ate our first steak from this Holstein/Angus and I have to say it is the best steak I have had EVER. Don't know if it was the breed or processor but plan to use the same guy in the fall with a 2 yr.old Dexter steer. This is the first time after using three other guys that I know we got our own meat back, just might be worth the higher cost.


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## CunninghamGSDs (Jan 28, 2013)

Yes VERY HELPFUL! We are hoping to start our first calf this spring. We have never raised one before and the prospect of it is quite honestly a little scary. I appreciated seeing your numbers. I have been looking on Craigslist for a calf...not sure where to buy or what kind to buy or what age to buy.....I hear a lot of people talk about losing baby cows and so we are thinking a bucket calf rather than a bottle calf? Still in the researching/learning phase. Would love to hear more of your experience.
Thank you for the post.


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## BoldViolet (Feb 5, 2009)

dbarjacres said:


> MAKE SURE they give you your own meat back. Some don't.


For future reference, how do you guarantee this?


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## edmonds (Dec 19, 2008)

Just picked up my beef today. Dexter steer, 24 months old, 534 lb hanging weight, grass fed/fattened. Of course, we had steaks for dinner tonight. Just as good as last time. 

Here is breakdown of what we got:
170 lbs steaks, roasts, cube steak, stew meat, ground round
132 lbs hamburger meat
25 lbs short ribs (boney but very good if cooked right)
20 lbs soup & marrow bones (for making stock)

Expenses:
$300 processing (includes transportation)
$200 feed (we supplement pasture with hay & alfalfa cubes in winter)
$150 pasture maintenance (mainly diesel fuel)

If you exclude the soup bones, it comes out to $2.00 per lb


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## Horse Fork Farm (Jan 3, 2006)

Just bought our first calves this month. Both are Holstein crosses with a Hereford. Used our tax refund to buy a nice cow/calf pair of Charolais too. Hoping to keep our whole family in milk and meat. My problem will be learning how many I can keep on the property. Not sure how many it will support. A lot to learn!


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## Alaska (Jun 16, 2012)

Bum Steer came home last night.And boy were those ribeyes good!!
2 year old / 651lbs hanging weight
103 lbs ground beef
29 tenderized round steaks
24 ribeyes
10pkg of shortribs
12 pkg sirloin
10lbs boneless stew
2 large briskets
4 large pike peak roast
8 chuck roast
6 arm roast
14 soup bones
5 large pkg of fajita meat
4 rump roast
28 ny steaks
6 pkg tenderloin
We sold a 1/4 to our solar power guru and paid back a neighbor for a calf he gave us and Have one very full freezer. The ribeyes were very lightly marbled. No grain was ever fed and I am now a true believer. Grass fed all the way. Sirloin steak tonight!! Oh baby!


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## cnsper (Sep 6, 2012)

WJMartin said:


> I just brought home meat from a 1200 lb. coming 3 yr.old heifer Holstein/Angus who wouldn't breed. I didn't feed her out but she was in very good condition, which may be why she wouldn't breed. She had enough fat cover to hang for two weeks.
> 
> Live weight 1205 - Dressed weight 676 - Take home 437 - Cost $526.13.
> 
> ...


It was a little on the light side but it was 36% of live weight. Not that far off. Holstein also has a lot of weight in their bones. Larger breeds run in the 35-50% range on what you get back from the live weight. Smaller breeds will run in the 45-60% range.


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## arnie (Apr 26, 2012)

ALWAYS call ahead to make an appointment at the butcher shop around here they stay booked ahead months preticulary in the fall and early winter when most people want there livestock butcherd .


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## bajiay (Apr 8, 2008)

Most places do not give you back your own burger unless you specify it. Not ripping you off, just the way things are processed there. It's the norm. I didn't know that until I started working at a meat processing place last summer.


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## Karen in Alabam (Jul 21, 2010)

I don't see tongue or oysters on anyone's list, or ox tails.

Apparently in the south where we live--ox tails are sought after. So I same them for our friends--when I make soup--I want meat in it.

My husband said, he didn't want to eat the tongue--I told him too late!!

I minced it up in the stew--never knew it. I know some like it as a sandwich meat.

I also didn't see live on the lists--liver is excellent. I bring it to the church pot luck--and they all love it. Even my husband who wasn't too keen on it at first--especially when I tried to pass it off as barbecue. My sister had to think for a moment what it was--couldn't take the texture, then she wanted to hit me.

So now I just cook it with lots of onions and peppers.

We also take the bones--for the dogs.


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## Alaska (Jun 16, 2012)

Karen in Alabam said:


> I don't see tongue or oysters on anyone's list, or ox tails.
> 
> Apparently in the south where we live--ox tails are sought after. So I same them for our friends--when I make soup--I want meat in it.
> 
> ...


 We brought the the liver heart and oxtail home to share with our neighbors. The inspector did not like the look of the tongue.


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## Laura Workman (May 10, 2002)

Alaska said:


> The inspector did not like the look of the tongue.


Strange. What didn't he like?


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## bajiay (Apr 8, 2008)

My second day of work at the meat processor's, one of the guys decided to play a funny. It was kill day, and he brought me in a tongue and a heart that were still warm and put them in my hands really quickly without me realizing what they were. EWWWWW!!! Not much that wigs me out, but EWWWWWW!!!! I could have swore the heart was still beating it was so warm. YUCK!


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## Alaska (Jun 16, 2012)

Laura Jensen said:


> Strange. What didn't he like?


 something about parasites maybe , not really a straight answer from the butcher shop. 
Lord knows we cant question the authorities. The shop has a great reputation and so far I am happy with everything else.


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