Posted on 12/17/2014 10:49:54 AM PST by C19fan
The average price of a pound of ground beef climbed to another record high -- $4.201 per pound -- in the United States in November, according to data released today by the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS).
In August 2014, the average price for a pound of all types of ground beef topped $4 for the first time, hitting $4.013, according to the BLS. In September, the average price jumped to $4.096 per pound, and in October, the average price climbed to $4.154 per pound. In November, the average price hit the highest price ever recorded -- $4.201 per pound.
(Excerpt) Read more at cnsnews.com ...
As I recall, hamburger meat was going for $1.99/lb. some time back because farmers were cutting back on herds because of feed had gone up due to drought conditions.
Ground meats have no outside surface, and if the butcher took a roast or other cut of meat and ground it up before sanitizing it, the outside is now on the inside contaminating all of it.
If you want some good safe burger, just buy a cheap roast, rinse if off, cut it into cubes and throw it into the food processor. If it's too dry, throw in a little lard or bacon fat.
Now, cook it as rare as you want.
How much is a pound of ground meat in Russia?
I got USDA Prime Rib Eye, the entire primal, for $9.99 a pound two days ago at Costco. I’m going to carve at least 8 12 ounce steaks off it, vacuum seal them for the freezer, and still have a very nice sized roast for Christmas.
I don’t think I’ve ever heard anyone say that before-since I’m from a ranch family, free range livestock is what there was/is. I like the taste of free range/grass fed meat-the feedlot stuff tastes like Styrofoam to me-no taste at all, and I like to know what my food has been eating-don’t want drugs and stuff in my body, not even second hand...
I’m glad to see I’m not the only one here who insists on following a natural diet of non-processed food...
Yup ! They couldn't afford the feed expenses, and there was a glut on the market.
Normal bales of feed going for $45 were up to $265.oo each ; feed was being shipped out of the NorthEast and truckers were making money, bigtime !
Now, they are trying to rebuild their herds to answer demand.
It's sorta like the oil market : feast (cheap) or famine (more expensive) while they rebuild.
I have a cousin in Arkansas that buys a calf about every 1 1/2 years to raise and have butchered. Even he feeds out his beef before he kills them. There are a lot of people who don’t like the taste of grass fed.
Yeah, we can't get fresh seafood like you, though. I miss being able buy seafood straight off the boat, or cast netting dinner after work.
We put out hay bales in feeders for cattle when fresh grass/hay and other and other feed crops are more scarce-in hard winter and in dry summers, but they are not fed a lot of dried grain, and not chemical-laced food to artificially fatten them. Confining cattle in a feed lot and giving them grain with chemicals is done in big cattle operations, and sold in supermarket chains and such.
You know I’m not stupid. I know how it’s all done. I’ve have rancher friends and have had grass fed beef. I dont like the taste. That’s all I was saying. Eat all the grass fed you want. I’ll eat grain fed.
apparently the prices are changing so fast it is probably better not to have a price tag
Sheana has a point. Many ranchers are having quite a chuckle over consumers rushing to pay so much for sage/grass-fed beef that’s been vaccinated like all the rest. They get paid more than ever without the cost of finishing cattle with grain. The grain is only a mix, sometimes with tasty stuff like molasses added for palatability.
I don’t know of any harmful chemicals that haven’t been neutralized in grains. Chances are, most consumers avoiding finished cattle because of concerns about grains are directly eating whatever comes in grains for direct human consumption anyway. A few silo operators in temperate climates sometimes put a little diatomaceous earth in around silo accesses to stop bugs, but that stuff’s edible and good for us.
I learned to farm in school and on farms, so talking to ranchers is great for laughs (school teachers, retired corporate/government administrators, all). IMO, sage/grass-fed beef has less taste and tenderness than finished beef, but agreed on conditions in the more crowded feed lots being ugly. I didn’t work in any crowded feed lots, though. Something else to think about, though. With the current dry conditions in the West, range cattle aren’t eating well. There are very few real ranches, too. Most cattle referred to as ranch cattle are actually fenced in but poorly fed (foxtail barley, yarrow with its chemicals, and all kinds of other baddies).
The real topic of the post, though, is that of the artificial scarcity that we’re seeing. It will probably get much worse. There is one great thing about many of those (not all) producing so-called organic stuff (all life being organic). They are working for people. Remember this: permaculture, environmentalism as we’ve seen it—not the same thing. Environmentalists work as political fronts for establishment interests. They’re phonies and always have been.
The leaders in permaculture and open source equipment are truly trying to save the world with a less centralized, more distributed and more secure economic environment. And most of them are fine with feeding grain to cattle, feeding table scraps to chickens and the like. They’re in favor of many more people producing more in smaller spaces. The establishment, as it is (big government, big corporates, state governments, local governments, NIMBYs, socialists, all), has been regulating against us for the purpose of maintaining monopolies and artificial scarcity.
“They get paid more than ever without the cost of finishing cattle with grain. The grain is only a mix, sometimes with tasty stuff like molasses added for palatability.”
Most likely it contains the residuals from alcohol production for the vehicle fuel market.
It’s just another of those......I’m not eating all that harmful crap that the rest of you are eating things. I don’t shop at Whole Foods either. Lol I’ll keep my Harris Ranch Beef. It tastes really good. ;)
If we had land I’d raise a calf to kill. I would feed him out first though.
I think we may be comparing apples and oranges here-the ranches/farms in this part of the state are mostly a combination of the two, and more small self sustaining businesses rather than big business ventures. I hope that is not what you think is laughable, since people in this state have been at it since Texas was Spanish territory-several hundred years...
Most have more chickens, goats sheep and even pigs as livestock than cattle, all free ranged-for my family, it is more goats and sheep, same as the Basque ancestors who came from the Spanish Pyrenees a few centuries ago...
This isn’t “the West”, strictly speaking-it is the Southwest. I know nothing about ranching operations in the West, large or otherwise, and the only NIMBYs around here don’t stay long-they move back to the cities because they can’t handle the lack of conveniences, HOAs or manicured lawns for more than a year or two-and good riddance-let someone buy the land who knows how to keep it both natural and productive...
I suppose I was raised to be part of the permaculture, although we just say we believe in the sensible conservation of natural resources-starting with water-and a natural diet. I hunt when I get the offer of a place to do so, just like everyone else, I grow my own veggies and herbs, and as soon as I have enough land, I’ll get chickens and a few goats. Eggs and goat’s milk products-cheese, milk, yogurt and soap-are fine for sale or barter, along with veggies and herbs. I call it going Galt, redneck style...
The grass in pastures is a mixture of native and naturalized stuff-everything from Johnson grass to Costal and everything in between, supplemented by bagged stuff and hay in hard weather. Properties are well fenced, unless you want to end up in a legal battle over livestock and damages to your neighbors’ property.
Barley of any kind doesn’t grow here-Yarrow is native here but grows in woods, not grass pastures and is also planted as an ornamental plant and medicinal herb-I have both the white and the yellow yarrow as an herb and garden flower.
The plants that would be bad for cattle are things like datura, hemlock, etc, but those are usually choked out by grass, or pulled up by the pasture owner-a cow won’t eat them more than once because it will likely kill them-Longhorns and Brahmas are smarter than most of the fancier beef cattle-and they thrive better in our hot summers and on what nature offers to eat, too...
I still don’t like feedlot meat-it is too fat, and tasteless to me-it is all a matter of individual preference.
That is another difference-cattle are normally kept in groups or herds, rather than purchased singly-you get some heifers and/or calves and either get your own bull or-if you only have a few cows, pay for stud from a neighbor’s bull. Then when the calves are born, you raise them and sell them, if you want-but either way, you keep one or two to slaughter for your own freezer. When the cows are ready to breed again, you lather, rinse, repeat-livestock is a renewable resource that PETA hates...
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.