It’s “easy” to choose the right foods, but it is getting a little spendy to eat right. Have you seen the price of Beef? Of course you have, Steak is kind of a distant memory for me right now. Good thing I like hamburger and know how to make a gazillion things with it. Nothing satisfies quite like Beef, in my book.
We are blessed with the ability to raise a beef steer on an 18 month rotation. We usually keep half, then sell the other two quarters, which cuts down on the cost. Grass fed, mostly; we have a pasture that we also rent out to dairy Heifers, so the steer is usually adopted by the ‘Mama Wanna-bee’s’ and they take good care of him all spring, summer and fall.
Getting him back into the barn for the winter is the hard part - he’s pretty wild and independent by then, though we make sure to visit him during the summer with a grain bucket. ;) He is fed grains and hay all winter. Usually heads for, ‘The Spa’ in March. Angus/Holstein mix. We get a deal on them from Farmer Dan who rents our pasture, but at market a beef steer is running up to $1K these days! (We get ours for $7-800) We’ll get the next steer calf come October.
This last steer ended up costing us about $4/pound for any and all cuts. Beau keeps meticulous records on this to make sure we’re still ahead of the curve.
Raising meat chickens is going to be our next adventure. Well, more for US than for THEM in the end, LOL!
Lean PORK is much cheaper than hamburger....HALF the price!