Cost of Raising and Slaughtering Your Own Beef Vs Store Bought
Thinking about raising your own beef? Zip beats the view of a few steers on pasture or a freezer total of your homegrown custom cut beef!
Raising your own beef takes time and money and will be the best beef you've ever had. Will raising your ain beef be worth it to you lot?
Raising your own feeder steer will cost you $iii.73 per pound of freezer ready meat. This is for a feeder steer purchased at 685 pounds and fed for 7 months on pasture. If you started a 500 pound feeder steer and kept it for a year, this beefiness would cost y'all $4.12 per pound of freezer ready beef.
I'll be figuring that you bought a couple of feeder steers, instead of have your own herd of cattle.
Since you are a beginner, it makes sense to start with a smaller project and build upwards when you lot get more familiar with cattle management.
If you want to become the breed cows and raise your own calves, super! The price to keep a cow per yr volition be figured out in exactly the same mode as the cost to go on a steer. Read on!
Beginner's Guide To Feed Costs For Beef Cattle shows you lot how to summate the hay budget for your herd.
Please note: While we get over the things you need to consider if y'all desire to enhance your own beef, I will be using the term steer through out the commodity.
Y'all tin can also raise a heifer for beefiness, of course. I find it to be less disruptive to apply steer equally the term for a dogie raised for meat, fifty-fifty if it is technically incorrect for anyone raising beefiness bound heifers.
| Cost to purchase a 685 pound steer (steer kept for grazing season only) | $856.25 |
| Days to feed steer upward to one,000 pounds | 210 days |
| Gain per mean solar day on provender (no grain) | ane.5 pounds per day |
| Total out of pocket costs for 685 pound steer kept for 7 calendar month grazing season simply | $856.25 |
| OR | |
| Cost to purchase a 500 pound steer (steer kept for eleven months, including winter feeding) | $700 each |
| Days to feed steer upward to one,000 pounds | 330 days |
| Proceeds per twenty-four hour period on all forages (grass and winter hay, no grain) | 1.5 pounds per twenty-four hour period |
| Hay needed for winter feeding | $323.twoscore (4 months) |
| Total out of pocket costs for 500 pound steer kept for 11 months (includes hay) | $ane,023.40 |
| Cost to butcher, per pound of meat Includes cutting, freezing and wrapping | $ane.74 |
| Cost to butcher, per pound of meat all vacuum sealed packages | $2.54 |
| Total cost per pound of meat | $3.73-4.12 |
Program where you are keeping steers
First off, you lot'll demand a place to keep your steers. What do you have available?
If you are going to exist planning/rotating your grazing, the pasture you accept will abound more grass and feed your cattle for a longer period of time.
This requires more effort on your part, just will pay you back in results.
Greg Judy has some excellent videos and information on grazing cattle. Cheque out this video, then watch more of them!
Rent pasture or open country for your steers
Renting a pasture is ever an selection, as long as it has an adequate fence. Be certain to add the rental costs to your budget.
Open country that is currently growing grass is more than of a claiming, but still doable. I'1000 figuring, you'll exist going with electrical fencing for this one. How volition you set up your fencing and how will you ability it?
Open land with no grass or other forage growing is going to be tough. This would be a field that was used for row crops, like corn or soybeans, last year. Avoid renting a bare, open up field similar this.
At that place volition be a lot of set piece of work before your cattle can fifty-fifty take 1 bite! Information technology'due south achievable, of course. It will have accept loads of piece of work for an uncertain effect. Go on looking effectually for other options.
Overgrown pastures are usable for cattle
Overgrown pastures are grazeable, as long as the debate is secure. Until the pasture is appropriately managed for a few years, the forage growth you'll see will exist less than a comparable well managed pasture.
It should come around in a few years. Be sure to figure this into your budgeting or make a longer term commitment, and then yous will all the same get to utilise the pasture once it's performance is up to par.
Right of ways need mowed, or grazed by cattle
Some other potentially disregarded grazing opportunity is correct of ways. We brand hay off of a right of way that they owner does non desire the electric company controlling with pesticides. Nosotros get the use of this land for costless.
Do you lot have an opportunity like this in your expanse? Drive effectually a bit and look with "fresh eyes" at what your area has to offering.
Your steers will demand to accept water
Don't forget to include water! While trucking in h2o is an option, it's non a good pick. Detect a different solution, or pass on an surface area with no water admission.
Determine how much forage will grow
Around here, northcentral Ohio, I would want two acres of productive pasture per head for summer grazing. This number is area specific, y'all'll definitely need to enquiry acres per steer for your location.
If the pasture isn't so keen, or the year is really dry out, I'd want more than land or programme to supplement with hay in the summer.
Check out your state agronomy guide to get an idea of the acreage you need to be looking for to support your cattle.
Determine how much land you need per steer
This is where you need the agronomy guide. Yous can get a hard copy for a fee or only look information technology upwards online for gratuitous. Either way, go familiar with this booklet.
For me, the easiest way to figure out how much your steer will need to eat is to use hay yields for the area.
Even if yous do not program to brand or feed any hay, hay yields are piece of cake to find numbers that yous tin can employ to plan your stocking rate.
Stocking rate is how many steers tin can your pasture support for the grazing flavour.
Generally speaking, your steers will swallow two% of their body weight per day. This is based on dry matter and believe it or not dry out hay is nevertheless x-12% moisture!
To make your calculations more than accurate, use the 2% and so add together another 10% to get the daily hay needs.
This is a link to the Academy of Nebraska-Lincoln commodity providing these forage consumption numbers, if you want to get more details.
Here is an case: if your steer weighs ane,000 pounds, he'll need to consume 22 pounds of hay or the equivalent amount of forage per day.
1,000 x ii%=20 pounds of hay ten 10% added for moisture=22 pounds total
Determine how much pasture you'll need per steer
Now that you know you need 22 pounds of hay or the grass equivalent per day per steer, yous tin can figure out how much pasture you'll need.
Take the 22 pounds per day x number of days grazing the steer x number of steers you are raising to get the amount of forage your cattle need to eat.
If you have 2 steers that you volition be raising for 6 months on pasture, your math will await like this:
22 pounds per mean solar day 10 ii steers=44 pounds per mean solar day
44 pounds of hay per day 10 180 days=7,920 pounds of hay
vii,920 divided past 2,000 pounds per ton=3.96 tons of hay (we'll use 4 tons)
To go along your two steers on pasture for 6 months, y'all'll need plenty area to provide the equivalent grazing for iv tons of hay.
Divide 4 by the hay production, in tons per acre. How many acres do you need?
Here's some other example: if your area's normal hay yield per acre is .v tons per acre, yous demand to accept four divided by .5=8 acres of pasture needed
I'yard sure you lot are thinking, the steers are going to be growing the whole summer, why is she using numbers for a nearly finished steer?
Two reasons:
- The pasture will be growing the least when your steers are the biggest, you'll want to have the grass in identify to feed them.
- In our experience, younger stock that is approaching a year old, seems to eat about as much as adults. I figure this is to have the extra energy for growth. Either way, they tend to eat more than you recall.
If you are willing and able to supplement your pasture with hay when the steers eat it down, these numbers are less of a concern.
If you lot need the pastured area to completely feed your steers, acuminate your pencil (an old phrase, for sure)! You need to spend some fourth dimension and figure this stuff out.
Have the area cattle prepare
If the area you will be using is non cattle ready, it will take some money and fourth dimension to get it up to par. Are yous willing and able to put up the cash and put in the fourth dimension?
All of the things you'll demand similar electrical fencing, a fence charger, water troughs are easily purchased and volition terminal for many years of utilize. But, you'll still demand to put out the cash at the commencement.
It will cost $856.25 to buy 685 pound feeder steer
You'll need to buy your steers, two so they volition exist pals.
Since we will exist keeping the feeder steer for the grazing months only, nosotros'll use mid April through mid Nov we demand a steer that can achieve ane,000 pounds in this vii month time frame.
You lot can get weaned calves in the autumn and go on them for a year, likewise. This is more common in my area, but involves keeping the steers over winter, which some people may non want to do.
Get 650-700 pound feeder steers
7 months is 210 days. Your steer will be able to gain ane.five pounds of weight per solar day (Agrilife Today article by Robert Burns, x/2014) on all he tin can eat grass.
Now we need to figure out how much each steer can gain in 210 days. Take the number of days you'll accept the steers and multiply by 1.5 pounds of gain per day.
1.5 x 210=315 pounds
At present have 1,000 steer you want to accept and subtract the proceeds you lot can get to come up with the weight of the steer you need to buy.
ane,000 pound finished steer – 315 pounds of gain=685 pound feeder steer needed
Using these numbers, yous'll need to buy 685 pound feeder steers.
Check the feeder steer prices
Look up the mid April market place report for the sale closest to you to go an idea of the price of a 685 pound feeder steer in April. Here is the Apr 17, 2019 Mt. Hope auction report listing feeder cattle as $lxx-142.50. This cost is per 100 pounds.
We'll say we paid $1.25 per pound for our steers, which would exist $856.25 per steer.
Recollect, all of these figures are completely customizable to your location and situation. I'm using numbers and grazing days that are likely for my area (Ohio).
Unless you live here, or pretty close, you lot'll desire to brand some adjustments. Change the figures to fit your expanse!
Information technology volition have 24-28 months to naturally heighten a steer for meat
If this number surprises y'all, spend some fourth dimension watching grazing videos and less time reading industrial ag type articles. We are non talking about feedlot style, high grain diets hither!
Grass raised beef takes fourth dimension. Taking over two years to get from newborn to finished is normal when your steer is eating biologically advisable foods, like forages.
Anyone getting steers to finish faster than 24-28 months is feeding grain to get faster gains.
Feeding grain volition brand the steer grow faster
Your steers do non demand grain, always. Nonetheless, I feel obligated to mention that feeding grain will brand them gain faster.
Grain comes with potential problems, similar digestive disturbances and lowering the health benefits of the beef, specifically messing upwardly the natural Omega 3 to Omega half-dozen fat residue and reducing the amount of CLA. Healthline: Grass-Fed vs. Grain-Fed Beef, by Kris Gunnars
Possibly y'all are wondering: since I'chiliad non a fan of giving cattle grain, why even mention grain, at all? That's like shooting fish in a barrel, I feel that you have the right to make your own decisions. It's my job to provide information, non to tell you what to practice.
I am likewise aware that grain can brand upward for a shortage of pasture. To me, if you have to feed a fleck of grain in lodge to raise your own meat, I would rather you feed the grain than skip this opportunity.
I would rather see you take the take chances of raising your ain beef, even if things aren't perfect this year, and refine your process and management as you lot get.
Hay for ii steers is $646.80-980.00
If you are going to go along your steers for the grazing season only, you can skip this department or read it for information only. You lot won't need to buy hay for your steers unless y'all are keeping them for the winter.
You lot may prefer to continue your steer for a longer period of time than just the grazing flavour. If then, yous'll need to figure out winter hay.
Around here it is more common for people to have a steer or two butchered in the fall then become the next autumn's steers right abroad.
These folks are raising steers 11+ months of the year, depending upon when they go the new ones after they clean out the befouled.
1st Or second Cutting Hay shows y'all the easy things to look for to decide if the hay you are because buying will work for you lot and your herd.
Check the prices for your area for both the feeders and hay to run into how these prices will shake out for y'all.
You'll find the prices of the fall purchased feeders the same as always, in an auction market report. We'll do an instance of autumn purchased feeder steers in the next section.
The hay you need for winter feeding can be purchased and delivered to yous. You'll need betwixt 2.6-4 tons for ii steers. 2.6 tons is for a 4 calendar month hay feeding flavor, 4 tons if for a half-dozen month hay feeding flavour.
Currently, a dainty load of adept hay for my surface area would cost around $245 per ton. That is small square bales delivered inside x miles of the auction. If yous alive farther than 10 miles, you lot pay the difference.
Using $245 per ton, your steers would need $980 worth of hay for the wintertime or non grazing seasons totaling six months.
If you are figuring your hay needs to be more than like 4 months, you lot volition need 2.64 tons for your steers.
44 pounds per day x 120 days=5,280 divided by 2,000=2.64 tons of hay
Ownership the same hay equally above, this would cost you $646.80 for the winter's worth of hay.
2.64 tons of hay x $245 per ton=$6.46.eighty
Hay sale prices vary by week and demand
I have to acknowledge, to me these costs look loftier. Yet, they are what I would accept to pay to get good hay here this calendar week.
It is important to call up, at an auction some people demand hay at present, others accept some time and will just purchase if the cost is right (to them).
Get a few buyers at the same auction that are all out of hay and need information technology today and the sellers volition be glad they brought a load of hay!
This is a groovy fourth dimension to betoken out that shopping early on gives y'all more choices. If it were me, I would await around a bit more and meet if this was a high calendar week or the going price for the year.
Utilise online listings to source hay
In our surface area, at that place are a few weekly hay auctions that generally provide a expert array of hay types and load sizes for you to choose from. If you are not in an expanse that has an sale, wait online.
If any locals have hay for auction, it will be listed online. If you lot can't find annihilation online, inquire around at the local farm shop.
Every bit far as prices go, look up the marketplace report for your local area, or equally close equally you lot can become. This will requite you an idea of the going rate for hay near you.
Realize that smaller loads and higher quality hay will sell for more per bale than larger loads or lower quality hay.
I always await on the Subcontract and Dairy page, Ohio Grain and Livestock Markets for the current prices.
Even if you do non live in or nigh Ohio, check out this list. Information technology will give you an idea of what you are looking to notice for your area.
Fall purchased feeder steers cost $700 each
To get the cost of a fall purchased feeder steer await at your market report for the month you plan to buy your steers. I'll say November for this example.
Using this Mt. Hope Auction report for a stock cow and feeder auction on September 28, 2020, feeder steers are selling for $115.00-157.50, heifers are $100.00-137.50 and dairy feeders are $eighty-87.50, all for feeders in the 400-600 pound range.
Using these numbers, we'll say we paid $1.40 per pound ($140.00 per hundred weight) for two beef steers that are 500 pounds. These ii steers will cost $700 each.
How did I come with needing a 500 pound steer?
Since we can await ane.5 pounds of proceeds per day, take the time you program to keep the steers in days and multiply past ane.5.
For this example nosotros are keeping the steers for xi months. eleven x 30=330 days
330 days 10 1.five pounds of gain per day=495 pounds of gain that we can put on these steers over the next 11 months.
Take one,000 pounds (your target finishing weight) -495 pounds=505 pound feeder that yous would need to purchase
Nosotros purchased a pair of 500 pounders for $700 each.
If we had purchased heifers to feed out, they would be more like $500 each and a dairy steer would be $400. Both of these options will piece of work, but not quite every bit well. If you have the choice, get the beefiness steers.
Included steer feed costs are hay and table salt blocks
All I have included in this feed budget is the cost of hay and salt blocks. If y'all are ownership more than this for your steers, add your other items in, as well.
I know at that place is some disagreement as to what should be included in your budget and what you don't put it. I get out out the things that will vary for you and your situation.
7 Tips To Assist You Choose Loftier Quality Hay will give you an idea of how to evaluate the hay you are planning to buy to brand certain you become your coin's worth!
Not included are things similar country rent, electricity, buying fence, barn space or any fourth dimension spent with the cattle
As mentioned higher up, if you need to rent land, buy fencing materials, etc. you lot'll demand to figure those items into your costs. Same is true for your fourth dimension.
I go out them out considering these costs can be budget crushingly loftier or nil. Non to mention, how can I possibly tell you what your time is worth? Only you know that!
You should be aware that if you lot take none of the needed items, no pasture, no fencing, no barn space, your costs the first year are going to be sky high.
All of the things you'll need to buy will last for many years (except for the land rent) but even so have to be paid for up front.
The need to pay for everything that you lot don't have at the showtime is the biggest hurdle to raising beef. Don't let this scare you off, merely know that you lot'll need to spend some money to get started.
The expert news is that your first twelvemonth with cattle will be your most expensive by far.
The bad news is you still have to coughing up the greenbacks at the start. Be fix for these expenses and accept them factored into your budget.
How Far Can You Run An Electric Contend? goes over the unlike types of debate you may want to put upwards for your cattle and helps you lot figure out which analeptic to get so y'all'll have the power to keep your cattle where you lot put them!
You will get 430 pounds of beef
When you put your steer in the freezer, you will become an average of 430 pounds of beef.
Average is the cardinal give-and-take here. The amount of meat you lot really end up with in the freezer will depend upon the genetics and size of the steer you had processed and the specific cuts you lot take in your custom cut order.
Employ beef breed genetics
If you want to get the most meat per steer, utilize smaller framed beef breed genetics.
I have to admit, nosotros employ dairy cross cattle and similar what we get. While we know that the cattle would be meatier with 100% beef genetics, we have some dairy cows that we utilise every bit brood cows and it works for the states.
For example, we had a Jersey Angus cross steer that we raised on 100% grass that was beautiful. Well grown, plenty of fatty cover, really a super creature, just it wasn't quick. He was ii.v years erstwhile or then. It's doable, it but takes time.
If you lot desire the nigh "bang for your buck" choose a beef steer. If you lot are in a part of the country where dairy or dairy cross are easier to come by, go 1!
1,000 pound finishing weight steer
The 430 pounds of meat is based on a well finished 1,000 pound steer. If you have a smaller steer or one that is not as filled out, you'll get less meat. Processing a smaller steer is not a trouble, as long every bit he is well finished.
Past finished, I hateful has a fat covering nether the skin. This fat indicates fat through the muscle, chosen marbling. Marbling is what makes beef juicy and flavorful. We definitely want that fat layer!
How can you tell if your steer is finished? Look at his chest, betwixt his front legs. Is the expanse filled out or is it just flapping peel? Filled out means fat, just a skin flap ways he needs more time to grow.
Another place to cheque is at the tailhead. If you see 3 rolls of fat on the side of the tailhead, he's looking great and will have wonderful marbling. If you don't see the fat rolls, he needs more time to put on weight.
Remember, the concluding few months of growing is when your steer will put on the fat and marbling. A first he is putting on frame, finish comes last. To have great tasting beef, wait for the finish!
The butchering costs will be $1.74 per pound of beef
You'll have to call around to become specific prices for your area. These are the prices that I could come with.
| Kill accuse | $90 |
| Butcher'due south choice cut and wrap | $1.00 per pound (hot carcass weight) |
| Custom cutting and wrap | $1.10 per pound (hot carcass weight) |
| Patty making (50 pound minimum) | $1.00 per pound (meat weight) |
| Vacuum sealing | $0.fourscore per pound (meat weight) |
Here is a link to the pricing folio of Sunnyside Meats of Colorado. Be sure to check this page out, information technology is simple and informative and where I got the numbers for the chart above.
When you lot are pricing your steer, remember that hot carcass or hanging weight is dissimilar than the weight of the packaged freezer ready meat.
If this is the first time you lot accept considered getting your own beef processed, you need to read by article Cost To Butcher Your Ain Beefiness before you go whatever farther!
In this article I explain some of the terms and how costs are figured, in addition to how much meat you tin can expect to become.
Full cost per pound of beefiness is $iii.73
Now, we are starting to go somewhere! Accept your cost of your steer + hay (if you needed it) and add this to the butchering costs. Let me evidence you the math.
Your steer cost $856.25. Separate by 430=$ane.99 per pound, which is the price of raising the steer per pound of meat
Now take the raising cost of $1.99 + $one.74 butchering cost per pound of meat=$3.73 per pound of freezer ready meat.
If y'all decided to get the smaller steer and proceed it over the winter your costs would be $one,023.forty for the steer and the hay. Carve up by 430 =$2.38 to raise the steer per pound of meat.
Take this cost to enhance per pound of $2.38 + $1.74 butchering price per pound to get $4.12 per pound of freezer set meat.
You lot can get to these numbers in unlike ways. Do the figuring in the mode that makes sense to you lot.
No matter how you do the math, make sure you are always comparing to the cost per pound of freezer set meat. (An piece of cake fault to make here is to overlook something similar prices being listed in hanging weight.)
It is not always cheaper to heighten your ain beef
Hopefully, yous have washed some of the math that was in the earlier role of this article. How did your numbers plow out?
This is the part of the article where my ability to help y'all is limited. You demand to do the calculations yourself. You don't accept to be verbal, but make some guesstimations and see what shakes out.
Too, bank check around online for locally raised beef. I typed in "locally raised beefiness Ohio" and got quite a few expert results.
What are the folks in your area charging for great beef?
It could exist that by the fourth dimension you factor in all of the costs in getting and raising the steers including butchering costs, especially if your pastures are not cattle ready, you would be just besides off to buy from someone else.
Effectually here, almost places that raise beef are sold out, simply I could find a pricing list for White Clover Farm of Cincinnati.
White Clover Farm has a whole beef for $iv.85 per pound hanging weight. This is around $3,000 for effectually 455 pounds of meat.
These numbers are based on information from the pricing folio of their site linked in a higher place and will vary a bit with the custom cut order.
This would be $six.59 per pound of freezer ready vacuum sealed beefiness.
Remember off of that $6.59 comes your butchering costs of $2.54 per pound, since this meat is vacuum sealed. ($ii.54 comes from this article on butchering costs)
To effigy out your costs that are non butchering related, you'll need to have $6.59-$2.54=$4.05. $4.05 is the cost per pound of meat to raise the steer to butchering age without the processing costs.
(We take out the processing costs since they are going to exist similar for you and the farmer who raises beef for customers.)
Multiply $iv.05 past 455 (the average pounds of meat you lot'll go from this farm). That totals out to $1,842.75 to purchase and raise your steer to match this farm's prices.
$four.05 per pound of meat 10 455 pounds=$1,842.75
Using our numbers above, we tin buy a feeder steer for $856.25 and go on it for 7 months eating pasture.
The difference in price betwixt the purchased steer and your home raised steer is $986.50. If you lot decided to buy beef from this farm, y'all would be paying the subcontract $986.fifty to raise your steer for you.
$1,842.75-856.50=$986.50
The simply difference betwixt these ii numbers is time, yours or the time of the farmer with beef for auction.
Are you willing to do the piece of work of raising a steer for $986.50? Or would you lot rather pay someone else to practise the work for y'all?
Delight take a few minutes to look online at what yous tin get in your surface area. These prices and figures use to my expanse, this year. You need to know the scoop for your expanse.
Can you lot do it for less, or would it make more sense to buy from a local subcontract? In my area, I am better off to raise my own beefiness. How does this milkshake out for yous?
If you lot decide to guild from someone else, order early on! This yr, farms sold out actually early on because of record demand. For anyone looking to start a side business, this is an opportunity!
Home raised, loftier quality grass raised beef is a bargain
For me, habitation raised beef is a bargain.
I can definitely raise some amazing beef for the $1,842.75 that I would be paying someone else to raise my steer instead of doing the piece of work myself.
I tin can confidently say that it is improve for me to raise my ain beefiness because I have done the math and know my costs.
If you take read forth, but not done any figuring yet (I know this is a possibility because I'm not a numbers person, either), get cracking on that math! Figuring up your costs is the only way you can get an thought of what to expect!
Retrieve, the butchering costs are going to be the same for you and the farm that raises beefiness to sell.
You are just looking at the rest of the costs of the meat and because how much is your time and effort worth to you lot.
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Source: https://familyfarmlivestock.com/is-raising-your-own-beef-worth-it/
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