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Homekill beef - is it worth it?

We got another steer killed a few weeks ago now, and I weighed all the cuts of meat so that I could work out the approximate value of the meat and compare the cost of raising a steer to the cost of buying all the meat from the butcher.   My article has been published on the Farm Style website, which is a FREE online community for small and hobby farmers to learn everything about farming and country living.



If you want to know more, head over the Farm Style to read the the article and then come back here for comments and questions.  Do you raise steers?  Is it worth it?  Do you have any questions?

More about our home butchering here.

  The Self Sufficient HomeAcre  monday's homestead barn hop

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Comments

  1. Horst in EdmontonAugust 14, 2013 at 8:55 AM

    Yes I do think it's worth doing the kill yourself and then cutting up the carcass.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Barb.August 14, 2013 at 9:04 AM

    We grow and process our own too. Son is a butcher so that comes in handy when it's time to do the cutting up. Either him or my husband do the kill. Quick and stressfree. I like that I know the animals are well looked after and fully grass fed.

    Barb.

    ReplyDelete
  3. AnonymousAugust 14, 2013 at 1:13 PM

    BOO WHO. GRANNY USA.

    IT'S LATE SO I'LL CHECK OUT YOUR BLOG TOMORROW. I BET YOU HAVE ALOT TO OFFER ON HERE.I DO HOPE YOUR HOUSE IS COMING ALONG. SLEEP WELL AND GOOD NIGHT.

    GRANNY USA

    ReplyDelete
  4. city garden country gardenAugust 14, 2013 at 4:51 PM

    Great article Liz. I thought you were actually being very conservative with your price estimates. To buy high quality grass-fed beef that's been treated as well as I'm sure your steers have been, is much more expensive per kg at farmers markets, so you're probably saving even more money by comparison to that market. Not sure what I'd do with 40kg of sausages though, that would last for years in our house!

    ReplyDelete
  5. UnknownAugust 14, 2013 at 5:18 PM

    That was a well written article. Im sure it would be invaluable for someone considering on whether it was worth keeping cattle. That is an awful lot of meat in the freezer. Tell me, do you have a geni on stand by in case of power outage? I sure wouldnt want to lose it.

    I have many memories of coming home from school to find my Mum with half a carcass on the big family table and a meat cleaver raised above her head before coming down onto the big block with a thud. You soon learn to respect your Mum when you see her doing stuff like this. I dont think my son will have the same appreciation though he did just expect me to lug a 25kg bag of seed to the backyard. On one hand its a compliment because he knows his Mum can do that but on the other hand he should be offering. So confusing these days.....

    ReplyDelete
  6. SandraAugust 14, 2013 at 9:53 PM

    We have raised our own steers for many years. We buy calves from a neighbor and raise them on grass.
    We do not butcher them ourselves.
    We have figured out the cost and it is definitely cheaper to raise our own, especially comparing the cost to organic, grass fed beef.

    ReplyDelete
  7. MishiAugust 14, 2013 at 10:49 PM

    Thanks for the price breakdown! It's something we'd like to do eventually, and this (plus the other posts like the ones about tanning) make it seem both doable and worthwhile.

    ReplyDelete
  8. thingsforboysAugust 15, 2013 at 1:23 PM

    Liz, everything you blog about is so interesting! Now I have a craving for curried sausages!

    ReplyDelete
  9. Lucy HouseAugust 18, 2013 at 5:17 PM

    Good article Liz. Another bonus of doing your own is that you have total control of all the inputs. I love the way you've broken up the cuts. We never bother to do that but it's really interesting to see. I love good sausages!

    ReplyDelete
  10. AnonymousAugust 22, 2013 at 10:10 AM

    Good analysis. Thanks for sharing!

    Please join us again Thursday at:
    The HomeAcre Hop

    ~Ann

    ReplyDelete
  11. MichelleAugust 28, 2013 at 6:47 PM

    What breed of cattle do you have? Have you done much research on taste of different breeds?

    ReplyDelete

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Thanks, I appreciate all your comments, suggestions and questions, but I don't always get time to reply right away. If you need me to reply personally to a question, please leave your email address in the comment or in your profile, or email me directly on eight.acres.liz at gmail.com

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