Price of meat almost doubled here...do you folks have a meat processor nearby?

[Doofy]

We have a small USDA inspected slaughterhouse not far away, but it is running as hard as possible to keep the local markets stocked. There are a couple mobile slaughter operations that will coordinate with butchers to get your cows and pigs done, but they are not set up to shave hogs. They'll take the head and hide as partial payment, but I like to smoke the jowls along with the hams and sides. If you have a front loader or a couple buddies and an old metal bathtub you can build a fire under, you might take care of slaughtering a hog yourself, then haul it to the butcher to get cut and wrapped or cured and smoked. Getting rid of the offal is the only real problem.

Homegrown pork can really be premium, since a pig tastes like what it has been eating. A few years back I cleaned out an oak grove by pasturing pigs and goats in it. For two weeks, the pigs quit coming to the trough. All I could hear was crunching, I suppose acorns and snails. They did a great job cleaning things out, but pigs on mast are strong flavored. I finished them in the fall, on apples, garden vegetables, corn, and junk milk. The flavor was wonderful!

Best tasting pork I ever raised was fed restaurant scraps, boiled barley and a ton of outdated baby formula. You could almost hear them grow.

 

[TnAndy]

And there are always catfish here to pick from.....feeding time at one of my ponds:

 

[kenmac]

I just fertilized all my cow pastures so I am going to see what happens , I should be able to put some weight on the whole herd as long as we get a little rain along and along, we will see what happens by the fall. I always try to be hopeful but I have been hopeful for quite a few years and my cow operation is no longer paying for itself, my hobby has gotten expensive.

I just reseeded all my pastures. Rented a seed drill and purchases all the seed right before all this hit

I guess If you are looking at it as a hobby, what hobby isn't expensive ? Ie, fishing, golfing, racing, etc,etc, LOL

I hope there are brighter days ahead. If not, I'll just close down the business venture with cows and rent my fields for hay cutting

 

[Molalla1]

And there are always catfish here to pick from.....feeding time at one of my ponds:

:thumbsup: . . . . .

 

[/pine]

The only issue with "fed" fish is they usually taste like what they are fed...The main reason I do not feed the trout here...you can even change the color of their flesh with the fish food...I can make rainbow trout meat look like salmon but it still tastes like fish food...
We much prefer the taste of the trout that feed naturally...

 

[Molalla1]

Let them go el'natural . . . . :drink:

 

[Doofy]

Cicadas are due to hatch after their 17 year snooze. They would make excellent catfish food.

 

[/pine]

Cicadas are due to hatch after their 17 year snooze. They would make excellent catfish food.

Beware the "skill saw bugs"...They will fly right into the spinning blades of circular saws...

I once had some 1/2 oz. fiberglass mat spread out on an outdoor work bench when a cicada being chased by a bluejay landed in the middle of the yard wide mat...the bluejay followed it and right in front of me was a melee that ended up in a fiberglass "birdsnest" wad... ruining a large section the mat...I had to free the jay's claws from the tangle with the cicada just an aftertaste in the jay's throat..! it's something I will never forget...!

 

[Lineman North Florida]

I just reseeded all my pastures. Rented a seed drill and purchases all the seed right before all this hit

I guess If you are looking at it as a hobby, what hobby isn't expensive ? Ie, fishing, golfing, racing, etc,etc, LOL

I hope there are brighter days ahead. If not, I'll just close down the business venture with cows and rent my fields for hay cutting

I guess it's more of a tradition or a habit than anything, my granddaddy had cows on this place, my daddy had cows on this place and I have always kept cows on this place , I had hoped my boys would follow that road as well, but I don't push them to do it, it will have to be their choice , I have 1 hay field and have also thought about putting it all in hay, then I could fight more army worms.

 

[Larry Caldwell]

That's dirt cheap. Someone's taking a loss.

That's pretty typical meat prices. Nobody is taking a loss but Smithfield and Tyson, who ruthlessly overcharge. My boneless pork ribs were $1.97. I have never seen chicken hindquarters for $0.39/lb, but $0.49/lb comes around a couple times a year. We boil them up for home made dog food, which is way cheaper than the commercially manufactured stuff. I have a freezer full of $1.97/lb NY steaks and $2.97/lb boneless ribeyes that would cost more nowadays, but last year those prices popped up all the time. The market sells beef in the bag. You pick the 20 lb. cut you want, take it to the butcher to slice it into inch thick steaks, then take it home to vacuum seal and freeze. You have to be ready to spend $40 to $80 at a time on meat, but you can eat real good for cheap if you do. The end pieces that are not a uniform steak thickness make great Philly cheese steak sandwiches.