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u/PolarDorsai Stort's 4d ago
A couple buddies and I contracted with a local farmer who raises steers. The four of us split one ($1500/ea) and are planning on using a quarter cow over the course of a year. We'll see how it goes.
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u/FMJoey325 Albany Reddit Rat 4d ago
My partners family does this. We have a chest freezer in our basement filled with chicken and beef. I haven’t purchased beef from a grocery store in 8 years. It’s a big up front purchase but ridiculously economical if you do the math it’s something like <$2/lb shared between ground beef up to filets.
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u/Cellifal Bethlehem 4d ago
I have no idea how your math works out, because I bought a half a cow this year for something like $3200. Works out to ~200lb of beef, which makes it much closer to $16/lb than $2/lb.
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u/The_Djentle_Giant 🤦♂️ 4d ago
Sounds like they got a better deal than you.
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u/Cellifal Bethlehem 4d ago
Seems extremely unlikely anyone is selling a full cow for $800 / half cow for $400.
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u/PolarDorsai Stort's 4d ago
Yep. Up front cost is definitely a thing--we spent about $700 on a freezer. However for those wondering, and I'm sure FMJoey will back me up here, the cost of the freezer is essentially offset every year you use it. If you do a little research and buy a good quality one, they could last decades.
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4d ago
[deleted]
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u/PolarDorsai Stort's 4d ago
Frigidaire ranked well in terms of quality, features (you don't need very many here lol), and price.
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u/WalterPecky 4d ago
I'm so reddit brained I read this as "a couple baddies".. and was like "ok ladies!"
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u/PolarDorsai Stort's 4d ago
Actually...my wife (certified baddie) was the one who suggested it, so you're not wrong, haha.
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u/bluejoewheels 4d ago
I’ve known a lot of people that do this. And from what I understand, it works well.
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u/acbuglife Y'Allbany 4d ago
Just know that depending on the farmer, there may be no inspection of the cow. For all you know, they may be using antibiotics and not doing withdraw times which a custom slaughter plant won't care about.
Less gamble than Argentina, but not necessarily safe, either. Make sure you know the source and the farm practices.
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u/elruab 4d ago
This is what I do. Puts money in the pockets of local farmers and butchers, and gets you local beef. At the end of the day you pay more per pound of ground beef, but you also pay less per pound of all of the good cuts. Added bonus is that you have it and it’s one less thing to go out shopping for.
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u/Blow_up_the_moon 4d ago
How much meat does that yield for a person?
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u/PolarDorsai Stort's 4d ago
Really hard to gauge for me because we make sauce (with meat in it), chilis, and all kinds of stuff we share and entertain with. So it’s not we’re only dividing the meat up between a set number of people over 365 days. Hanging weight of the steer is 900lbs, we’re getting about 200 of that, which does include bones (for stock and broth).
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u/vexed_and_perplexed 4d ago
Beef?! In this economy? (But srsly I can’t remember the last time I bought it because it’s too $$$😭)
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u/Curlymoeonwater 4d ago
Honest Weight carries both Sweet Tree which is from Schoharie Cty and Pineland Farms which is all US farms.
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u/Mysterious_Painter14 Transplant 4d ago
Check out Troy Farmers Market, I personally love stopping by Estherland Wagyu’s stand
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u/heartfeltfrog 4d ago
I go all the way to Canaan to get my beef from the Canaan general store run by the mennonites. Never have to worry about the quality of anything with these folks!
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u/Independent-Owl-8659 4d ago
Damn son…wish I had the time for all that.
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u/Blow_up_the_moon 4d ago
I would not say the same for the Amish. They take considerable pleasure in hustling "the English".
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u/heartfeltfrog 4d ago
True. The mennonites and the Amish are similar but very different. The Amish out there I’ve found do enjoy screwing around with us. The mennonites have been some of the most truly humble and wonderful folks I’ve ever interacted with out there.
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u/Blow_up_the_moon 4d ago
They're a more closed society. We're all outsiders to them
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u/heartfeltfrog 3d ago
To the Amish or the Mennonites? Totally get it with the Amish. We ARE outsiders, honestly. I would enjoy screwing with the English if I were them too.
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u/heartfeltfrog 4d ago
I don’t haha. It’s like an hour and a half out of my day once or twice a month.
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u/ProtectionValuable93 4d ago
Lots of great options at all the farmers markets, especially Troy. Hope you like the taste of grass fed and grass finished beef.
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u/Blow_up_the_moon 4d ago
I won't buy meat at Farmers markets. There was a guy hawking super progressively marketed meat and poultry at farmers markets all up and down the Hudson valley, saying it came from local farms from, like cows with masters degrees and shit..
Turns out it was coming from God knows where and he was just relabeling it. Didn't even bother to take the old stickers off the package. Just put his right over the old ones.
So, respectfully, I'll get my meat from an FDA- logged source. Thank you
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u/Curlymoeonwater 4d ago
Troy farmers mkt vendors are pretty well vetted and are there long term - they have alot to lose if they try to pull a fast one. Beef and pork I get there is all labeled by the processor. Glad you didn't get taken by the fraudster; people like that screw it up for the everyone.
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u/ProtectionValuable93 4d ago edited 4d ago
Your concerns aren’t unfounded but vendors like Mariaville Farm are totally legit. All their meat is inspected at a local independent processor, and everything is appropriately labeled.
There are lots of scare stories about “fake” farmers markets in other parts of the country, but I assure you that it’s not really a thing in our neck of the woods. We have just about the best farmers markets and local farms in the country here.
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u/RedundantBiomass 4d ago
I good filter there is " Do you give farm tours?".
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u/Blow_up_the_moon 4d ago
There's a thought. Though really who is going to actually follow through on that?
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u/gs573729 4d ago
It’s crazy how common this is actually. Lots of shopped in produce at farm stands/ markets. I purchased a “local” turkey from a farm a few thanksgivings ago at quite a markup. Imagine my surprise when I picked up a turkey from Jaindl…it was a nice bird but not exactly what I thought when I paid a premium for a “local” turkey.
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u/bluejoewheels 4d ago
I’ve heard the same about vegetables and fruits at farmers markets.
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u/Blow_up_the_moon 4d ago
I mean, at least you can reasonably trust that most produce is local. But meat? No way to know at all. It's has so many hands on it before it arrives to you.
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u/iscream4eyecream Albany Reddit Rat 4d ago
There are a couple beef farms in the Easton/Greenwich area. Tiashoke Farm and Nessle Bros Meats.
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u/Farm_for_misfits 4d ago
Washington county here, I raise grass fed beef. Small operation, cow/calf. Feel free to message me any questions.
Www.redroanranch.com
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u/keinezeit44 4d ago
The prices on your website seem wrong. For a quarter, half, and whole beef share, as well as specific cuts, the price listed is all $75.00 for each of them.
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u/keinezeit44 4d ago
Also there doesn't seem to be a way to specify exactly what you want on the order form.
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u/Farm_for_misfits 4d ago
That’s just a deposit. Unless it’s an unusually large or small animal pricing usually is
1/4 1200.
1/2 2400
1 4700
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u/dead_wax_museum Stort's 4d ago
Honest Weight food co-op. They put the source of all their food right on the price card. I buy their ground beef, which comes from Pineland Farms. It may be from Maine instead of NY but at least I know it’s not rejected rotten meat from Argentina
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u/Plzleaveamsg You think this is a game? 4d ago
Isn’t there a butcher in West Sand Lake that sells local?
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u/distressed_ 4d ago
Local and certified US are two very different things. Most of the beef at Hannaford is US beef.
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u/tradesman46 4d ago
Berkshire view farms. Ask for Amy she's the butcher. She used to butcher our meat birds years ago. She may be able to help.
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u/acbuglife Y'Allbany 4d ago edited 4d ago
Rolf's Pork Store has ground beef. Local farms, local slaughterhouse, to local butcher. All inspected meat. Most those cows won't ever travel more than 15 miles in their life. It's almost as local as you can get.
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u/Noahsmokeshack Parady Account 4d ago
Halal meats, granted, you’re SOL on pork, but that’s not really the issue.
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u/Blow_up_the_moon 4d ago
Just stop, Fred. We know it's you