farmerjan
Well-known member
Here in the western part of va, it runs in the $35 to $50 for kill fee, some $60, and then .45 to .60 lb depending on whether you want paper or vac pack. That's on hanging weight. So figure hanging weight is 1/2 live weight... I ALWAYS get vac pack; do all my vegs and stuff vac pack too with a home vac packer. Stuff keeps for several years if you miss a few pieces in the bottom of the chest freezer. ha ha. I raise jersey steers for my own beef, and they usually hang in the 500-600 range so that is in the neighborhood of $300 to $350.. I ask for the bones and the extra fat back too. The slaughter houses usually sell the hides but the rules and regs with the Mad cow disease makes it more time consuming for them so part of the kill fee goes towards "administrative costs", and it depends on where the rendering plant has to come from to get the offal. They don't pick up for free anymore because they don't have the options they used to to use the parts for fertilizers either....Plus we have to declare the age of the animal and the butcher will check the teeth, as anything over 27 months cannot have the backbone or spinal cord or brain or anything like that in it. I stopped getting t-bones and just get rib-eyes and filets and ny strips so as not to deal with that. Less bone takes up less room in the freezer too. Yeah you get 25-35% of the total live weight in meat back. We figure 25% and any more is extra....that's not counting the bones and fat that I don't pay extra for. Just have to tell them when you take it in. You still don't get all the bones, but most.
