Custom processor appointment

[HDRider]

The real problem is chicken. It's perceived to be healthier. It gets a lot of help with all these various recipes that cover up the lack of taste. Can't we compete with a nutritional turd like chicken nuggets?

I think we can compete very well. Beef packs a much bigger nutritional punch. It might be a cost thing.

Health Advantage of Beef Over Chicken

Beef has a few nutritional advantages over chicken, although chicken is usually lower in...

healthyeating.sfgate.com

 

[Named'em Tamed'em]

I bet that is what was here. I wonder how prevalent it was?

We had lockers around here but they left in the late '60's.

 

[farmerjan]

There was a huge locker not 20 miles from me in the "bigger" town.... still has the advertising on the brick outside walls. Our co-op used to have a locker plant too.... lots of options but then people quit buying with the idea of PLANNING ahead... too easy to stop on the way home to pick up something to cook that night and all the "easy prep" meals.... both parents working, mom tired and not wanting or even able to make big meals because it would be 10 before it would be ready to eat and she was tired from working all day at another job... lack of respect for the vocation of being a "homemaker".....more single parent families, and moving around so not having the support group of other generations able to pinch in to help with child raising...
There are as many reasons as anyone can think of....
And now add to that all the regulations that local and state gov't puts on everything; even as simple as having a frozen locker plant....
I have several freezers because of no other place to rely on to store stuff...and to have an"extra" where I can shift things around if one should quit on me....last year could not find one it your life depended on it.... and a generator to share with my son so that if we lose our power, we each have it 12 hrs or every other day or so, to "recharge" the freezers and run water and things that need doing... want to get my own generator this year because it is a pain to haul it back and forth and want a bigger capacity one. Thinking whole house maybe....

Alot of good things got lost along the way to where we got with the more mobile, transient lifestyles, and the "fast paced" life so many have.

 

[shaz]

I think we can compete very well. Beef packs a much bigger nutritional punch. It might be a cost thing.

Health Advantage of Beef Over Chicken

Beef has a few nutritional advantages over chicken, although chicken is usually lower in...

healthyeating.sfgate.com

Although chicken is usually lower in fat
See the problem?

 

[Ky hills]

I've seen some advertising for longhorn beef, where they tout lower fat or cholesterol than chicken I think it said. Don't know about all that and whether the chart was well documented figures, or a favorable study with a bias. We talked about finishing a calf out of our longhorn cow this year for our beef but picked another one instead

 

[Walking W]

We had to customers ask about buying a beef delivered to meat processor. We called today. They are booked to January 2023. Not taking appointment at this time. Our Name put on standby list in case they get cancellation. Wow.

I live outside of Ft Worth. Last week, the processor I have used for the past three years had openings in February 2022. I was glad I called early enough. Got the opening I will need in March.

 

[Bignick50]

Is that public demand for local beef or cattle people not wanting to feed the JBS, Cargil, Tyson monster.

Been like that in Kansas for about a year now. But, yes put your name on the list at maybe a couple of locations. They seem to always have a cancellation or two every so often.. Yep, people are tired of the high prices for mostly select cuts of beef.

 

[puzzled in oregon]

The freezer/lockers is an interesting thought. I remember my parents talking about them. As far as
grass fed/grain fed, I prefer the 8-10 month old calf that has had nothing but fresh milk from the cow,
fresh grass and lots of fresh air and sunshine

 

[bigbluegrass]

The real problem is chicken. It's perceived to be healthier. It gets a lot of help with all these various recipes that cover up the lack of taste. Can't we compete with a nutritional turd like chicken nuggets?

Chicken is a tough competitor for both grass and grain finished beef, mostly because it is cheap protein. Without a doubt beef has more B12 and minerals. Chicken might win on some other nutritional levels like lower calories and fat, but I think if you look at how chicken and beef are normally cooked and consumed, beef might still win. Most people eat beef with minimal seasoning, because it tastes good on it's own. Chicken is usually cooked and/or served with sauces which will add calories, fat, carbs and sugar.

 

[bigbluegrass]

I booked some for 2022 in November of 2020. I joked with the lady at the processor that I was booking them for slaughter before they were born! They were only about 2 months old at the time. It is really challenging to predict when they will actually be finished and ready. I just booked it and we will see what happens. I hope these small processors can open up a few more processing plants.

 

[HDRider]

Although chicken is usually lower in fat
See the problem?

People need fat

 

[HDRider]

Chicken is a tough competitor for both grass and grain finished beef, mostly because it is cheap protein. Without a doubt beef has more B12 and minerals. Chicken might win on some other nutritional levels like lower calories and fat, but I think if you look at how chicken and beef are normally cooked and consumed, beef might still win. Most people eat beef with minimal seasoning, because it tastes good on it's own. Chicken is usually cooked and/or served with sauces which will add calories, fat, carbs and sugar.

Them's good points

 

[shaz]

People need fat

Fat produces no insulin spike. That's the word that needs to get out

 

[Shoestring]

We had lockers around here but they left in the late '60's.

Had a similar locker in small town Iowa. It closed in the '80's when the old butcher passed.

 

[sstterry]

Pardon my ignorance, but I am familiar with personal and commercial freezer lockers, what are the ones you guys are referring to?

 

[Allenw]

I got on the list if there is an opening at a local processor for August. They hope to be getting their expansion project up and running about that time.

 

[Jeanne - Simme Valley]

from what I remember, Chicken is lower in fat 'IF' you remove the skin. Duh, that's the best part.
I don't care what method your beef is finished/raised - BUT - I don't believe in lying/scaring people into buying a product. No part of our industry has the right to CLAIM something is healthier when they don't have the research to back up their claim. To this day, I think Texas A&M has done the only research COMPARING grass fed vs grain fed.

Ground beef from grass-fed and grain-fed cattle: Does it matter? - Department of Animal Science

Posted on December 7, 2013 by maggielberger By Stephen B. Smith, Ph.D.Regents Professor, Department of Animal Science The internet is awash in websites proclaiming the nutritional benefits of ground beef from grass-fed cattle. However, researchers in the Department of Animal Science at Texas A&M...

animalscience.tamu.edu

 

[David_TN]

I can remember my parents going to the freezer locker they rented to store the meat they bought from my grandfather. This was back in the 50's in Cedarville, Ohio.

 

[Named'em Tamed'em]

Pardon my ignorance, but I am familiar with personal and commercial freezer lockers, what are the ones you guys are referring to?

Years ago every little market around here had a butcher shop, most of these had a big freezer room or hallway that had baskets or bins. You would put your lock on it and access your frozen meat during hours.

 

[Bob Kinford]

Honestly, good doctors are our best advocate on the advantages of eating beef.

One thing that aggravates me is all the grass finished vs. grain finished debate.

It is hard enough to do good grain finish, but too many people have had very bad experiences with grass finished, which I think is even harder to do right.

Another obstacle is freezer space. Beyond the obvious lack of larger freezer space is the fear of a freezer losing power and ruining a bunch of meat.

I just found out that years ago my little town had a locker that people could rent space to store meat. Maybe other places had that in years past. I thought that was fantastic. Maybe that is a business opportunity for some enterprising soul if freezer beef continues to grow in popularity.

I
wish the "grain is bad" crowd would realize that all grass seeds are grain. It is a normal part of a ruminant's diet when consumed with the rest of the plant. Want to finish faster without a feedlot? Plant diverse fields of grain with an understory of turnips, radishes and other cool season forage and graze the standing mature grain (which will replant itself as the animals are grazing.

There used to be one or more small butcher shops in nearly every small town. Thanks to increasing regulations suggested by packer lobbyists (including the "necessity" the vast majority went out of business. At least some states are coming around to allowing slaughter and in state sales of state inspected facilities.