Buying a <quarter, half, full> <cow/pig>?

[ender]

Ok, how do people find good deals for buying beef/pork in bulk?

It seems a lot of people when I research this online them for crazy cheap per finished pound (ie takehome cost/pound) but the best I can find locally (IN IOWA of all places) is $3.25/pound for beef carcass weight and $2.50/pound for pork (also carcass weight).

That'd probably be close to $5/pound for the beef and $4/pound for the pork in actual takehome cost.

What über secrits am I missing? Or do people just lie and say their cost for carcass or hanging weight?

[1967mama]

We buy 2 sides of beef a year for $4.59/lb - that's what I pay for the packages of meat I drive away with and put in my deep freeze. I'm in Canada.  Honestly, in every town I've lived in, it's been by word of mouth that I've been able to find a good source for grass fed beef. I've also been able to arrange making 3 post dates cheques over three months because I've helped the farmer get new customers through my connections in the homeschool community and other groups I'm involved in. Because of this, they have also been holding my price the same for the last three years.

Another thought is that you could look up suppliers who sell to health food stores? Farmers markets? They might sell for cheaper without the middle man. The farmer I buy from sells their excess beef at auction every fall, so that could be another route?

Good luck with this! The fall comes upon me fast every year so I need to remember to put aside a little grocery $$ every month for this significant expense. My last cow was 400lb of meat!

ETA: We got a pig once but I didn't enjoy the meat cuts - verrrry fatty.

[Goldy]

I don't think you are ever going to beat supermarket sale prices but keep in mind that you are usually getting a cow that has been better cared for than a feed lot meat that has been blended with other cows.  We buy a 1/4 bison annually and that is slightly cheaper than grocery store prices for ground and way cheaper for steaks.

[caracarn]

I'd die for those prices.

Best I can find here in OH, is $5.25/lb and that's if I buy the whole cow.  It goes up to $5.75/pound for just 1/4,which is what we usually target. 

[BigHaus89]

I don't think you are ever going to beat supermarket sale prices but keep in mind that you are usually getting a cow that has been better cared for than a feed lot meat that has been blended with other cows.  We buy a 1/4 bison annually and that is slightly cheaper than grocery store prices for ground and way cheaper for steaks.

This. We buy a 1/4 cow from a local place for $3.30/lb but we know how the cow was raised and fed. We literally drive by the pastures on a regular basis. Paying marginally more for well cared for cows vs. concentration camp cows(Seriously, those places smell HORRIBLE and they have to use all sorts of drugs because the conditions are so bad) is a big thing for us, ethically speaking.