The numbers game again....

Today we are going to talk more about the cost of raising animals for food.

If you recall, we have been raising a Holstein steer calf since last Oct. He is coming along quite nicely. To date he weighs roughly 400lbs. (just an eyeball guess of course!)

So far, he has eaten 1200 pounds of cracked corn! So that means for every 3 pounds of feed fed, he gains 1 lb. It's not an exact "science" of course- because I am only guessing on his exact weight.

To date, he has cost us $563.38. That includes, purchase price, feed, hay, and other misc. costs.

To give you an idea of price per pound... Let's just say we brought him to the butcher shop today- and his weight really was 400lbs (no, you REALLY wouldn't cash out at such a small weight! This is just hypothetically speaking!) The cost for the kill / cutting / wrapping / cooling would be roughly $300.00. And lets say his hanging weight was only 275 lbs. (hanging weight is minus the head, hide, insides, and feet.) Now lets say his box weight was 200lbs (box weight is what you get back to put into your freezer, it is minus large bones & trimmings). So lets take our costs $563.38 plus $300.00 = $863.38. Now divide that into the meat you actually get (200lbs) that means this steer would cost $4.31 per pound. Now that's everything- steaks, roasts, hamburger etc...

It's amazing how much "waste" is on a steer. Our last steer weighed 1500 lbs (live weight) and by the time everything was said and done, we had a little over 400 lbs in the freezer.

Next lets talk about the pigs: We have 2 female (no castrating! Yah!!!) feeder pigs right now. One is to be sold at the county fair, the other is for our own personal consumption.

We got both of them on March 2nd of this year. So far they have eaten 825 lbs of feed. Their total expense to date is $280.15. They each weigh roughly 125lbs. So that means that it has taken 3.3 lbs of feed to make 1 pound of pig. Sure, that is pretty close to the steers rate of gain... BUT- It only takes 5 months to raise a hog to slaughter weight (where a steer is almost 2 years) and your hanging weight and box weight are a lot closer. For instance, our last hog's live weight was roughly 350lbs, his hanging weight was 291 lbs and his box weight was 275 lbs. Much more bang for your buck with a pig.

Then there are the lambs...

We currently have 3 lambs this year. Those 3 lambs were born in Jan. All three are going to be sold at the county fair. So far, the lambs weigh 234lbs (together- exact weight) and they have eaten 350lbs of feed. The lambs are doing great! It has taken about a pound and a half of feed to produce 1 pound of lamb.

So all in all what does this tell us?? It tells us raising our own food is not cheap! Unfortunately, with every animal you will always have a "waste" factor. It is proven that pound for pound it is much wiser to raise hogs / lamb for food over steers. Sure, we could put the steer on a better feed than just straight corn to make him grow at a faster rate. But with that special feed comes more cost. Speaking of cost... With the rising cost of fuel, and corn the cost of raising your own food has gone up significantly. For instance, cracked corn last year cost $6.50 / 100lbs. Today it costs $11.00 per the same 100lbs. Pig food used to be $13.00 /100lbs. Today it costs $19.00 for that same 100lbs. Lamb food (show food) used to cost $12.98 / 50lbs. Today it costs $13.25 for the same 50lbs.

We won't even TOUCH the subject of horses... lol! They ate 10 tons (that's 20 THOUSAND POUNDS folks!) of hay this past fall / winter / spring!- And we don't eat them!!! They just stand outside looking pretty! :)

*sigh* perhaps I should become a vegan. At least gardening is cheaper! :)

Have a great day!
MF