I don't keep cows. They are too big for my comfort level. However, I do like beef, so I buy one each year from a local farmer. I call it my "cow hunt". Some of the local people go out deer hunting each year, but usually, they come back empty handed. I go out cow hunting, and so far, I've always come back with a cow! About 700 lbs worth, which is enough for one or two families for the year.

If you want grass-fed, organic beef, this is the way to do it. Cows (they are generically called cows: female cows are called "heifers", males are "bulls" or "steers") are pretty cheap if you buy the whole cow. They get more expensive after they are grain-fed, so the grass-fed ones are cheaper! Typically, around here, some calves are put on a field to "mow it", then they are sold off when they get bigger. At auction, you can buy the whole cow for $300. From the farmer, it will be more, esp. if the farmer has tapped in to the "organic beef" market. But it will still be a lot cheaper than buying beef at the market, and a LOT cheaper than the "organic" beef.

The big worry people have is that they don't know how to butcher a cow. Don't worry about it: no one does. Except the butchers: that's what they do. You call a local butcher, and they come out to the farm or auction lot. A couple of weeks later, your meat is cut, wrapped, and frozen. You don't have to be involved unless you want to. I do watch the process, because I am concerned with how the animal is treated and also how professional the butcher is. So far, they have all been extremely good at what they do.

In terms of treating animals humanely, this is also the best life, and death, a beef cow can have. It lives most of its life in a big field, eating, which is what cows do. Unlike hunting, the animal is never chased, or wounded by a bad shot.

 

 

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