Like Monty, I raise feeder cattle and sell freezer beef. We actually live about 20 minutes away from each other in the same county. He's smart and gets rid of them before winter, I get a new batch of calves in the fall to feed until the next year. This will be my last year of raising them through winter though. While I agree that the prices are ridiculous, this is the first time in a long time that cattle farmers are actually making a decent living. Inputs are very high, and unfortunately the producer can only eat so much of that. Last year I made the mistake of keeping my prices on the low side, and it was not a good idea. I didn't make the same mistake twice. Years ago, I could buy a ton of feed for $200 all day long, now it's easily $350 per ton, seed and fertilizer prices are very high, and as we all know insurance has gone up, and the list goes on. There are only four large meat packers in the U.S., and they can manipulate and collude the prices to their liking. Like always, the end consumer ends up getting screwed. Support your local farmer. You'll be much happier with the product you buy, and you'll help put someone's kid through college(example) vs making a billionaire in Brazil richer than what they already are!!
I buy my beef, chicken and pork from a local Massachusetts family farm. They deliver right to the house. The meat is top notch. I only buy in the grocery store if I run out or I need a cut that the farm doesn't have.
We are fortunate enough to have made connections with one of the local breweries. They put their spent grain into large bins which I swing by once a week and get loaded on my truck. It is more than enough grain for our 2 cows each week and it was almost enough to feed the 4 pigs before we put them in the freezer. This really helps to minimize costs.
