The Journey of a Beginning Farmer :: As a child I spent most of my life in town living with my mom, but whenever I visited my Dad and his side of the family it was on the farm. From my earliest memories I have always wanted to be a farmer (except when I wanted to be a cowboy). Now, I am trying to fulfill that dream. This will be a journal of that journey :: my research, my joys, my frustrations, and all of the things that go along with the beginning farmer.
Saturday, September 30, 2006
Where's the Beef?
Well, I went to the big city of Des Moines yesterday (yuck!) and I wasn't able to find any new work boots. I'm going to try a hardware store in a small town south of here next. But, I did do a little research when I returned home last night. I would like to present it here for discussion...
Here is the Choice Steer/Dressed price for Friday, Sep. 29th (Iowa/Minnesota Average):
1,060 over 80% choice cattle delievered ... Average weight dressed 878 lbs. ... Average price per 100 weight $137.65 (or $1.38 per lb.)
Now, here is the price for Choice Beef/Dressed from Wholesome Harvest out of Iowa:
Sorry, no weekly numbers ... average weight is up to the farmer ... Price per 100 weight $245 (or per lb. dressed is $2.45)
There you go. Now, of course there is a lot more to it than just the numbers. You need more space to pasture cattle, there is more care needed to keep them healthy, and many other things. But, those numbers at least give me a starting point for the finished product.
That's just some of my research from this week. It keeps me interested and always wanting to find out more!
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2 comments:
It's sad to see zero comments on the very first post!
So I'd just like to say that it's great to see how far you've come. Keep on sharing what you're learning for the rest of us beginning farmers.
Wow, that does seem like a long time ago ... I bet at the end of this summer it will seem even longer!
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