Although buying a whole cow seems impossible or daunting or TOO expensive, I on whole cow #4. Many years ago, DH's grandfather was moving out of his house to spend months at a time with each of his 7 children. The whole extended family came to help pack up and distribute items. I got two great items, one was his funky blonde colored kitchen prep table, with a single drawer but Rock solid--middle DD now has that--and his 1972 full sized chest freezer, which finally died HERE in 2004.
Several years ago I picked up a conversation with a lady who raises Black Angus. She is an excellent livestock owner, family has gotten her committed to "selling" to other family members who change their minds at the last minute.
Ask
@baymule, and others here, raising a calf to go the slaughter is at Least a full year commitment. Hard to get stuck holding the $bag when it is resting at the locker and the buyer backs out!
At the time she was almost able to sell me 1/4 cow's worth of hamburger. I had the room for it. The buyer came through and purchased That, But I bought a full cow from her a few months later, all 1,575 pounds (pre slaughter) weight.
We had 3 freezers at that time between my other DD's, who had a 7 cu ft. freezer, I had a 7 cu ft. freezer, and I had bought a new 14 1/2 cu ft freezer. I was concerned that we couldn't have enough room for all of the meat, so we bought an additional 7 cu ft freezer, now in the basement, and it holds ALL steaks, roasts and specialty cuts.
Over the last few years our cost/lb of beef has gone from just over $3/lb to just over $4/lb.
7 cu ft freezers went up a LOT, but they don't have a big footprint, the prices have gone down, and you can store a LOT of meat or anything else in one of them.
It is pretty common for groups of 2 families to 4 families go in for a whole cow and divvy it up.
I believe that the economy will improve next year.
Do some research and look into at least improving your freezer space. We used to buy our beef locally from a grocery store 10 minutes drive away that bought Amish beef. It was pretty good.
If you do get a cow or portion of it or a hog, before sure to carefully pack it in a chest freezer and take pictures!
I have done that I know without looking what is my freezers and where to find it.
Just some food for thought.
. Good Gravy, at 5 generation/century, if your families arrived on the Eastern Seaboard at 300 years plus, those early colonists are almost all ancestors.
