Search Results for: how to buy a cow

03/20/2020 By Matt & Jessica @ Clover Meadows Beef

How to Buy a Cow from a Farmer

buy a cow - grass fed beef st. louis missouri

Congratulations! You’ve decided to buy a cow from a farmer.

You’re excited because you know you’re going to get the best beef you’ve ever had at a fraction of the cost. Plus, you’ll have a freezer full of beef, which can be very comforting (especially in times like now when store shelves aren’t what they used to be). But, where do you begin? How exactly do you buy a cow?

Here’s everything you need to know.

Buy a Cow vs. Meat Subscription Beef Box (video)

Buy a Cow vs. Meat Subscription Meat Delivery Service - Clover Meadows Beef Grass Fed Beef

Have you ever purchased a meat subscription box?

We’ve had several new customers come to us after trying meat subscription boxes, and they asked that we compare buying a cow versus a meat subscription service that’s delivered to your door.

Why compare the two, we asked? They’re completely different options. However, since they asked, we thought we’d give it a try.

Our conclusion (spoiler alert!) is that the two are really apples to oranges. We think buying a cow wins the comparison, but we’re very biased. That shouldn’t surprise you!

In this post, we specifically compared three areas: cost, convenience and knowing your farmer/quality.

Here’s how we think the two stack up when compared to each other.

Buying a cow. How much beef is it? (video)

Are you thinking of buying a cow? Have you decided how much – a sixteenth, quarter, half, or whole cow?

We’ve been selling beef directly off of our farm for decades. Without a doubt one of the first questions people ask before buying a cow is “how much beef will I actually get?” That question is usually followed by, “If I buy a cow, what part am I getting? The front half or back half?”

In other posts, we’ve provided a step-by-step guide on how to buy a cow from a farmer, and what questions to ask before you purchase.

Today, we’re going to use video and photos to SHOW you how much beef you get when you buy a cow.

To put it in perspective, we’ve made our home refrigerator the star of the video and photos.

We’ve taken these pictures twice, years apart. The first time we only took photos and we had a standard 18.1 cu ft refrigerator with a freezer on top. The second time we did this, we made a video and we had a newer refrigerator – a 22.1 cu ft refrigerator with french doors and freezer on the bottom. Hopefully, seeing the beef in two different refrigerators will help put it into perspective even more.

Farm Life: How We Feed Cows

We’re often asked what a typical day looks like on our farm. Every day is very different, so there isn’t an easy answer to that question.

However, one thing that is always the same is that every day Matt gets on his four-wheeler and drives to check and feed the cows.

We thought you might like to join him as he feeds cows on a typical night, so that’s what this video is about.

Do we feed all of our cows the same way?

Keep in mind that our farm is a cow-calf farm, and we’re unique because we raise and sell both grass finished and grain finished beef directly to consumers.

That means we have several different groupings of cattle on our farm. They all have different needs that we have to account for.

The grass finished cattle need to be checked regularly so we’re sure they’re all still healthy and none of them got hurt in the pasture. We don’t typically feed them since they only eat grass.
The grain finished cattle need to be checked regularly and fed daily. They live in the pasture their entire lives and also receive natural grain during the last 6 months of their life. It’s up to them on if they eat the grass or grain.
The heifers need to be checked regularly and they’re fed some grain too. We explained the difference between cows and heifers before. As a refresher, heifers are new mama cows that have had their first calf. Whether you’re a first time human mom or cow mom, having a baby is a lot of work and takes a toll on your body! After a heifer has had a baby calf, we give her some all-natural grain so that she’s getting even more nutrients in her diet. These nutrients help her get strong again, and also help ensure her milk has all the nutrients it needs for the baby calf.
Baby calves need to be checked regularly since they’re so young. They drink their mom’s milk for the first 6 months of life. As they grow, they start to transition from their mother’s milk only to a mixture of milk and grass around 4 to 6 months of age.

What’s the difference between a steer vs bull? Cow vs heifer? (video)

Difference between steer vs bull and cow vs heifer - Clover Meadows Beef

Did you know there’s a difference between a steer vs bull? There’s also a difference between a cow vs heifer.

If you’ve followed our site at all, you know that Matt is a farm kid and Jessica grew up in a typical subdivision as a city kid. When we first met and started dating, we had lots of conversations revolving around cattle terminology. Very romantic…right?! Ha! One of the basic conversations was cow terminology. Specifically, that meant discussing the difference between steer vs bull, and cow vs heifer. There’s a big difference!

If you’re not up-to-speed on steers, bulls, cows and heifers, we’ve provided basic definitions and go into much more detail below:

Cow: A cow is a female animal that has had at least one calf. Using everyday lingo, the cows are the “moms”
Heifer: A heifer is a female animal that has never had a calf. Once a heifer has a calf, she automatically becomes a cow. In other words, heifers are like “first-time moms”
Bull: A mature male animal that is used for breeding. The bulls are the “dads.”
Steer: A steer is a male animal that has been neutered.

So, what do you usually eat when you eat meat? Generally speaking if it’s good quality meat it’s usually a heifer or steer. If it’s lower quality meat, it’s usually a cow.

Now that you know the very basic definitions, let’s go a little deeper on the differences between steer vs bull and cow vs heifer.

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