If you're getting meat direct from the farmer you are getting an actual pound of meat.  Ever wonder why the hamburger you buy in the super market after cooking, seems that half of it evaporates into thin air?  Because super amrket meat is loaded with water to bring the weight up.  You can hide a lot of water in meat. Pretty expensive water.  Someone mentions freezers, I'm sure a small chest freezer in a basement uses less power than the aisle long open air coolers, and take a look in the back meat shop at the coolers/freezers they run.  Use much mroe power.  Your local farmed beef has travelled much less, which is better for the environment, and just plain tastes so much better.  MT Cowboy, don't blow your own horn too loudly about BSE in Canada, I personally think it's hilarious people seem to think and believe there's this magic line at the 49th parallel that stops anything bad from happening or entering the USA.  Oh ignorance is bliss. :)

I didn't pay 3.61 per pound for beef you better do a price check the next time you buy your beef.

WOW! Now I can see where our market really is!  I run a cattle feedyard and knew that a percentage of the population was misinformed about their food costs, quality, and production, but it appears it is a greater majority than I ever thought.  We sold cattle last week for 87 cents per pound, and those lost us about $150 per head.  I can have it custom cut to my specs at a local packer for 35 cents per pound.  Since all parts ( hide, bone, organs, fat, ect.) are not used in human consumption, a 1000 pound steer should produce approximately 590 pounds of beef. So if you pay the rancher $870 and pay the local packer $350, you should have all cuts of beef in your home for $2.06 per pound.  Granted, you can find hamburger for that price at the store, but the last time I looked (which is often), ribeyes were selling for $10.50 per pound.  Also, don't be mislead by the claims of 'grass fed, all natural, or antibiotic free', most of those represented that way were only on that program for a limited amount of their feeding period.  As for the humane treatment, programs are implemented in most feeding operations that educate employees on quality care and penalize mis treatment of animals.  Be careful where and who you chould chose to get your information from about how healthy your foods are or the processes to get them from farm to table, this includes all meats and also the fruit and vegetable industries.  The United States works very hard in all segments of agriculture to bring a healthy and safe product to your table.

AS A RETIRED MEET MANAGER, I WOULD SAY NO. I HAVE FOUND THAT IT IS BETTER TO WATCH FOR SALES AND "CHERRY PICK" WHEN A CERTAIN CUT IS ON SPECIAL. LOAD UP AND FILL YOUR FREEZER A CUT AT A TIME.

My in-laws are cattle producers and my wife and I have a small herd as well. We have all of our friends cow-pooling with us. MUCH better quality and at our prices, $2.50/lb all-in, it is MUCH less expensive. Beef, it's what's for dinner!

I would say buying "Ranch Raised" is the best, taste best and is the best for you. As far as price, you are paying so much a pound for all wheathe it is a pound of ground beef or a rib eye. As for here we pay about 2-3 dollars a pound hanging weight and I must say I have not seen a T-bone, Ribeye or even a Roast for anything even close to that price so I think you have a bargin when you buy from a local rancher.

Now the freezer can also store all those wonderful farm raised veggies as well.

Buy Chicken, Turkey and Pork on sale and you can fill one in no time and have all you need for quite a spell. Just make sure you don't become a victim of loss of power during Hurricane season or some other storm. Then your savings will be nill...........

10.00  a month to run the freezer, come  on rib eyes are 12.00 a lb. On a side you get 12  to 20 lb of rib eyes for 3.60 a lb. private shops need to pay more for there help most a minimam wage and hard work but well worth it if you have the cash chose your cuts well and feel good about it

3.61 a pound is way more than it costs to raise a beef,more like 1.50-2.00 per pound.

that is a processed price beef on the hoff and cut up

when you buy a side of beef you get the bad cuts as well as the good one , there is a lot of waste in that side you may pay roast price for . Just go to the meat case and pick out the best cuts in the case and leave the worst ones there, buy what cuts you like . you don't know what cuts you get that you might not be familiar with with a side or whole cow. from tongue to ox tail what do you like.