Time to have a cow?

You'll notice it at the meat counter: Prices of beef and pork are down, thanks to ample supplies.

So it's a good time to stock up and maybe even to hoof it to a butcher's shop rather than a grocer's.

Like farm families who for generations have stocked their freezers with sides of beef or pork, some urban families find the practice still makes sense today.

Be careful if your only motivation is price: Livestock prices change day by day, and stores buying in volume may be able to offer lower prices on your favorite cuts of meat.

There are other reasons, though, for going whole hog:

You can connect with the farmer who produced the meat, control how the meat is cut into roasts, steaks and chops, and specify how you want your beef aged. You can have your T-bone steaks cut thin or thick and you can order your pork chops bone-in or boneless. And the meat probably will be wrapped so it can go directly into the freezer.

Dave Zoucha, 47, of Bellevue likes the convenience of buying a whole steer and knowing who raised the animal. He has been buying this way for about 10 years.

“You never had to think: ‘Oh, man, I've got nothing for dinner,'” Zoucha said. He thinks he's avoided a lot of extra trips to the store and carry-out meal purchases.

Zoucha also appreciates the personal service that meat processors provide. He gets his beef as steaks, roasts and hamburger — no stew meat, no ribs.

The biggest drawback to buying meat this way is the initial purchase price: about $1,400 for the last steer he bought and about $200 for the last hog. For that, he got about 410 pounds of beef and about 140 pounds of pork.

“It's a big chunk of money,” Zoucha said. But he finds the meat is worth it and fairly priced.

He made his first whole beef purchase from an uncle who raised cattle. Then he started buying from friends of the family. Often, he would split a steer with family.

City shoppers who don't have a friend on the farm can meet meat producers at local farmers markets or through local food cooperatives.

Luke Jacobsen of Marquette, Neb., has been connecting with city shoppers at Omaha's Village Pointe Farmers Market on Saturdays. He sells beef raised on grass, without the grain feeding that is typical in Nebraska and Iowa.

He sells his Range West grass-fed beef by the steak or the roast at the market. But he also takes bulk orders. A side (a half of a steer, cut lengthwise) costs about $1,085 and produces about 220 pounds of beef.

Rick's Meats, 2929 N. 204th St., will assemble bulk orders with the items that would be found in a half or a quarter of grain-fed, Choice-grade beef. The customer weighs in on how the meat should be cut, and the market gives a discount of about 3 percent for buying in volume.

A half with about 115 pounds to 135 pounds of mostly boneless beef costs about $550 to $600. A hindquarter of 75 to 90 pounds of mostly boneless beef costs about $300.

In a variation of the bulk buying theme, Hy-Vee Supermarkets has been experimenting with bargain bundles.

The bundles range in price from $25 to $100 and have varying combinations of steaks, roasts, hamburger and other cuts.

Kenan Judge, Hy-Vee assistant vice president of meat operations in West Des Moines, said with sides of beef, customers would get cuts they didn't use, like soup bones or short ribs.

“With the bundles,” he said, “you're seeing exactly what you're getting.”

Pam Johnson, director of consumer communication for the National Pork Board, said with pork prices down slightly from last year, shoppers could wade into bulk buying with the purchase of a five-pound or 10-pound boneless pork loin (often found on sale in area markets). The loin can be cut at home to make roasts and boneless chops and frozen for later use.

Randy Irion, director of retail marketing for the National Cattlemen's Beef Association, says the average price of beef has been falling all year, making this an excellent time to stock up.

“Right now the consumer is benefiting from a good supply situation, and we encourage them to take advantage of it,” Irion said.

Contact the writer:

444-1052, jane.palmer@owh.com