If you eat meat, read on! If you don’t, just pass on by.

Two years ago, Blaze and I bought half a cow from a local cattle rancher, Prairie Spring Ranch. (https://prairiespringsranch.com/index.html) We have been delighted in the meat we received from them over the years. This last batch we got has been some of the best meat we’ve ever had. We joke sometimes that we got a really happy cow, though there’s some truth to that, that the happier the animal, the better the meat.

We’re going to buy another half cow from them this year. I’ve already put in my order. They only slaughter about twenty cows per year. In my experience (and I’ve dealt with them for over a decade) by September, every cow will be spoken for and they’ll stop taking orders. The cows won’t go to slaughter until December, and we won’t pick up the beef until January.

Currently, the price of their beef is $4.20/lb. While this is hanging weight, so that’s bone in, it’s still incredibly cheap for grass fed and finished beef. There will be an additional $0.99/lb processing and wrapping fees, plus slaughter fees. Last time we did this, the total beef cost us ended up being about $5.49 per pound.

Again, for grass fed/grass finished organic beef. Plus, we’re supporting a localish ranch who believes in good animal/land husbandry.

If you can afford to drop a largish amount of money on your grocery bill, and you have the space to store it, I think this is an excellent investment.

I don’t follow that much news. My husband is a news junky though, and so he keeps me up to date. China has canceled huge orders of pork. If the tariffs aren’t walked back, and if other buyers aren’t found, (and other ifs) there’s a chance that pork prices will fall in a few months. I’m very much in a “we’ll see” mode when it comes to that.

We are keeping an eye on it, though. Because if pork prices do fall, well, we’ll be picking up a bunch of pork and freezing it. (We also have a vac-sealer, so we breakdown and bag up the meat ourselves before freezing so it will last longer.)

So that’s my PSA on meat. Even if you aren’t local to WA, there may be ranchers near where you live. You might be able to find such an excellent deal for yourself.