{"id":53141,"date":"2020-06-24T01:25:40","date_gmt":"2020-06-24T07:25:40","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/how-do-you-buy-local-beef\/"},"modified":"2026-03-31T04:02:58","modified_gmt":"2026-03-31T10:02:58","slug":"how-do-you-buy-local-beef","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/how-do-you-buy-local-beef\/","title":{"rendered":"How do you buy local beef?"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

\"In
In this photo from 2013, Rick McDonald rounds up cattle and keeps them in line while moving the animals from south of Cortez at the Carver Farms to greener pastures north of Totten Lake.<\/span>The Journal file<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p>

The coronavirus pandemic has raised interest in buying local beef, but it can be difficult to know how to do that \u2014 even in the meat industry.<\/p>\n

The interest in local beef was noticed statewide<\/a>, but Montezuma County rancher Bunny McComb said she\u2019s come to realize that many people don\u2019t understand the ins and outs of beef the beef market.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think nationwide there\u2019s a real interest in \u2018How does that happen?\u2019\u201d McComb said. \u201cIt\u2019s not as easy as just going up and saying, \u2018Hey can we buy beef?\u2019 There\u2019s a lot of information, there\u2019s a big expense that goes into it.\u201d<\/p>\n

One point of confusion is the purchase size. The average live weight of a butcher-ready animal is 1,300 pounds, according to Tri-State Livestock News<\/a>.<\/p>\n

But that doesn\u2019t equate to the amount of beef that will go in a buyer\u2019s freezer?\u201d McComb said.<\/p>\n

After the animal is killed and its hide, head and internal organs removed, its hanging weight is about 62% of its live weight. It then loses 21% of its weight after it has been aged a few weeks and its excess bone, connective tissue and fat removed have been removed. Suddenly, that 1,300-pound animal is a little over 630 pounds.<\/p>\n

The hanging weight is generally used by producers to determine price.<\/p>\n

Buying from a local rancher usually involves buying a quarter, half or whole beef, McComb said. Such a big purchase can be more cost-effective, but it requires a higher upfront cost.<\/p>\n

\u201cThat\u2019s a considerable amount of money that they have to lay out at one time, whereas if they\u2019re used to going to the grocery store, beef dollars are more spread out,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

Storing the meat also requires a freezer space. Previously, communities had locker plants to store the cuts, but many have gone away, McComb said.<\/p>\n

\u201cIdeally you should be able to eat it within six to 12 months,\u201d she said. However, it will retain most of its quality for longer.<\/p>\n

After buying local beef, a consumer has to take it to a processing plant. If the meat is going to be sold for retail, it must be processed at a plant approved by the U.S. Department of Agriculture.<\/p>\n

The closest USDA-approved processing plants in recent years have been in Monticello and Durango, McComb said, and they can get backed up.<\/p>\n

An application for a new processing plant in Mancos<\/a> was approved by Montezuma County commissioners last year. In Yellow Jacket, Diamond D Processing processes meat for personal consumption.<\/p>\n

Other considerations for buyers might mean a choice between grass- and hay-fed beef, and grain-fed beef, which includes a mixture of grass and grain feeding practices.<\/p>\n

Grass-fed beef tends to be leaner and have less \u201cmarbling.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cMarbling is when the animal tissue gets flecks of fat in it,\u201d McComb said. \u201cAnd you do want some marbling because that\u2019s what makes the meat more tender, and it also produces a better flavor.\u201d<\/p>\n

She and her husband graze their cattle during summer. Their animals are usually taken to slaughter between the ages of 18 and 24 months.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhat we do personally for our own animals \u2014 usually they\u2019re out on grass and then the last 30-45 days we\u2019ll put them in, and then we\u2019ll feed them a diet of grain,\u201d McComb said. \u201cThat grain usually has a pretty high corn content in it, and that corn, because it\u2019s a starch, has a tendency to do a better job of marbling that beef\u2019s tissue.\u201d<\/p>\n

After taking the beef to the processing plant, consumers can choose the cuts, cut consistencies and packaging for the steaks, hamburger, roasts and organ meats, according to the Tri-State Livestock News.<\/p>\n

More than anything, McComb said, understanding different terminologies is helpful.<\/p>\n

\u201cPeople get confused,\u201d she said. \u201cIf they\u2019re not used to those terms, what do those terms mean?\u201d<\/p>\n

ealvero@the-journal.com<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Misconceptions, confusion surrounds process, Montezuma County rancher says<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":53142,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[281,431,438,28,29],"naviga_topic":[],"class_list":["post-53141","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","tag-agriculture","tag-business-general","tag-food","tag-headlines","tag-newsletter"],"acf":[],"author_name":"dh_admin","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/53141","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=53141"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/53141\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":88228,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/53141\/revisions\/88228"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/53142"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=53141"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=53141"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=53141"},{"taxonomy":"naviga_topic","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/naviga_topic?post=53141"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}