Had a nice thing happen the other day...

[options]

SRBeef
I would think the selling price 50% above the actual value would more than cover the little bit of extra work involved

[SRBeef]

nt

[SRBeef]

SRBeef
I would think the selling price 50% above the actual value would more than cover the little bit of extra work involved

There is much more than a "little extra work" involved in selling beef this way compared to loading them on a trailer and dropping them off at the sale barn, especially as your sales volume increases.

I don't want to argue about word choices but I personally do not think current market prices necessarily reflect the "actual value" of my cattle. I think my pricing system brings them a bit closer to their "actual value".

Jim

[options]

SRBeef
I would think the selling price 50% above the actual value would more than cover the little bit of extra work involved

There is much more than a "little extra work" involved in selling beef this way compared to loading them on a trailer and dropping them off at the sale barn, especially as your sales volume increases.

I don't want to argue about word choices but I personally do not think current market prices necessarily reflect the "actual value" of my cattle. I think my pricing system brings them a bit closer to their "actual value".

Jim

How is dropping them off at the sale barn different from dropping them off at the custom butcher shop? Are you selling inspected beef products?

[SRBeef]

SRBeef
I would think the selling price 50% above the actual value would more than cover the little bit of extra work involved

There is much more than a "little extra work" involved in selling beef this way compared to loading them on a trailer and dropping them off at the sale barn, especially as your sales volume increases.

I don't want to argue about word choices but I personally do not think current market prices necessarily reflect the "actual value" of my cattle. I think my pricing system brings them a bit closer to their "actual value".

Jim

How is dropping them off at the sale barn different from dropping them off at the custom butcher shop? Are you selling inspected beef products?

Yes, the quarters I sell are processed by a USDA inspected custom butcher. They have to be to sell as I do.

Many folks who sell freezer beef have their customers pickup the beef at the processor. This is not feasible for me and greatly limits the potential pool of customers.

The work I was referring to above is basically two things:

1) the additional work of finishing a calf compared to selling feeders. And finishing in a way that the beef tastes good and is tender and meets the expectations of the customer.

2) the additional work of selling and distribution. Raising the beef is comparatively easy in my opinion, compared to selling it at a profitable price, getting it delivered and paid for and, after all is said and done, turning a reasonable profit on the total project and return on the investment required. Not only that, but doing it all in a sufficient quantity to make sense and frequency to pay the operation's expenses year around plus a little profit at the end of the year.

These items are a lot more work than taking, say, a recently weaned calf to the feeder sale at the local sale barn. I am not at my target level on any of this yet and don't mean to give the impression I've got it all figured out because I don't. But from what I have done so far I think I can make this work at a reasonable scale.

Right now you might call this a "pilot project". I am currently focusing on herd building so that I start getting close to having enough good beef to process to cover the costs involved. Trying to grow a cattle business from within just takes a long time! But I am learning along the way.

Jim

[options]

I guess if it works good enough and everyone is happy continue doing it. A selling price 50% above actual value of the animal in my opinion is not a fair price but it is your beef and not mine what I think doesn't matter. Taking advantage of my own customers is not something I would do just because I can.

[ANAZAZI]

How is everyone selling the beef? on the hoof price per pound? hanging weight? and what price per pound?
Thanks
I am keeping 6 steers to do the same with

I charge for hanging weight but provide processing. This way nobody can complain about what is in or out of the weighing.

[SRBeef]

I guess if it works good enough and everyone is happy continue doing it. A selling price 50% above actual value of the animal in my opinion is not a fair price but it is your beef and not mine what I think doesn't matter. Taking advantage of my own customers is not something I would do just because I can.

With all due respect, I think you have missed the point. Compared to selling a fat at the sale barn for 85 cents a pound, figuring my price on a fat at $1.30 per pound covers a lot of the additional costs involved with producing and selling what might be called a specialty product.

Are you also saying that 85 cents on a fat is a "Fair" price? My customers so far think they are getting a good deal. They do not feel they are being taken advantage of. And this is not a real high income group of customers...

One of the interesting things about life in a free country is we have a lot of paths we can choose. If you want to sell good calves at 65 cents as they are going for now, that is certainly your choice. Good day.

Jim

[tncattle467]

How many customers has she sent you?

I don't know but have had a number of other folks ask for beef. I think they call it "referral marketing". I just have not had any more to process until recently.

Once I get out of the initial startup/investment stage (just about there, hopefully) I think I could net some money at this...plus enjoy the process and the good beef.

One problem with cattle is that everything takes SO long when starting from scratch to finished, processed product. It is also a LOT of work.

I find that giving away a package of hamburger or Swiss steak is well worth the advertising.... As mentioned above folks get "hooked". Many have never really tasted good beef. I seel mine for 1.30 a pound on the hoof and the customer pays the kill bill and picks the meat up at the slaughter house themselves. I have so many orders I cannot fill them all. This year I had 25 people asking for beef and I could only fill 20.

Jim

I do not understand how putting a self feeder out and letting them gorge themselves is hard work? A feed truck comes out and fills it every so often, all you have to do is get on the tractor, give them some hay every now and then. To me that aint hard work or alot of work.

[SRBeef]

How many customers has she sent you?

I don't know but have had a number of other folks ask for beef. I think they call it "referral marketing". I just have not had any more to process until recently.

Once I get out of the initial startup/investment stage (just about there, hopefully) I think I could net some money at this...plus enjoy the process and the good beef.

One problem with cattle is that everything takes SO long when starting from scratch to finished, processed product. It is also a LOT of work.

I find that giving away a package of hamburger or Swiss steak is well worth the advertising.... As mentioned above folks get "hooked". Many have never really tasted good beef. I seel mine for 1.30 a pound on the hoof and the customer pays the kill bill and picks the meat up at the slaughter house themselves. I have so many orders I cannot fill them all. This year I had 25 people asking for beef and I could only fill 20.

Jim

I do not understand how putting a self feeder out and letting them gorge themselves is hard work? A feed truck comes out and fills it every so often, all you have to do is get on the tractor, give them some hay every now and then. To me that aint hard work or alot of work.

Not all of us have a feed truck filling self feeders. Selling it is work. a lot of work.

Ask a lot of the automotive people these days: designing and building a car is easy compared to selling it at a price that makes sense/profit enough so you get to do it again next year. Over and out.

Jim

[tncattle467]

How many customers has she sent you?

I don't know but have had a number of other folks ask for beef. I think they call it "referral marketing". I just have not had any more to process until recently.

Once I get out of the initial startup/investment stage (just about there, hopefully) I think I could net some money at this...plus enjoy the process and the good beef.

One problem with cattle is that everything takes SO long when starting from scratch to finished, processed product. It is also a LOT of work.

I find that giving away a package of hamburger or Swiss steak is well worth the advertising.... As mentioned above folks get "hooked". Many have never really tasted good beef. I seel mine for 1.30 a pound on the hoof and the customer pays the kill bill and picks the meat up at the slaughter house themselves. I have so many orders I cannot fill them all. This year I had 25 people asking for beef and I could only fill 20.

Jim

I do not understand how putting a self feeder out and letting them gorge themselves is hard work? A feed truck comes out and fills it every so often, all you have to do is get on the tractor, give them some hay every now and then. To me that aint hard work or alot of work.

Not all of us have a feed truck filling self feeders. Selling it is work. a lot of work.

Ask a lot of the automotive people these days: designing and building a car is easy compared to selling it at a price that makes sense/profit enough so you get to do it again next year. Over and out.

Jim

So you do not have a creep feeder/self feeder? Also, you do not have a farmer's cooperative, or farm feed store that can deliver you feed? Both our local feed mill and the coop's feed mill deliver.

[options]

With all due respect, I think you have missed the point. Compared to selling a fat at the sale barn for 85 cents a pound, figuring my price on a fat at $1.30 per pound covers a lot of the additional costs involved with producing and selling what might be called a specialty product.

Are you also saying that 85 cents on a fat is a "Fair" price? My customers so far think they are getting a good deal. They do not feel they are being taken advantage of. And this is not a real high income group of customers...

One of the interesting things about life in a free country is we have a lot of paths we can choose. If you want to sell good calves at 65 cents as they are going for now, that is certainly your choice. Good day.

Jim

Jim with all due respect your product is no more special than most slaughter cattle sold at the auction barns bringing $85. Do I think $85 dollars is a fair price? yes I do. Not only is it fair but that is currently the actual value of slaughter cattle. If you want to mark your cattle up 65% you can do just that, this is like you say a free country. I perfer to sell my slaughter steers as arm's length transactions.

As far as selling good calves for $65. With today's current feeder market conditions, if you are selling calves for $65 they were NOT good calves.

[LimiMan]

I think you are selling to cheap. My customers don't want to go to a sale barn and buy a fat steer for $.85 and not know how it was fed, how it was raised, what breed it is, where it was raise, what's been injected into it, etc... Since I can provide them this info, it makes my steer worth more than the one selling at the sale barn, I dont know why that's so hard for some people to understand?

[tncattle467]

I think you are selling to cheap. My customers don't want to go to a sale barn and buy a fat steer for $.85 and not know how it was fed, how it was raised, what breed it is, where it was raise, what's been injected into it, etc... Since I can provide them this info, it makes my steer worth more than the one selling at the sale barn, I dont know why that's so hard for some people to understand?

Exactly,

My customer's tell me that not only is it the most tender and best tasting and lowest fat grain fed beef they have ever had but that they know where it came from, they know that it was treated humanely, and they know it had a good life up until it died and was not injected with hormones or antibiotics.

[options]

I think you are selling to cheap. My customers don't want to go to a sale barn and buy a fat steer for $.85 and not know how it was fed, how it was raised, what breed it is, where it was raise, what's been injected into it, etc... Since I can provide them this info, it makes my steer worth more than the one selling at the sale barn, I dont know why that's so hard for some people to understand?

I'm sorry I keep forgetting that 99.9% of the people here at CT raise the best beef that can be bought. The rest of the producers raise just awful bad beef. I bet your kids are the best things ever too huh?