Beef at Farmers Market

[dieselbeef]

50% of return at each step i pretty close from hanging weight

people only want steaks..good luck..wore myself out doing this..i gave up

 

[farmerjan]

1000 lb animal will hang @ 50-60% so say 500 lbs. You will get approx 50% of that back in usable beef. So say 250 lbs meat. That is taking all things into consideration and figuring a little on the low side. I have had jerseys weigh 1100 and hang at 72% but they don't have the muscling that a beef animal has so still only got about 300 lbs meat total. And about 1/4 to 1/3 of that will be ground beef . I've done it on a small scale and to me it is not worth the time I put into it. If I can't sell a 1/2 or a whole beef, then I just don't want to have to deal with it. The USDA inspected plant costs about $75 to $100 more per animal than the state inspected plant; which is much closer. All I do is take the animal and the buyer deals with the butcher as far as how they want it cut, and they pay for it, etc. If you really enjoy people then it might be a way to go but I would rather be home with the production side and not on the retail side.

 

[dieselbeef]

I do it like farmerjan.

but its hard to find people with a big enough freezer for 350 lbs of meat..they only want steaks...and not the cube or flank kind..or not 200 lbs of hamburger. they want rib steaks..when ya trim off the bone trim off the meat.

and they hafta lay out 2100$ plus cut wrap on a 1100 grass finished animal.

and do the trucking home from the butcher who is about an hr from here after paying him another cpl hundred

that's a pretty niche market

 

[dieselbeef]

people are inherently lazy and cheap...that's tough to overcome....but sam Walton did it

 

[slick4591]

people only want steaks..good luck..wore myself out doing this..i gave up

Reminds me of my old boss telling about his high school son working at a slaughter facility after school. He came home one day from work and told his dad about a lady having a steer in an old rickety trailer and pulled in the parking lot. Said they had to back the trailer for her and once off loaded she went inside for her cutting order. It was apparently a pretty simple order as she wanted everything a T-bone. They did their best to explain to her but she thought they were trying to screw her over. They ended up reloading and sending her on her way.

 

[dieselbeef]

that's no joke..then they want it cut in 6 oz rib steaks...any idea how much that watses...most of it...leaves the round with no bone about a 1/2 thick....

 

[farmerjan]

When we were trying to do the beef, I got some copies of the charts that show the cuts of beef and where they are on the animal so that I could educate people a bit on what they could expect from a 1/2 of beef. It's still a pain in the .... and I won't even talk to someone who wants a 1/2 or even when 2 people want to go in together so that they each get a quarter, unless they have seen these charts and have some understanding of what they will be getting. I guess that as I get older my patience for the "teaching" phase is just getting shorter. I tell them all to go online and look up where the different cuts that they want come from, so they can visually see that there isn't all steaks on an animal. The angus assoc has a pretty decent one that shows it "superimposed" right a picture of the live animal.

 

[dieselbeef]

but nobody wants a 4 lb butt roast

 

[boondocks]

We sell halves and quarters. Once or twice, I think the customer (on their own) thereafter shared their meat with a family member.
We recently sold a quarter to a family with teenage boys; the meat was gone in about 3 wks. Mama found out boys were making themselves and their friends steaks after school every day!

 

[ky colonel]

hadnt thought about selling on halves or quarter how does that work? how do you price it? how do most people get it packaged ? say 4 steaks in a pack?

 

[Aaron]

hadnt thought about selling on halves or quarter how does that work? how do you price it? how do most people get it packaged ? say 4 steaks in a pack?

Sold by the hanging pound. Customer pays butcher to get it processed the way they want. Avoid packs because no two people want the same type of pack.

 

[farmerjan]

@Aaron is right. You sell it by the hanging weight which is about 1/2 to 2/3 of the live weight. Then the buyer works directly with the butcher/slaughter facility on how it gets cut up, how much say ground beef per pound, how thick the steaks are, how many steaks per package, how big the roasts, cube steaks or not, stew meat...you name it, they can get it. They pay the kill/cut/wrap fee and take it home. Here it will run about $250 to $300 for the whole animal so about $150. per half. We have the option of heavy freezer paper or vacuum pack and just about everyone goes for the vacuum packs. Pricing the animal is up to you. Most people here take the live weight price at the market; which now is about 1.25 lb live weight and double or triple it. All depends on what the "niche" is that you are selling to. We are mostly grass fed beef. We are getting 3.00 lb hanging weight, for the beef animals, and so after the cutting and trim etc it is costing the buyer about $6.00-$7.00 lb for usable meat. That's all the cuts averaged, steaks, roasts, ground beef etc. The jerseys are running $2.00 lb for a hanging half. But it is still a pain sometimes. We now have a couple of people who only want 1/4 so we get them together with someone else so that they can decide how they want it cut up. No they don't pick front or back half of the 1/2. The 1/2 beef gets cut up then they split it equally; if there are 10 steaks each one gets 5 etc.. Our guy will split it as they put it on trays to be frozen for a little extra or the buyers come together and split it as they take the trays to put into their coolers to go home. It can still be a pain....

 

[ky colonel]

so if you had a 10 year old jersey Angus cross and you was going to butcher her. Would it be better for all burger or to get her cut into steaks or not worth it?

 

[cattle60]

At that age all she would be is a burger cow. Grain her some and she will make some good burger.

 

[Supa Dexta]

Still my current pricing, divide by 2.2 for per pound

 

[farmerjan]

so if you had a 10 year old jersey Angus cross and you was going to butcher her. Would it be better for all burger or to get her cut into steaks or not worth it?

I'd do burger and the filets. Jerseys tend to be much more tender than other breeds even as older animals, but I think that at that age the filets would be about the only "steaks" worth trying to salvage. Ought to make some outstanding burger.

 

[No Rest Farm]

Has anyone tried to do strictly wholesale with beef they have raised? A lot of restaurants around me have local meats on their menus. I wonder if it would be easier than selling at the local farmers market?

 

[farmerjan]

There are people that do wholesale to restaurants. Again, have to do USDA slaughter facilities. Plus, they are only going to want certain cuts....so you have to have a plan for the cuts, and likely alot of burger, that they don't want....

 

[No Rest Farm]

I've been selling some every by the half or quarter. The butcher I use is USDA inspected so I have that covered. We also have a burger joint in town that is interested in buying burger if I can compete with what they are paying now.

 

[SRBeef]

Still my current pricing, divide by 2.2 for per pound

Thanks for posting your price list. Are those prices in US or Canadian dollars. Seems to be about a 35 cent difference in exchange rate. This would put your $5.50 ground beef at $4.08 US dollars which seems low.

BTW to sell by the cut or wholesale, in addition to being slaughtered and processed at an inspected facility, you need to be licensed, at least in WI. Farmers can't handle it after it's processed unless you are licensed. Customers have to pick it up at the processor.