Direct Marketing Beef

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carnivore1960

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Hoping you can let me know the pitfalls of direct marketing beef to the public.
I live about 30 minutes from a pretty big town (120K) I have grass fed/finished beef.
We can process about 12 head per year, small operation, we have 3 head at a USDA
processor now expecting meat in a couple of weeks so it's almost too late to back out now
but any advise or experience is appreciated. We are planning on selling it by the pound from
our freezer. Thanks!
 
1. Not having a market before you start selling
2. Yourself not being educated in the rules and regulations of selling individual cuts of meat.
3. Certain cuts sell quicker. Everyone eats hamburger. Not everyone will want a roast.

Those are 2 that come to mind right off the bat. We only sell on the hoof when we sell for butcher. For us, it is much easier that way.
 
You could try some ''bundles'' to move some of the odd cuts that GreatGurts mentioned. I would ask the processor to grind most of the poorer cuts unless they are pre sold. There is always a burger market but boiling beef and most of the poor roasts are a hard sell. :nod:
 
greatgerts said:
We only sell on the hoof when we sell for butcher. For us, it is much easier that way.


That's what we do also. I only sell to a small group of folks by word of mouth, no advertising. I could sell more with advertising but this way I know I'm not dealing with a jacka$$. At this point in my life, I don't play well with folks who are a pain in the a$$. Life's too short!

I
 
Thank you all for your input, we have a small farm and just trying to get as much out of our product as possible.
One of my neighbors told me it was too tough dealing with the public but if I can get my price for my beef it might be worth the headache?
 
You will make more money per pound selling by the package, but it is a LOT easier and profitable to sell by the 1/2 (or even 1/4's). Set a price per pound of the hanging carcass. Buyer pays for kill, cut, wrap & freeze - or include in your price per pound.
But, in any case, you need a VERY good product if you plan do sell to same people 2nd time. Just because you have an animal that produces beef, does not mean it will be a great eating experience for your buyer.
Especially hard to have GOOD/GREAT grass fed beef. It is more management on your part than grain fed beef. Do you know when an animal is ready to be harvested?
 
I'll agree with this last post. From my understanding I would look at certain EPDs like finding a small/medium frame animal, high marbling epd and finding stock that has been proven on grass. A lot of shortcomings can be hidden by grain fed. It seems to be a pretty different game to me in terms of what to look for in cattle if you're wanting to direct market grass fed beef vs selling via the traditional food chain/feed lot mechanism.
 
JMER1533 said:
I'll agree with this last post. From my understanding I would look at certain EPDs like finding a small/medium frame animal, high marbling epd and finding stock that has been proven on grass. A lot of shortcomings can be hidden by grain fed. It seems to be a pretty different game to me in terms of what to look for in cattle if you're wanting to direct market grass fed beef vs selling via the traditional food chain/feed lot mechanism.
Yes and no. The "grassfed genetics" can also hid a lot of faults with fat. You need muscle and pounds to sell even in grassfed cattle. The processing cost will eat your lunch on small, light weight and low yielding cattle. I'd go with moderate cattle rather than extreme cattle. You need to find groups of health conscience or purpose driven folks. A friend in LA sells through a home schooling association. The promotions of happy cows and green pastures is more important in these sales than anything else. They are paying, partly, for a warm feeling and a wonderful experience.

Grassfed beef will finish on flushes of forages. You will either need to get pre orders for late spring for the natural flush or create forage flushes during the year with plantings and management.
 
Most producers do not have marketing genetics. I tried to promote my wife to Marketing Director. She does love to talk and to direct, but she claims she is permanently damaged from selling Girl Scout cookies. May have to look into signing up for disability...
 
carnivore1960 said:
Hoping you can let me know the pitfalls of direct marketing beef to the public.
I live about 30 minutes from a pretty big town (120K) I have grass fed/finished beef.
2019 is the year of The Weed, with some looking at marketing Hemp fed pork in select locations.
Maybe you can start an ultra niche market with a value added GRASS fed grass/finished beef.
:)
 
mwj said:
There is always a burger market but boiling beef and most of the poor roasts are a hard sell. :nod:

I think there are more $$$ in grinding cows, not two year olds, for grass fed burger.

There used to be a few folks finishing heifers after short weaning their first calf. I understand that it would be difficult to put together numbers for big operation. Not sure why this is not more common in direct marketing?

We do this with a few each year that we do not like so much for mothers. We find the flavor is superior.
 
Direct marketing is something that really appeals to us. But thanks to the USDA I'm not allowed to sell beef that I've processed here on our farm to the willing public. "we're from the government, we're here to help you" If the government would just get the heck out of the way we could do all right selling "Georgia Grown" beef.
 
To sell beef to the general public, the beef has to be processed at a facility that is USDA inspected.

You can sell the animal by hanging weight to individuals by the quarter, half or whole as long as it is processed in a locker. The lockers are USDA inspected for approval to do the processing, but the carcass is not USDA inspected.
 
cbcr said:
To sell beef to the general public, the beef has to be processed at a facility that is USDA inspected.

You can sell the animal by hanging weight to individuals by the quarter, half or whole as long as it is processed in a locker. The lockers are USDA inspected for approval to do the processing, but the carcass is not USDA inspected.

My meat room is not USDA inspected, and I process the majority of what we eat in it. I sure don't want any government minions spooking around looking for something to do.
 
True Grit Farms,

As long as you are doing it for yourself, there is no problem. There are still a few people around that process there own meat.

There are a lot of deer hunters that cut and process their own deer meat.

For your own use, you have nothing to worry about.
 
True Grit Farms said:
Direct marketing is something that really appeals to us. But thanks to the USDA I'm not allowed to sell beef that I've processed here on our farm to the willing public. "we're from the government, we're here to help you" If the government would just get the heck out of the way we could do all right selling "Georgia Grown" beef.
Technically your thanks should go to LBJ and his 1967 Wholesome Meat amendment to
the Federal Meat Inspection Act of 1906.

LBJ was cursed. Though his intentions were good, everything he touched carried some of the worst
unforeseen consequences our country has seen. Because of his mastery over congress he was able to
ram through a landslide of legislation increasing the size and scope of the federal government.
His escalation of the Vietnam War was one of the 5 biggest mistakes made by a US president.
IMO he's easily 1 of the 10 worst presidents of all time... good thing he only had 5 years.
 
I have a friend who has done well with direct marketing. But,(and it is a big but) he has local access to USDA inspected slaughter and cut/wrap. He also doesn't mind sitting in farmers markets building up his clientele and dealing with the public. He did go from 100 cows selling calves in the fall to 80 cows holding all the calves to 2 year olds and selling as grass fat beef. He also took one bay of a three car garage and installed a 10 by 16 (?) walk in freezer.
 
Dave He did go from 100 cows selling calves in the fall to 80 cows holding all the calves to 2 year olds and selling as grass fat beef. [/quote said:
There are a number of people pushing different schemes to make as much or "more with half as many cows". Since many producers don't make any $$$ - - that may not be the best goal to focus on. ;-)

That said, many folks have cheap feed to put gain on calves. Fewer folks have forage that can finish beeves. You need to think hard on both your production ann and your marketing resources before jumping on the grass fed band wagon.
 

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