Direct sales to customers

[tncattle]

Just read an article about selling your beef directly to the customers. We (wife and I) are wandering when someone buys a whole, half, or quarter carcass how long can you keep it frozen before it goes bad? We can't really picutre how much each cut actually is. For example how many pounds of hamburger would you get from half of a 600 pound steer carcass?

 

[TXBobcat]

You can keep frozen meat in a freezer for quite some time - at least a year.

The amount of hamburger from any animal depends on how you tell the processor to cut up the animal.

From a 500 lb hanging weight steer we recently processed, we got about 125 lbs of hamburger, in addition to the normal cuts - t-bones, ribeyes, sirloins, roast, briskets, etc.

 

[backhoeboogie]

Bobcat is right. We have kept it for a long time frozen. I think alot has to do with packaging as well. It is a little more expensive to get vacuum pack at the processor we use, but I like it better. Folks who buy half of my beef specify it that way too.

 

[Bez>]

Sell at lot out the farm gate - but ... we never kill until the customer has ordered and paid - other than a few real steady and good ones. I need a whole animal ordered before I kill.

If they do not want to do that then we do not want to deal with them.

Have your ducks in a row before you start - it is easy to get taken.

Cheaper to keep them on the hoof than in the freezer.

Build a clientelle and you will do well.

Bez>