milkmaid":aygmiqa7 said:
For those of you who do that, how easy do you find it is to get buyers for a half or whole beef? Obviously that would depend on the area, I know, but - any comments? I've got two 7wts that we were planning to butcher ourselves but it's beginning to look like we won't need them at all. Been thinking about feeding them out and putting an ad in the paper (probably closer to November), but I just want an idea of how easy (or not!) it would be to sell these two that way before I go to all the time and money of feeding them out. Might be easier to just run them through the auction now.
Thanks! ;-)
MM
There might be some pickings for you here - have a peek and think on it. It is a tough game to get into, but when you get there you can make money.
We are down sizing due to returns in the Canuck market - but it still holds true to this day.
Have a look and do as you think might be best. Do not worry about thiose who cannot go the complete half - they may decide to split with another family. Watch the triflers - they can make promises they know they will not keep.
I wrote this some time ago on another board - but you might find it interesting. Numbers have changed a bit - but they are still close and all info applies to our operation.
Best of luck,
Bez?
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I think you mentioned you might sell some cattle to the local market. We usually sell about 30 a year right out the farm gate. We have a good butcher and we also have the meat inspected. The customers are welcomed to come to the "pick" field to pick out the animal they want - most get a good bit of enjoyment out of this.
We let them throw a little corn to the animals - seems the folks from the city like to do this sort of thing. Keep them in the back of the truck when the herd comes around - saves a bunch of potential trouble! We record the tag number and then cut out the animal for slaughter.
Make sure the butcher tapes the tag number to the top of the frozen pile of meat.
You meet some great folks and some not so great - the nice thing about being the boss is you can tell the not so greats that you are not interested in their trouble.
Build a good relationship with the biutcher - if it costs a bit more, it is sometimes worth it - a quality product is always in demand.
Our animals only go when there is a complete steer of heifer sold. Nothing less than halves and they pay $2.50 per pound hanging weight. I do not kill until the cheque has cleared with the new clients and that has put a stop to the "back outs and bad cheques". I take a minimum of $400 bucks up front with new folks. Otherwise it is all or nothing. The old reliables and this family do business both in advance or upon pick up - with no hesitation. Cash is king if you get my drift.
This year we are booked with only about 30 going to the sale barn - the remainder another 40 or so will go out the gate. I am not so sure we want to get any bigger.
We strictly grass our animals and the selling starts in late August.
It takes some time to build this clientelle and you will have to sort through the dead wood. But after you get it set up it does pay. Our average side weighs in at 325 pounds and we go through 60 of them a year. We intend to grow another 10 - 20 sides this year and then stop - it is a big committment and time vs selling has reached the maximum
Out of that we pay the kill - 50 bucks and the cut and wrap - total butcher costs per cow are usually in the neighbourhood of 300 - 350 bucks. It can be done cheaper, but the quality of the man doing the work justifies the cost - at least to us. We usually gross about 1600 - 1650 per animal. So we tend to clear about $1200 - $1350 per animal sold. I wish that was all profit, but it does allow us to pay some bills!
So if you are small and starting out try the newspaper advertisement - it worked for us on a small way and might be your big start. If you are unsure you can sale barn one and try farm gating the other - gives you some cash while looking for customers. As time marches on you can start selling out the door - not for everyone - and everyone has horror stories - including us - but they are almost non-existent today.
Whichever way you go - work your butt off and be honest - your name is everything in the cow game.
It is great to see some new blood - especially your younger blood - enter this game - us old farts are on the way out - you keep at it - it is a tough game but worth it in the end.
Best of luck in your new endeavour - WATCH YOUR PENNIES!!
