Pricing freezer beef

[HOSS]

I know allot of you guys sell steers for freezer beef. How do you price your steers? I have 3 that I have held back for this purpose. My own get fed grain but the 3 that I am selling have been requested to be grass fed only. They will be ready to slaughter in late spring with an 1,100 to 1,200 lb live weight. I want to sell them by the pound (I have scales) and I will deliver them to the slaughter house. The customer will be responsible for picking up the beef and paying the processor. How would you price them by the pound? My inclination is to charge the top price of the local auction results plus a premium of some %. Two of these are balancer steers and one is a Gelb x Charolais (My doctor wants this one due to the extra lean meat).

 

[Jogeephus]

Depending on the market but most people charge $1.00 - $1.25 on the hoof here.

 

[chippie]

Something to think about. Have you had your scales certified -- are they accurate?
If you are not sure, you might want to charge by hanging weight (using the processor's scales).

 

[Jogeephus]

Selling on hanging weight can be problematic in that you don't get your money till the animal is killed and there are some people out there that will try and beat you every chance they get.

 

[chippie]

That is true. But you don't want to cheat yourself if your scales are not accurate.

 

[john250]

The local auction sold fat cattle for $1.24/lb last week.
With all the complications selling to an individual I'd need $2 to even think about it.

 

[SRBeef]

Whenever I weigh my small herd and run them through the alley after a little grain treat, I plug in my Trutest indicator to my platform and weigh myself to check it is working properly. It always seems accurate even though I walk up and down the platform, at least compared to my bathroom scale plus a few pounds for boots and jacket etc.

I suspect the parts on this page http://www.for-most.com/scales.html are more accurate than my bathroom scale and certainly good enough for selling on the hoof. There will be more variation due to manure dropped in the trailer and shrink than scale error if you have a good system with loadbars on a good base.

I have been shooting for a freezer beef price that works back to a live price of $1.35 fats. That ends up being around $2.10 on the rail. A little bit above sale barn to account for the extra hassle. However if fats get near $1.30-1.35 I may reconsider. I try to have orders in hand for all of mine before they come off of grazing corn in April and go to the processors. It's paid for by check before its picked up or delivered or they don't get the product. I've not had any payment problems.

I sell only split halves (=quarters) so the dollars and freezer space are more manageable for many potential customers. fwiw

Jim

 

[HOSS]

While my scales are not certified they are calibrated and checked with a test weight. I have a concrete pad that my squeeze chute is set on and the load bars / cells are under the chute. I feel pretty good about accurate live weight. I sold this years freezer steer for 1.40 lb delivered to the processor (about 15 miles away). I only had 2 to sell this year and I have allot more interest for next year so I wanted to see how others handle it. I got paid BEFORE the steer gets taken to the processor. Wouldn't do it any other way unless I really knew the person well. I think selling it delivered to the processor takes the headache of splitting it to multiple parties and communicating the cuts out of the equation. I appreciate the feedback. It gives me a better feeling that I am approaching it correctly.

 

[chippie]

Good deal. When you determine your price, be sure to include your cost in transporting the critter to the processors.
I think that you are smart to sell it that way.

 

[Jogeephus]

Hoss, another thing I do is have them fill out all their information on a form and how they want the calf butchered. The size of the hamburger packs, thickness of steaks, their phone number etc so when I carry them to the butcher he has all the information he needs to get things started and he can call them if there are questions or when its ready. Then I'm done with it.

Will you be selling the grassfed cheaper since you don't have to put that expensive grain products in them? :?

 

[Kathie in Thorp]

Hoss, another thing I do is have them fill out all their information on a form and how they want the calf butchered. The size of the hamburger packs, thickness of steaks, their phone number etc so when I carry them to the butcher he has all the information he needs to get things started and he can call them if there are questions or when its ready. Then I'm done with it.

Will you be selling the grassfed cheaper since you don't have to put that expensive grain products in them? :?

Here, grass fed doesn't go for any less $$ than grain finished -- sometimes it's more. Go figure. We sell by hanging weight; our customers are lined up months in advance, and they all pay a deposit at the they reserve. Not a huge deposit, but enough to spank them if they back out, and it reminds them to be saving up towards the day the carcass is on the rail and the balance is due. We get blank copies of the cutting instructions from the butcher, that our folks fill out in advance of slaughter, and we send the cutting instructions right along with the carcasses. I always copy those instructions every year, so our repeat customers can go back and see what they've had done in the past -- they don't always remember from year to year, and that has proven to be a good tool.

 

[HOSS]

Last year I used those sheets from the processor. My customers filled them out and I turned them in with the steers. This processor has their sheets set up pretty well as you can select the cuts and thickness and even bone in or out. I can easily get more. I like this processor because he is clean and he also vacuum seals everything. Costs a little bit more but I think the meat stays fresher longer.

 

[Jogeephus]

Yeah, the sheets are really handy. Makes things idiot proof and keeps your involvement to a minimum. Weighing them on the hoof also insures that you have little to no shrink at time of sale which could be argued as not being fair since the producer is always expected to take the hit but this could be argued as unfair as well. On this, I side with the producer cause this shrink will pay your delivery cost.

 

[Lawson Farms]

We get a deposit beforehand. Like stated above, it's big enough to hurt if they back out. It's only refundable if by some strange reason we are not able to provide the steer. We've been getting about 2.20 per hanging lb. We get the deposit when they reserve the steer. We get paid the balance before they can pick up. We haul to the processor (about 5 miles) that vacuum seals everthing but the burger. There are a few other processors that may be closer to customers that we offer to haul there for an additional fee. We've had people drive over 2 hours to buy before.