Cost and finding a processor

Allen W · #21 03/13/09, 01:23 PM

Took a big steer in a couple of weeks ago to butcher and was asked if he was over 30 months. Told the butcher he was real close, didn't know for sure. All he said was he would butcher him last, that they had to totally clean their equipment if they butchered something 30 months or older before they butchered any young animals.

SpaceCadet12364 · #22 03/17/09, 08:29 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Ken Scharabok

Think it through! A cow typically cannot have a calf before 24 months of age. A cow/calf producer doesn't really even start to make money on a home-grown until likely their 3rd or 4th calf. If a 30-month old rule for slaughter for human consumption were enacted then essentially every cow/calf operation would go out of business as they would be limited to first calving heifer, which they have to dispose of even before her first calf is weined.

Call your local country Ag Agent and ask them what the skinny is.

Ken,
Went to our county Cattleman's association meeting tonite, talked with the ag agent and the president of the association. Also did a little reading online, mostly on the FDA & USDA websites.

The 30 month rules go into effect here pretty soon, like the end of this month, if the legislation is not stopped or changed from the looks of it. The reasoning has to do with BSE.......and the thing is, the "leftovers" from processing animals under 30 months I guess are deemed safe for the renderers to use in certain animal feeds and such. If they are 30 months or older, they are not, because of the higher risk of the BSE.

Now, if your custom processor that you usually take your animals to in order to be processed for human consumption has facilities in place that can/will keep under 30 months & 30 months and over "leftovers" separate where one will not contaminate the other....then you should not have a problem. Of course, this would also mean that the processors will have to have different rendering companies to pick up, or the rendering company has to have either different trucks pick up the different loads, or a means of being able to pick up the leftovers to render without the two categories of leftovers being able to comingle with each other.

How many processors do you know of that already have two separate kill floors/processing facilities to be able to accomodate these upcoming changes? From what the local cattlemans asssociation president says, he has heard of some processors that have stated that this will close them down.

You might want to check with your local agents, I don't think that this is just a Kentucky affliction......not with the gobermint agencies being involved.

SpaceCadet12364 · #23 03/17/09, 08:35 PM

And, if the rendering plants in your area either cannot or will not process separately, depending on what uses they make their rendered products for.......some areas processors may be driven by that aspect of it. If the rendering company is unable/unwilling to take the leftovers from 30 months or older animals......the processor would be stuck with dealing with it.

Something that I would imagine that many processors do not care to have to fool with. The loss of income in not processing the older animals I would imagine is offset by the fact that it will probably be lower costs in handling the leftovers that the renderers are willing/able to take and the lack of hassle of having to figure out what to do with the leftovers from the older animals.

SpaceCadet12364 · #24 03/17/09, 08:37 PM

Guess that means we need to look at building a small processing building of our own on the farm for our own use. And read up on what to do and how to do it.