Butcher question, getting your meat back?

mrstillery09 · #1 04/14/13, 07:26 PM

We are thinking about making a deal with a fellow farmer around here, and getting a cow to send to the butcher. The problem we're having, is everyone we talk to says when we send the cow there, we'll be getting other peoples meat back. I keep saying that surely there is a way they make sure you only get back what you send in, but I'm not sure what to tell people. I just don't have the experience! So, what say you? Is this something that is common place or not?

katy · #2 04/14/13, 07:37 PM

Of the people saying this, did you ask them to recommend a butcher / processor ? Might want to. On the other hand I have heard the same about SOME processors. If it is happening, it's usually not considered to be an accident, but how to prove it, I don't know. Good luck to you.

Forgot to ask, what are they charging ?

mrstillery09 · #3 04/14/13, 08:06 PM

This is still in the very early stages, so we don't even have a specific butcher in mind! It's just everyone seems to have a negative thought about it. I know there are probably shady butchers, but I like to think most are honest!

ksfarmer · #4 04/14/13, 08:21 PM

It's been some years since we had a beef butchered, but, we always felt our butcher was honest and reliable and that we got our own beef back. You always hear stories but a lot is just that,,stories. Sometimes people have a beef that may not be as prime as they think it is and therefore they are disappointed and want to blame someone else.

OkieDavid · #5 04/14/13, 08:22 PM

Typically processors are fair and strive to do a good job. The typical pattern is your beef will be slaughtered and hung in a freezer with several other carcasses to age. Once the carcass has properly aged, it will be moved to the cutting floor and processed start to finish before they start another animal. A processor lives and dies by their reputation in the community. Bad ones don't seem to be in business for long around these parts.

plowjockey · #6 04/14/13, 08:24 PM

DNA tests?

I have heard it, usually with the connotation, IMO, "my locker is better than your locker", or just a personal grudge, against the locker.

How do they know their meat is was switched?

If your are butchering a cow, you have nowhere to go but up. Maybe switch with a nice steer?

Nimrod · #7 04/14/13, 08:27 PM

Used to be there was a traveling butcher who would come to your farm, dispatch the animal, and butcher it right there. Don't know if anyone still works this way or not.

Callieslamb · #8 04/14/13, 08:30 PM

If they aren't speaking about a specific butcher then it's just gossip. I'd ask the meat processor you choose what their policies are to ensure that you get YOUR beef. I'm sure it's something they face all the time. I've never had a worry about our processor.

luvrulz · #9 04/14/13, 09:03 PM

You need to know the processor. We have some that don't guarantee we will get "our" cow back so we don't use them. We use the one that says Yes! You get your little "Ribeye" that you raised from a calf and that you know what you fed him!!! :-)

kimmom2five · #10 04/14/13, 09:49 PM

At the farm where I get my eggs, I asked them how they got the right meat back. She said that they switched butchers because one time they know they got the wrong pig back because the hooves were the wrong color from the pig they sent.

CIW · #11 04/14/13, 10:28 PM

If my aniamls are getting traded out with another, I'm not complaining, because I've been getting good meat for the 20 years we've been using this butcher.
By the way, my butcher comes to the farm and dispatches my animals, then takes them back to his shop to process. He puts a numbered tag on each of the halves when he splits the carcass. It stamped on each of my meat packages when I pick them up 3 weeks later.

Dale Alan · #12 04/15/13, 02:00 AM

The butchers I know will give you back YOUR meat when it comes to steaks/roasts,etc . When it comes to ground meat including sausages,sticks,etc. maybe not. They do these in big batches and just go by what weight your animal(s) provided towards the total of the batch . I do my own butchering now so I understand why they do it that way. Much easier to do the grinds in batches instead of small runs . This is just my experience,I am sure it is different everywhere.

Micheal · #13 04/15/13, 06:16 AM

Haven't seen a processor yet who's business hasn't died if short changing or swapping out is "really" suspected. Locally what you send is processed one carcass at a time, no intermingling what-so-ever. Opps, one exception - if your animal is not "fat" enough they will add fat of another to the ground beef but only after getting your approval.

Usually how those rumors start when a person sends a 15 year old milk cow that has been having problems eating to be butchered and then wonders why they didn't get back "Grade A prime" cuts back..... after all it was my "best" cow and therefore it must be the butcher.......
Or I just know that that animal I sent to be butchered weighed 1200 pounds. No I didn't scale (weigh) it but anyone just by looking at the animal should know how much it weighs....... I only got about 250 lbs of meat back sooo that darn butcher must have short changed me....

BarbadosSheep · #14 04/15/13, 06:41 AM

Find a smaller processor that requires that you make an appointment. We used large processing plants twice and did not get our own cow back either time. We found black hairs in our red cow's meat once and the second time the meat from our 2 year old steer was so tough we had to grind it all. Even the prime steaks were inedible. I know that was not the steer I raised. This time around, we have Dexters, which will be small enough to handle ourselves.

Belfrybat · #15 04/15/13, 06:56 AM

Dale Allan hit the nail on the head. At least that is true with venison processing. They keep the cuts separate so you get back what you took in, but the pieces to be ground are mixed with others. If you want to get your own ground and sausage back then you pay a premium.
In this rural area there are two processors and both are reputable and assure folks they are getting back the steer they bring in. Nothing is mentioned about the ground, but I've never heard any complaints.

Nate_in_IN · #16 04/15/13, 07:57 AM

You can always ask for a tour of the facility. It will let you see first hand how your animal will be handled. Pay attention to how the product is identified, processed and packaged. Just be prepared for what you will see.

haypoint · #17 04/15/13, 09:02 AM

One way to be sure you get your meat is to only take un-castrated boars and only grass finished beef.

Alice In TX/MO · #18 04/15/13, 09:30 AM

I'd visit the butcher shops and talk to them, get a feel of whether your gut says Yes or No.

Rita · #19 04/15/13, 10:06 AM

In Maryland we made an appointment and you stood and watched them cut the meat however you desired and saw the hamburger ground. I then took it home wrapped it and froze it. Now here they cut, wrap and freeze which is a work saver but I know once we did not get our hamburger or they didn't grind it twice as it as tough, bloody and poor taste. I've heard that processors are never lacking or need to buy any meat for themselves.

Raymond James · #20 04/15/13, 10:45 AM

By law the Custom Except butcher must give you back your animal without mixing meat from different animals together. Your animal is killed, skinned, hung and given a tag to ID it. The animal after hanging is taken and cut up/packaged, equipment cleaned then the next animal is cut up and packaged.

You should be able to walk thru the facility if you ask. Is it clean , well lit and organized? Do you see the tags and the numbers/names on the hanging met and packages.

Some states (Missouri is one) have a program where a small processors can have a state Dept. of Ag meat inspector that works at the plant a couple of days a week. Use one of these shops if you can. You an get the meat processed and packaged custom except labeled " Not For Sale or processed and labeled "For Sale in the state of Missouri" . I know several people who have cattle processed For Sale in Missouri and then sell frozen meat at Farmers Markets in Missouri.

If you hear complaints about one shop then use another. Vague complaints about all shops I would not worry about .

I recommend Randy Alwells shop in Warrensburg, Jim Heatheringtons north of Clinton and Gilberts in Holden Missouri. I have used all of them and they are very honest, run clean well organized shops and have good reputations. Full disclosure I used to be a health Inspector and did the health inspections for Alwells and Gilberts . I like the unloading chutes at Heatheringtons the best, I also prefer its rural location that is only 6 miles from me.