Beef pricing question

Wow, I would love to find a person selling 100# or even 200# of burger meat. I Live on Burgers.
My 'handle' instead of Arabian Knight in CB talk, should have been Wimpy. "I'll gladly pay you Tuesday for a hamburger today" LOL
When I take a steer to the processor, I get the majority made into hamburger. Costs less that way too in processing fees. LOL

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DUDE! It wasn't a personal attack! I'm not even sure I was directing it towards you. You're not the only one reminding me of the laws of the land.

I might not have been clear in my previous posts but the inspection of the steers started as soon as they got off the trailer. While I've not been in a processing plant before - it seems the state inspectors have their own office space there. The man in the hard hat and yellow apron with knives hanging from his belt told me about several inspections. That said - I do not have a tax number for a farm, I am not selling it at a market, it's not labeled to sell and I'm not trading it to people I don't know. While that might not work for everyone, I am hard pressed to believe that before the gov't got to big and the citizens so willfully obedient (scared?) - folks raised meat, even slaughtered them at home, and shared with their community. And people lived to tell about it.

Yes, Shannon, we know that. But we also know that you don't want BIG BROTHER coming after you. That is the source of our caution.

Some of us know the family in Missouri who lost just about everything due to the black boots coming after their goat cheese that had been mishandled in California.

Just be careful.

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Alice
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"No great thing is created suddenly." ~Epictitus

In this day in age with sue happy people I sure wouldn't be serenading it around that none of it was inspected. Yes they will and are cracking down on things like that. To sell to the public it Must Be slaughtered at a USDA inspected plant. and not in ones back yard, without being inspected. Simple as that.

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The OP seems to think she has this all figured out and she's within the law. I have no clue if she is or not, but I certainly wouldn't be advertising the information on a well read forum.

You can lead a horse to water, but you can't make them think.

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Thanks, Alice.

I'm still trying to figure out where y'all are getting the notion that I took my animals to a place that was *not* legal and loaded with inspectors? Unless stirring the pot is just a fun way to waste time for you....

Regs for North Carolina.

"Meat and Poultry Handler Registration
Any farmer who receives, stores, transports, and/or sells (wholesale or retail) NCDA (State) or USDA (Federal) inspected meat and/or poultry products must register as a meat and poultry handler with the NCDA&CS.

The registration requirements are fairly simple. The producer must have an acceptable storage facility that is clean and free from rodents and other pests. The product must be handled and stored under acceptable conditions (appropriate temperature, product rotation, etc.) to prevent the product from becoming adulterated. There are no maximum and/or minimum temperature parameters set by the NCDA&CS. They only require that the product be stored and transported properly to prevent product adulteration due to “temperature abuse”. Transport vehicles must be clean and in good working condition."

From: http://growingsmallfarms.ces.ncsu.ed...s-meatandeggs/

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People say I can't multi-task. Well, I can tick you off and amuse myself at the same time.

Paranoid much? Your OP indicated you knew very little about what you are doing, I see one person suggested checking the laws in your state (good advise for anyone) and I explained why people sell on the hoof. Where do you get the notion that we all think you are breaking the law?

In MY STATE there are 2 types of meat inspection for home raised beef. Any of the local butchers are STATE inspected which is just fine and in the case of your home raised beef is what 99% of growers use. The next level comes into play in my state if you want to sell ''by the cut'' instead of a 1/2 or split side. This requires inspection in a USDA certified plant using federal inspectors. These are usually more expensive and it is sometimes hard to find one that will do work for an individual.

Whew! This is making my head hurt. I'm sure I break some kind of law every single day if "they" are that interested I suppose. Here's the way I figure it PP, and also a technical reason for selling a cow on the hoof. When I sell a cow/steer/bull to folks or an individual, it's still upright walking around. They can take it home and stick it in their back yard if they want. Now, if this group decides to slaughter it, it's their meat. The processor I use has the names of the owners of this beef. Their names are stamped on their portion of the wrapped cuts of meat. So I didn't sell them any meat, I sold them a head of livestock. Now, once it's slaughtered the cuts of meat are clearly marked "not for resale". I don't think the government has enough money to hire resale police, (unless they print some more) so odds of getting in trouble like that are slim to none. However, if there is some problem with meat you sell to someone, say someone has a cookout using this meat and a bunch of people get sick from some weird disease, THEN the potential for issues for whoever sold the meat might come into play....again, because it's marked not for resale. However, the original question you posed was simply how to price the meat, not for my advice on the actual selling of it. I will also say although my beef is grass fed, I don't understand why it's in such high demand. I understand the health conscious craze, but you have to work with it more to get it tender or taste better than grain fed. Even though I have a freezer full of beef, sometimes I get in the mood for a big ole fat-laden New York Strip to throw on the grill so I go to the store for that. You'll like the burger for sure though, usually don't even have to drain it after browning.

We don't sell specific cuts, rather we sell portions of the animal: Halve, Quarters, Eighths. We take all the cuts and simply make them fit the proportion.

As the the pricing, beef prices are a ALL TIME HIGHS. This week packers were not getting calves out of the feed lots with their $150 bids. To put this in perspective, selling the calf for $150/cwt on the hoof equates to $231/cwt hanging. In my mind anyone selling freezer beef should price their animals much higher than the current $230 in the commercial market.

Jim

I took a couple of the kids with me to the auction barn today and on the way home, we stopped at our favorite meat market to get some hamburger meat.

I looked at their prices for halves and quarters.

1/2 of a steer ( grain fed ) $3.25 per lb
Front quarter $3.19 per lb
Hind quarter $3.29 per pound.

I mention this just to give an idea what beef is selling for at a good meat market in South Texas. I paid $3.09 for the burger. It is is $3.89 and up and the grocery store. And it is nowhere close to the quality or flavor of the meat market burger.

We bought a hind quarter maybe a year and a half ago and paid $2.79 ( how much prices have risen )

Maybe if you are dealing with family or friends on splitting a steer and they buy a quarter , they get a quarter of all cuts, but at all of the processors I have ever been to, you choose a front quarter or a hind quarter and you get the cuts that come from that quarter.

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Most of the lockers here changed from 1/4's to ''split sides'' about 15 years ago. So many more people wanted the rear so they would have more steaks in the mix. That is the drawback in selling beef ''by the cut'' is ending up with roasts and bone in cuts like soup bones, that cost the same as the steaks.

How do you deal with the Tenderloin when doing that? Do you cut it to halves or quarters to have four or eight pieces? I'm thinking about there being some very high demand cuts that are very limited on each animal.

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I used to sell meat and poultry in Illinois. I sold it by the retail cut. This is what I had to do in order to sell legally...

I had to get a Meat Broker's license from the State Department of Ag. They came and inspected my freezers to be sure they were clean, in an appropriate place (my garage) and most importantly that the labeling was accurate. Everything in those freezers had to have a USDA label from the processor. I was not allowed to relabel it in any way, like put my own business name on them. I can't remember but I think the labels had to have the cut, the weight, the processors name, address and usda number.

I was not allowed to have anything else in those freezers, but the meat for sale. They would check the temp and stuff, but mostly it was all about labels. My personal stuff for my family was kept in a different freezer in the house. It had to be in a completely separate area.

Everything I sold was slaughtered at USDA plants. I think I could have sold it within the state with a state inspection, but I sold out of state as well. I sold retail, I sold wholesale, same rules.

I also had to be inspected by the local health department. They did pretty much the same things as the meat broker inspector did. I had a trailer with freezers in it that I hauled to Farmers Markets. I had to get inspected by the local health department for wherever I went. Some were easier to deal with than others.

As far as pricing...gosh it's been so long I don't remember but there is nothing wrong with charging a premium....and do that math. So many people, farmers in particular, don't do the dang math! Figure up what it cost you to raise them, including all your overhead and then go from there. I know I sold $1000 worth of steaks in 4 hours on a Memorial Day Weekend once (at about $10/lb back then) and I also know I was forever trying to figure out ways to unload hamburger.

I never sold on the hoof. It was hard to find buyers (farming community where just about everyone knew someone with cattle) and I made much much more selling by the cut. It was an adventure and one of the most satisfying things I have ever done in my life. I'd still be doing it if my ex hadn't nearly put me in bankruptcy behind my back...but ah life goes on.

It all sounds like it was a pain, but it really wasn't that hard to do things legally and then I had peace of mind. Totally worth it to me.

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Just wondering how the beef turned out ?

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Those who fail to plan plan to fail !!!

Thanks for asking.

After putting the word out to a few folks I accidently over traded both steers. A good friend has offered to trade us back some of our beef as I did a poor job keeping up and we didn't get any. Trust me-the family wasn't happy but when I did the math after all the beef was spoken for I couldn't pass it up. You're talking to a broke goat fanantic who barely survived the worst winter of her life. I know that seems difficult to understand but the man who helps us around here was also helping me trade some of the beef and he seems to be a darn good salesman. So basically what I have to show for those two steers is to pounds of ground beef and three springers. I'm kinda excited about it - I went to the local weekly cow auction and learned a TON Monday. I also so several of my regular customers that I wait on at the restaurant in the next town over and my new lard source and a good time was had by all.

Now I'm looking to lease some more pasture land. I think I might become a cowgirl who's main crop is grass. I just need to learn to do the math in my head as quickly as the auctioneer speaks and as fast as the guys in there bid. And is seems like the best place I've come across to find a furture husband for the girls - even if I have 15 years or so before I have to worry about that.

Congratulations on selling all your beef. Before you count your profits did you take into account what it will cost you to replace all of that protein with a substitute of the same quality? Not trying to dim your enthusiasm or discourage you from going forward with expanding your plan, but selling something only to have to pay as much or more to replace it can create the illusion of false profits. Good luck in the future no matter how you proceed.

Any feedback from those that bought your beef?