Aging beef?

[grassfarmer]

Thank you for all the information, I'm starting to get a clearer picture now. One query - when you quote the cut/wrap charge as 50c/lb is that per lb hanging weight or per lb saleable meat?
Also do non farming customers generally understand (or are happy with) the theory of paying x$/lb on a 720lb hanging carcase when they will only get maybe 500lbs of actual meat off it?

[nerves]

yes that is .50 cents per pound hanging weight. Yes we make sure to explain it to our customers because they also get the best steaks for the price of hamburger. We also are doing boxed beef for those who just want enough for a couple of meals but we also charge more there is alot more expence. News paper ads work real well when combined with a web page. When we ran them we got about 20 phone calls a day. Now we haven"t ran an ad for about a month and are still getting phone calls and e-mails.

[cakadu]

Grassfarmer, generally the cut and wrap is on the hanging meat. This is another cost that you have to figure into the price you are charging the customer.

As a rule, city folk don't understand the "hanging on the rail weight." They aren't interested in the train. ;-)

What they want to know is how much they have to pay you for the box(es) that you are delivering to them. We deal this way with our lamb - what they pay us for is what they end up getting. In order to assure the customer they are getting the weight they are paying for, our processor is very good and will scale the boxes for us before we take them for delivery. That way the weight given is on a "legal tender" scale. (I should point out that some customers will weigh the boxes at home, so this is one way to ensure them they are getting what they are paying for.)

I agree that it is a lot of work and takes time. Your time and effort must also be given consideration in your final cost to the customer.

This isn't the preferred way to go for a lot of folk because if you are delivering boxes, you aren't doing something else on the farm.

The up side is that you are giving a quality product to your customers - in the 10 years we've been doing this, we've not had a complaint and we are in as much control as possible from the pasture to someone's plate.

We've built a good rapport with the processor and he is easy to work with and fills our custom orders with no problem. The best part is that you get the "middle mans" share in your pocket, which is where it should be.

I wish you every success!

[grassfarmer]

Thank you - I look forward to trying out this new operation this year on a small number of animals.

[nerves]

I have read the above conversations and have noticed that I have also forgot to mention any storage facility must have a permit from your local health divison. so if the meat is transported from the processor to home the vehicle and the freezer at home must be certified. There is also a fee for this permit. If you ever plan to do farmers markets they will need to see this permit. The health divison has the ultamite power over all so make sure there is no grey areas. Most of the time it is the competition that will lay a complaint not the comsumer. The lady that did our permiting said they are going to start patroling alot more because there is more people doing it.