Private Meat Sales

[kato]

Can anyone shed some light on regulations governing private sales of beef ?
I know many people who are slaughtering beef and having the meat inspected and having truck load sales or selling at farmers markets etc.
What regulations govern slaughtering on farm and selling meat ? I was of the opinion that it was a no no.

[cakadu]

The slaughtering of animals on the farm is for your immediate families consumption only. People do get around this by selling the animals to people first and then they can get them processed by a mobile butcher for example. It is against the law to sell uninspected meat, which is why you will see wild meat with the words "uninspected meat, not for resale" stamped on it. The animals must be inspected both ante and post-mortem.

Different municipalities have different rules for transporting meat, so it is wise to find out what those are. Alberta Agriculture has several publications regarding the processing and sale of meat - well worth reading them.

To sell at farmer's markets, there are also a number of regulations as well, so those must be thoroughly checked out too. When we last sold meat at the farmer's market, all products that were intended to be sold had to be inspected, as did the premises that the products were being made at.

Basically it must be inspected meat for it to be sold. A provincial inspection stays in the province and a federal inspection lets you ship across Canada or in better times, out of the country.

[cakadu]

The slaughtering of animals on the farm is for your immediate families consumption only. People do get around this by selling the animals to people first and then they can get them processed by a mobile butcher for example. It is against the law to sell uninspected meat, which is why you will see wild meat with the words "uninspected meat, not for resale" stamped on it. The animals must be inspected both ante and post-mortem.

Different municipalities have different rules for transporting meat, so it is wise to find out what those are. Alberta Agriculture has several publications regarding the processing and sale of meat - well worth reading them.

To sell at farmer's markets, there are also a number of regulations as well, so those must be thoroughly checked out too. When we last sold meat at the farmer's market, all products that were intended to be sold had to be inspected, as did the premises that the products were being made at.

Basically it must be inspected meat for it to be sold. A provincial inspection stays in the province and a federal inspection lets you ship across Canada or in better times, out of the country.

[15444]

If the animal is owned by only you at the time of slaughter, then it is a big no-no. Ontario just reminded everyone in September that even though BSE is hurting producers, that they must buy beef slaughtered and inspected in a licensed facility.

One way to get around it though, is to sell 1/4, 1/2, etc. possession in an animal while it is still live, just like what happens at purebred sales. That way, you can own part possession and can slaughter it on your own farm and have it cut and wrapped and not worry about any of the regs of selling to people other then family as the animal was sold before slaughter and the carcass is divided between those that bought in.

I know of one fellow producer that does this kind of marketing quite successfully. I would imagine there are many producers out there that have their own way of squeezing through the regulations.

[grassfarmer]

I believe that selling a live animal to someone before slaughter so that it belongs to them at slaughter time has to be backed up by some historical feed bills for the animal. I mean you need to prove they helped fatten it not just sell it to them the day before slaughter. Why bother? - it's not that difficult to get it killed in a Provincial plant - in most cases it's cheaper than the mobile ones. Unless you have the skills to butcher yourself I wouldn't bother trying to get around the regulations. We have 7 young grassfed beeves hanging at the moment - it even looks like we could make money doing it this way!

[grassfarmer]

I guess that the one drawback to doing that in this area is that you have to book animals months in advance for slaughter which adds to the confusion of trying to market beef.
One couple in this area have been hauling two animals per week to slaughter, having the meat inspected and selling at farmers markets and truckload sales. They could provide more animals from their feeding operation but they can only get two booked for slaughter weekly due to the lack of capacity in this area.
I know of some that are marketing cuts of beef from animals that are slaughtered on the farm and not inspected, so they are cutting corners which could be a problem for them, but like everyone, they are just trying to add value to their cattle.

[cakadu]

Emrald, trying to get slaughter capacity anywhere is tough these days. Wait lines are booked for 2 to 4 or more months in advance. As a direct marketer, this can be very tough on business because you rely on the slaughter capacity to be able to deliver on a fairly timely basis. Once slaughter capacity is built up, the backlog that these smaller plants are facing should ease up somewhat.

The problem is that they aren't only killing beef, they are doing sheep, pigs, bison, elk and now that hunting season is upon us - wild meat as well. In fact, some plants are not doing wild meat right now because they just can't fit it in. This jump in demand for slaughter is something that the provincial plants could never have anticipated and it is likely beyond their wildest dreams in some cases. The challenge is that it is a double-edged sword because they do not have the capacity in either killing floor, manpower and/or storage to be able to accommodate everything.

As far as selling direct from a farm kill - I would never want to do it because the liability issues alone would be staggering if something should happen. In all the years that we have been selling directly, I think that there have only been a couple of times when the people did not want to have it sent to a slaughter facility and we told them that they either paid the $20 (at that time) or they didn't get the animal.

There are a couple of advantages to having the animal done right on farm - less stress would be the biggest advantage - it still makes far more sense to go through the proper channels, as grassfarmer has stated. To me it is far less hassle in the long run.

[cakadu]

I agree, going through the proper chanels is the best way, unfortunately some folks will cut corners.

[cakadu]

The difficulty is that if these people get caught, or heaven forbid something bad happens like an e-coli problem etc., that can have consequences for those that do things according to the regulations. I know you can't stop people from doing what they want, but a look at the bigger picture wouldn't hurt, would it?

[dsinclair]

There are definitely alot of different scenerios out there today regarding slaughtering. As we understand it, if you buy the animal from the farm and it is yours, you must be there during the slaughter process, from kill to cutting and wrapping. You can sell inspected beef from the farm as long as the point of sale has been inspected also by your local health authority.
One thing that really surprised us is the transport of the beef from the slaughterhouse to your home or whatever. It is supposed to be done in containers where the beef remains at a temperature of 4C, I believe. We had a friend who picked up some beef and was transporting it home, was checked and fined because he just had it in boxes, like most of us I would assume.
What really concerns me is one fellow in our area who buys crocks from the auction. I don't think he feeds them up, if he does it's not very much. He has them slaughtered and is doing the truckload sale all over the province. Apparently the beef is #$%& poor and anyone to whom we have spoken who has purchased it says it's terrible. Some are no longer eating beef. They claim they paid a big dollar for an inferior product. In the meantime, the guy is making a killing 'cause he has few input costs. The e coli thing scares me too. Beef has struggled and competed with other meats in the 'healthy' department for years. We, as producers, need to be held accountable for our product. I know it's tough times, but trying to dupe the consumer may make times tougher. Remember, so far they are behind us.

[jabers34]

What bunch of BS . I can remeber when I was kid Dad and a couple of his friends would get together on Saturday and kill a beef .They would put rope on lead it outside, put it down .Then use the frontend loader or poles to hang it up ,skin it and gut it .Then load it in halfton .Take it up to the meat cutter and let it hang for a few days . Then get cut up,split the beef between who help kill it . We are all still alive and it was never checked by a Gov. inspector . Just another way for the Gov. to the little guys out of business and get a bunch money out of ya .
Sorry if I offended anyone things like this really tick me off .

[jabers34]

The key here is that all those involved in the slaughter were the recipients of the meat. A bit different than on farm slaughtering of beef for sale.
It is likely in the best interest of the industry that there are regulations governing the slaughter and sale of beef....although it may not make a lot of sense.

[grassfarmer]

jabers34, what you say is true enough - but a lot of this food selling business nowadays is built on consumer perception of good practice not facts - and the threat of being sued. Look how many meat recalls there are for beef originating in the huge packing plants that are Gov. inspected.

[dsinclair]

And, times have changed! We must realize that we are food producers, not cow producers. There is alot of time spent today on gathering information for EPD's to predict rate of growth, rib eye size, etc. Consumers are paying alot of money for the product and I believe they should be getting the best. I think there will come a day when the producer who raises the so called best will get a better dollar for his product. There will always be a place for other products as well, but the high return will not be there. Also, the fellow who produces each product will be recognized in some way, similar to country of origin. In France, we have heard, there are names of farmers and even photos of those that produced a particular cut of meat. I think that's going a bit far, but consider how many people buy from farmers markets and the money they pay for a product sold by the producer and one which may or may not be of superior quality. It comes down to this value added stuff. The production of beef, marketing it and selling it have changed and we have got to change too!

[cakadu]

Many people were raised on meat the way you speak of jabers. In fact, it is surprising how in one generation we don't see that much anymore. A friend of mine was commenting that he remembers doing what you speak of all the time on the farm, yet if he did it with his kids, they would be horrified.

It may not make a whole lot of sense, but I do believe it is for the common good. Many people were very careful with how they processed the meat on farm. All it takes is one who isn't and the problems and consequences of that can be huge. Better to avoid them altogether instead of having to deal with the consquences.