sides of beef

[cowman]

grassfarmer: You add the 15% profit for your time,extra problems, risk. The $1105 would be exactly what you would get if you sold him to a packer. The $450 is what you actually pay out for the processing. What do you get paid for advertizing, delivery, etc.? You need some sort of margin for that type of expense, right? I just took the figure of 15% because I think that would be fairly acceptable? Pretty standard percentage mark up in contracting out services in the oil patch.

[grassfarmer]

OK Cowman, I see what you were meaning now. I just factor in the processing costs along with production costs at the start.
Cedar,yes we are in Alberta. We aged the beef for 16 days last year - that was what the butcher reckoned was perfect - given their cooler space constraints. We have found a plant that we are happy with - Swiss folk that really know beef.
I think this grassfed market could be huge, you only need to look at where it is in the US. They started it years ago in the rich NE states and it has spread accross the country. It has really taken off in the last five years and they reckon that current production is about 20-25% of what the market wants. People that are good at it have waiting lists and I have seen prices as high as $5 US per lb hanging weight quoted! It frustrates me that mainstream agriculture here isn't interested - even our beef orgaisations can only see mass produced feedlot beef. Yet here is a market that could be huge, high value and domestic and we continue to sell commodity beef to US packers sending all the profits to the US instead of keeping them here in our rural communities.
My comment on grassfed versus grainfed beef is that ours has better texture and taste - it's not the bland mass produced stuff you get in stores. Many of you will disagree with that which is fine - we have customers prepared to put money out for our product which is all I need to know.
Consumers in general are very ignorant of production processes but the fact that we are selling hormone and anti-biotic free beef seems to be a bonus to them. Some customers come to us because of these points.
Our website is "www.luingcattle.com" - we are trying to update it currently. An excellent website that will tell you a lot more about grassfed/organic etc is "www.eatwild.com"

[Cattleman]

Grassfarmer, I just looked at your website, very good! But I was surprised that you did not advertise your grassfed beef on this site? How do you advertise?

[grassfarmer]

Cattleman, it's going to appear soon on the website. We do all the website updates ourselves and I am not disciplined enough to get it done as soon as I should. We started to sell to friends and then let them tell their friends about it. We have done some local advertising and farmers markets but we find we don't get too much response out in the country. Most sales are into the urban centres - which is as we expected.

[Cedar]

Grassfarmer: If I ever get a chance to do my "Alberta Tour", may I add your place to my itinerary? I would love to see your animals and ask you a "ton of questions"?

[grassfarmer]

You bet, Cedar I'd be pleased to meet you. If you want to ask me any more questions email me - that way we don't tie this forum up for other folks.

[farmers_son]

Grassfarmer: I noted your comment about hanging your beef for 16 days and thought you might be interested in this clip from Animalnet:

The science behind making steak more tender
February 3, 2005
ARS News Service
Agricultural Research Service, USDA
Consistently tender steaks may be more readily available at restaurants and supermarkets in the future, thanks to technology developed by Agricultural Research Service (ARS) scientists in Nebraska and used by beef processors. At the ARS Roman L. Hruska U.S. Meat Animal Research Center in Clay Center, Neb., animal physiologist Mohammad Koohmaraie is leading a group of researchers in determining how to make steaks more tender. Some of their discoveries are already being used by industry. The scientists noticed meat is tender after slaughter, then toughens before starting to become tender again. Accordingly, the scientists believe steaks shouldn't be sold before they've aged for 14 days, to make sure the meat has undergone maximum tenderization. A majority of beef processors are already following this procedure.
They also discovered the enzyme µ-calpain and the variation of the protein called calpastatin, both of which have a major impact on meat tenderness. Calpastatin determines how much calpain is active and how tender the steak will be. Since calpain requires calcium for activity, the team has developed a process for injecting calcium into meat in order to make it tender. The scientists are also studying cattle genetics. Under the leadership of chemist Tim Smith, they are comparing the sequences of genes that produce calpain in both tender and tough cattle. They have released a DNA test that accurately identifies which cattle will likely provide tender steaks, so producers can use those animals for breeding. Read more about the research in the February 2005 issue of Agricultural Research magazine, online at:
http://www.ars.usda.gov/is/AR/archive/feb05/steak0205.htm ARS is the U.S. Department of Agriculture's chief scientific research agency.

[grassfarmer]

Thanks, Farmers_son I trusted my butcher who seems to know his job. He recommended 14 days minimum and best from 15-18 days on these particular cattle. I don't know if he will have read up on the scientific side but coming from a European butchery background he probably grew up with the knowledge. We bought our beef from a 4th generation butcher in Scotland - they sold better meat than the supermarket stuff - I wonder why?