Adding Value - Demand Pull

[grassfarmer]

Per, We won't compromise our product quality by going year round. There is only one time to process grassfeds and that's early October in my opinion. I know some of the bigger ranchers selling cuts felt forced into going year round and now market "forage fed beef" sometimes fed in a feedlot on sprout pellets. Good luck to them but I have no desire to go there.

I don't know about an organised product delivery person but I feel there is an opportunity for an organised marketer. We already sell pasture-pork reared for us by a friend and had hoped to go to more products this year. Upon examination it doesn't interest me too much. The guys that rear chickens, lamb etc but don't like marketing seem to grudge me making any margin on retailing their product for them. Also with chickens for example how much do you need to move for it to be worthwhile ? even if I could take a $5 margin per chicken (before paying my time or delivery costs) 100 chickens only comes to $500 gross - it's not worth the hassle compared to selling an extra beef quarter.

Reality is Per, if you want to remain a commodity producer and take life easier by marketing through Canada Gold etc you will get paid for what you put into it. You will be paying them to market your beef and organise the business. You will remain a commodity producer getting a commodity return albeit maybe at a slight premium to the guy selling to Cargill. If you want the big bucks you have to do the work yourself - that's how life's meant to work isn't it?

Actually Kato I'm not a people person at all - certainly not someone who does well at face to face dialogue (ask the ABP reps, lol) My retailing business is based on internet selling and communication by email. It was painfully difficult and time consuming to start with but I'm getting better at it. It's one thing our customers comment on though - standard of service is a key feature, far more important than price apparently! We always respond to emails the day we get them and just try to be open and honest whatever questions they ask. We have found that lays a good foundation for a building up of trust between our customers and ourselves.

[per]

I hear you on all points Gf. I do market the same product as you in late Sept or Oct. as well as commodity beef. I understand the risk reward concept and do not begrudge those that do the extra step to get the extra reward. It is just that of all the things I enjoy, selling beeves by the side is not as fun as raising a whole bunch of them. That is why I do both but we need a way to extract an, albeit smaller, premium from the commodity end. I wish I had a better attitude toward direct selling as it is more profitable. In the mean time, commodity beef is something that is important to the country,imho, and finding a way to make it work is paramount to many people and communities.

[vagabonddreamer]

hey g_f...just to pick your brain some more...we tend to finish our beef market animals the same as the kids 4-H projects...which means forage in the form of hay and grain ( barley)...we have done the odd grass fed for certain friends/customers...but they seem to come back to preferring the grain fed...

how much longer (if any) do you find it takes to get an average steer to market weight on grass??? we try to accomplish a "finish" instead of a goal weight or time frame...i understand this may vary for different breeds as well...

how old is the animal you process in October and how do you judge the "finish"??

the reason i ask is because we have long contemplated going to grass finish...for a couple reasons including the high input costs of grains for a while...i anticipate grains to go up again in the future...thx..

per...boy do i hear you on the commodity thing...there is something to be said for spending the entire summer riding range and checking cattle and getting rid of most of them in november..vs

[grassfarmer]

VS,"...we have done the odd grass fed for certain friends/customers...but they seem to come back to preferring the grain fed..." I guess that depends on your friends and your grass-fed beef product.
We process ours at 18 months max - but that is tough to accomplish. Ideally if we calved a month earlier it would make it easier. You won't make a job of grass fattening at less than 18 months because you need that maturity to get the finish. I eyeball finish - we grass-fed plenty in Scotland so can tell by the brisket "fill" and the cover over the tail if they are ready.

Really if you have the right genetics it is pretty easy - wrong genetics and it is damn near impossible. Sadly there are very few cattle with the right genetics in North America. With the right genetics your cattle will be almost fat, certainly well fleshed almost all their lives. A friend slaughtered a couple of steers off a bull I sold him. They were too young - they were late born and so weren't big enough by estimation to process but he did it anyway. One steer was about 900lbs the other about 800lb liveweight and they really surprised us - the beef was well marbled and tasted remarkably good. I would be real leery of doing that as a policy though especially if you don't know the genetics.

[greybeard]

When in Argentina it was easy to see the finish on the animals on their way to market as they hauled them on open trailers suited to their moderate climate. They certainly didn’t look like 4H steers, but looked about like a perfectly fleshed bred heifer coming off good grass in late fall. I was a bit surprised that their cattle weren’t wide and deeper bodied. Real moderate cattle from what I saw as a tourist.
Grass fed can produce some very tasty product, with no apologies necessary. Unfortunately, it will be a steep learning curve to provide a consistently good quality product.
I think the comparison to a purebred breeder is appropriate, as all management must be exceptional. The guy’s who can make it work will reap some real rewards, but many more will never make the whole deal happen.
Some of the best direct marketers I have talked to claim there is no “pull” for the product most areas?

[per]

We started our grass finishing program as a way to add value to our Hfs. We still don't market out strs this way as the hfs fill my demand. They do look like slightly over conditioned bred hfs. Almost all we have processed have graded AA and had enough fat to hang a full 21 days. Not all of my cattle can do this Yet. We are only buying bulls that are ultrasound to eventually have all of them "grass capable". With that and the fact the cows are expected to earn their keep without much mechanical help, improvement is expected every year.

[grassfarmer]

Not much "pull" in the rural areas maybe, plenty in the city though where all the population is.

[vagabonddreamer]

"We are only buying bulls that are ultrasound to eventually have all of them "grass capable".

Hey Per...do you mind expanding on what you mean by this???thx..vs

[per]

Well vega it might all nonsense but it makes sense to me to buy bulls that have been ultrasounded to try to determine bulls that might pass these traits on. The rib eye size and the marbling are what I am interested in. Then all the rest is the same common sense criteria that most of us use. EPDs, how they were fed, how the cows live etc. So far I am dealing with the Muntons in Lethbridge as they have been supplying several restaurants with their own beef and tracking data back to these UT traits. Their cows live on native grass most of the year like mine and as far as my own anecdotal evidence goes, their bulls survive my environment and husbandry. This was not meant to be a commercial, just one of the few that use UT on all their bulls.

[vagabonddreamer]

per thank you for the explanation...NOTHING is nonesense in this business anymore...i WISH..upon WISH...it was still just "tie em down and burn their hides"...the science of it is a bit daunting for an old time cowboy...

and it didnt come across as a commercial...its factually what you do in your operation and i appreciate the info..thx..vs