direct marketing meat from your farm - university of kentucky
TRANSCRIPT
Direct Marketing Meat from Your FarmNorthern Kentucky Freezer Beef Program
Dr. Gregg Rentfrow, Ph.D.Extension Professor – Meat Science
University of Kentucky
First things First
• You will hear the same information repeated from one speaker to the next
• This means that it is important
• What are your goals?• Extra income• Farm promotion• The next Laura Freeman (Laura’s
Lean)
• Insurance?
Legal Stuff
• 1906 Federal Meat Inspection Act
• Mandates that all meat intended for interstate commerce must be inspected
• No Exceptions!• In reality you want the
product/process to be inspected
Meat Inspection• Two types of meat inspection
• Federal• State
• Federal – can be sold in all 50 states
• State – must be equal to or better than federal, but can only be sold within said state
• Kentucky does not have a state inspection service
• Ohio & Indiana does, but Ohio & Indiana inspected product cannot be sold outside the said state
Meat Inspection• Make sure all areas are inspected• Kill floor
• Beef, Pork, Lamb Slaughter• Cutting Room
• Raw not ground (cutting up the carcass into retail cuts)• Ground
• Raw ground (Hamburger, fresh sausages) • Processed Meats
• Fully cooked not shelf stable (Summer sausage, smoked sausage, City Ham, etc)
• Heat treated not shelf stable (Bacon, Country style Sausage) • Fully cooked shelf stable (Summer Sausage)
Meat Inspection – FYI stuff
• Pre and Postmortem inspection• Humane Handling
• Once trailer is on the property, the facility is responsible
• Only healthy animals can enter the food chain
• Lymph nodes, liver, heart, lungs, spleen, kidneys
• Sanitation • Facilities, personnel, carcass
• Downer cattle cannot enter the food chain
• Inspection legend goes on all packages
Production system?• Grain-finished• Grain on Grass/Hybrid • Forage-finished• Natural
• Legal definition; nothing similar with the popular definition
• No antibiotics or growth hormones given
• Organic• Strict guidelines from the USDA
• Should always be local!• Tell your story, that’s what they want
How am I going to sell my beef?
• Freezer Beef• ¼’s, ½’s, whole carcass• Freezer space• Beef Shares
• Farmer’s Market/Roadside Stand/Off the Farm (health dept.)
• A lot of work• Individual retail cuts• Bundles; $25, $50, $100
How am I going to sell my beef?• Internet Sales
• Retail cuts/Bundles• Website/Social Media• Approved Labels• Very Challenging
• Restaurants• Want the Middle Meats; ribeye, strips, T-bones,
filets• Left with end cuts• Challenge to supply weekly• Very, Very Challenging• Maybe a feature
• Grocery Store(s)• USDA Inspected and GFSI Certified• Extremely Challenging• Almost Impossible for one farm• Approved Labels
Don’t come to me with problems or difficulties; come to me with Challenges!
-Coach Nick Mingione--UK Head Baseball Coach-
Picking/working with a meat processor
• USDA Inspected• Location is always important• Schedule a meeting with the
processor • Discuss what you want to do• How many animals/wk/month,
etc• Be transparent• Can I work with this
person/company?
Things to think about or consider
• What does the parking lot and facilities look like?
• What does the inside look like?• Does the staff appear to be
friendly?• Smell?• What do the retail cuts look
like? If they have a retail case
What do we do when things go wrong?
• There will always be a challenge in every relationship
• Married people understand• This will happen with your meat
processor, what do you do?• Communication• Communication • Communication with a discussion of
going to another processor• Last thing you want to do is switch
processors• Starting all over
• Don’t want to throw money away!
Speaking his language
• Don’t be intimidated • He’s speaking English but I don’t
understand him• Ask questions• It is as much your responsibility
as it is his to make sure everyone understands
• Here’s some survival meat processor language
Survival Meat Processor-ese
• “He dressed…”• Dressing Percentage – the
percentage difference between live wt and hot carcass wt.
• 60 to 63ish%• 55 to 60ish% for forage finished
• Effected by:• Gut fill, hide contamination,
horns, wet udders, etc• Lose 100lbs over night if kept off
feed
Survival Meat Processor-ese
• “He shrank…”• Live weight loss• Carcass Shrink
• 3 to 5% in the first 24hrs
• “He yielded…”• Cutting loss – how much had to
be trimmed or general loss through normal processing
• Sometimes these terms can be interchangeable
Survival Meat Processor-ese
• “How do you want it cut?”• Most have a cut sheet• Contact KCA for picture sheets• Special cuts will have to be
negotiated
• “How thick?”• Thickness of steaks and roast• At least 1” thick for steaks
• Protection from overcooking
Survival Meat Processor-ese
• Other things• Aging
• Longer the carcasses are aged the more tender
• Law of diminishing returns
• Packaging• Vacuum package
• Lasts longer in freezer• The last steak out of the freezer
needs to taste like the first
The ULTIMATE QUESTION!
• That *&%$! is stealing my beef!• 1200 LWT• 60% Dress• 720 HCWT• 4% Shrink • 690ish CCWT• All boneless 20%• Take home around 360ish lbs
• Around 30 to 35% of the live weight
Pricing? How much to charge?
• Dr. Burdine is going to discuss this in detail
• Difference between profit and cash flow
• But things to think about before he talks
• Production costs• Processing costs• Breakeven cost• Account for your labor• Business model
Things to discuss with your customers
• Freezer Beef• Selling live animal weight• Selling carcass weight• Need to communicate the
aforementioned breakdown• Dry vs Wet Ageing
• Very different flavor• Forage-finished
• Very different flavor• Freezer space
• 30 to 40 lbs per cubic feet
Labels
• We are attracted to labels• Generic Labels
• Farm, cut, weight, price/lb, total price, date, inspection legend, safe handling instructions
• All claims have to be approved• No hormones/no hormones given• Low fat, calorie, high protein, etc• Healthy?
• Label expeditor
Conclusions
• Do your homework• This can be a lot of work• Realistic goals• Understand that some of this
may have to wait for the pandemic
• We are trying to expand processing in the state
• Having some success • Ask questions