pork: marketing alternatives

ATTRA is the national sustainable agriculture information service operated by the National Centerfor Appropriate Technology through a grant from the Rural Business-Cooperative Service USDepartment of Agriculture These organizations do not recommend or endorse productscompanies or individuals NCAT has offices in Fayetteville Arkansas (PO Box 3657 FayettevilleAR 72702) Butte Montana and Davis California

National Sustainable Agriculture Information Servicewwwattrancatorg

By Lance GegnerNCAT Agriculture SpecialistApril 2004copy2004 NCAT

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Successful marketing is a necessary part of anyprofitable enterprise and alternative marketingis often necessary for sustainable hog produc-ers to survive Unfortunately farmers who prac-tice sustainable and humane hog productionoften neglect marketing Sustainable hog pro-ducers need to realize that successful market-ing efforts will likely be as management-inten-sive as their production systems and that thoseefforts will be directed toward specialty andniche markets not the conventional commod-ity market and distribution network There isan opportunity for producers of value-addedand premium pork products to realize sustain-able profits but only if they are willing to de-velop the necessary marketing skills

Abstract This publication suggests that sustainable hog producers consider alternative marketing approaches for theirpork Sustainable hog producers are creating products that many consumers cant find in their grocery stores but want tobuy Consumers perceive sustainably raised pork to be healthier to eat They are willing to pay hog producers more forraising pigs in a manner that is humane helps sustain family farms and is more environmentally friendly than conventionalproduction methods Direct marketing and niche markets are among the alternative marketing strategies discussed Legalconsiderations labels trademarks processing regulations and obstacles are addressed Sources of additional informationare also provided

IntroductionIntroductionIntroductionIntroductionIntroduction

Table of ContentsIntroduction 1Commodity vs Niche

Marketing 2What Is Direct Marketing 2Where Are the Niche

Markets 3Niche Marketing

Opportunities 4Niche Marketing With

Others 6Individual Direct Marketing

Opportunities 9Developing a Clientele

Base 14Marketing Channels 14Carcass Cutout and Pricing 17Failure 21Summary 21References 22Further Resources 23

Related ATTRA publications

Considerations in Organic HogProduction

Sustainable Hog Production Overview Profitable Pork Strategies for Pork

Producers (SAN publication) Alternative Meat Marketing Direct Marketing Farmers Markets

MARKETING AND BUSINESS GUIDE

PORK MARKETING ALTERNATIVESPAGE 2

Kelly Klober author of Storeys Guide to RaisingPigs and himself a farmer and value-addedmarketer believes that farmers in the futureshould not expect to support a farming opera-tion with a 100 to 200 sow herd Klober saysA lot of folks are seeing a time and means to fita few hogs into their farming mix Hogs will betaken up by producers wanting to work withmodest numbers and also wanting to marketthem all across the swine production spec-trum To succeed on the small farm a sowherd will have to be quite small fewer than 25and perhaps as few as 3-5 Even from smallnumbers however you will have to pursue asmany marketing opportunities as possible(Klober 2000)

Before sustainable hog producers decide to pur-sue alternative marketing they need to under-stand the differences between commodity andniche marketing Commodity marketing ismarketing hogs that are undifferentiated fromother hogs in the mass market Niche market-ing is differentiating your pork product to amarket that wants a unique or superior prod-uct

Allan Nation editor of Stockman Grass Farmerhas stated A commodity orientation meansthat as long as you meet the specs and can standthe price you pretty much tell everyone else togo fly a kite Such a selfish attitude absolutelywill not work in direct marketing Nation fur-ther explains that direct niche marketing is moreabout providing services to others by helpingthem get what they want He says

In the US consumers expect an attitude of defer-ence and responsiveness to their wants and needsIf you are unable or unwilling to developor con-vincingly fakesuch an attitude stay in commod-ity-priced agriculture However if you see serviceto others as a noble calling dont let the lack ofspecific marketing or production skills deter youAptitudes are rather easily learned It is our atti-tudes that are difficult to change and that mostoften determine our fate (Nation 1999)

Direct marketing involves selling products di-rectly to consumers thus allowing the producerthe chance to receive a better price This in-volves making a direct connection with consum-ers determining their wants or needs and pro-ducing the products that meet these needs

Joel Salatin a Virginia pastured-beef and -poul-try producer who has written several books onthis subject suggests some factors to help de-termine your sustainable pork pricing

First dont underprice your productSustainably produced pork products are supe-rior because they are more environmentallyfriendly are humanely produced and are pro-duced on family farms Patronizing local farm-ers ensures that the local economy is stimulatedSalatin suggests that producers set a rewardingand satisfying gross margin and then stick to itThis will allow the producer to build a customerbase with clients who appreciate the productfor what it is not for what it costs (Salatin 1994)

Second dont try to satisfy all customers needsTake into account your time and the extra ef-fort that is needed to accommodate their re-quests Salatin says We must appreciate thatwe cannot compete with the big operators atevery level and learn to stop our production orprocessing at the point where our qualitypriceenhancement cant compete with the conven-tional alternatives (Salatin 1994)

Finally keep accounts receivable low Operateon a cash and carry basis as much as possibleSalatin concludes There you have it Set yourprices so that no matter what your volume yourreturn is both emotionally and financially re-

Commodity vs NicheCommodity vs NicheCommodity vs NicheCommodity vs NicheCommodity vs NicheMarketingMarketingMarketingMarketingMarketing

What Is Direct MarketingWhat Is Direct MarketingWhat Is Direct MarketingWhat Is Direct MarketingWhat Is Direct Marketing

In an article in the Milwaukee Journal Senti-nel Mike Marrwho raises and marketsbeef near Mineral Point Wisconsincom-ments Historically we take what some-one is willing to give us Business sense tellsyou that theyre not going to give you anymore than they have to (Daykin 2001)

PORK MARKETING ALTERNATIVES PAGE 3

warding steer clear of the temptation to do ev-erything the customer wants and let cash beyour business byword By following these rulesyour direct marketing endeavor can be satisfy-ing (Salatin 1994)

Direct marketing has unique characteristics thatdepend on building relationships with the cus-tomers In fact the term relationship market-ing has been used to describe the best methodsof direct marketing for family farmers In anarticle in The Stockman Grass Farmer Salatindescribes the five advantages of relationshipmarketing

Consumer Education Producers haveto tell the consumers why their sustain-able pork products are different from thepork that can be bought in the grocerystores This will involve explaining thatthe pork comes from hogs raised morehumanely on a sustainable family farmnot by giant corporations and that thepork is raised in a more environmentallyfriendly manner This is not only goodfor business it is also a small step towardthe development of consumers aware-ness about farm social and health is-sues that affect their lives

Product Quality When the producermaintains control of the hogs and raisesthem in a sustainable fashion it is easierto avoid compromising the quality of thepork

Customer Loyalty When the consumerknows the producer personally the re-lationships built between themper-sonal and commercialare not easilybroken Good sellers know and use theircustomers names Loyalty helps bringin repeat customers The greater the loy-alty and satisfaction the higher the like-lihood of repeat business even though asimilar product may be available at thegrocery store at a cheaper price

Lifestyle As Salatin explains I thinkone of the biggest differences between

the pressures I encounter as a small po-tato and the pressures encountered bythe big potatoes is the amount of controlwe have over the situations that causepressure No one can escape from thepressures of life whether they are finan-cial emotional physical or spiritual Butthe chances of our affecting those pres-sures of dealing with them of solvingthose problems make the difference be-tween an enjoyable lifestyle and a ter-rible lifestyle

Balance This helps to equalize the rela-tionship between producer and con-sumer The producer has to rememberthat the first rule of business is that theconsumer is always right but in somecases a sale might actually cause a nega-tive gross margin If the consumer is nota good patron the producer does notneed to continue marketing to him orher Salatin says about taking someoneoff of his customer list This helps tobalance the producer-consumer relation-ship so that we concentrate on profit-able sales appreciative customerspeople who get with the program(Salatin 1992)

An important part of direct marketing is identi-fying and targeting a market niche A market-ing niche occurs when the producer finds cus-tomers who have needs or wants that the pro-ducer can satisfy better than anyone else Aniche may sometimes be found by following asimple and effective method of market researchasking questions and being observant Look forspecial or unique needs of the consumers Iden-tify the special needs that you can meet anddecide whether the volume is large enough tobe profitable The niche market you identifymust have clientele who are reachable throughclearly identified information and distributionchannels But remember the very nature of aniche market means that it tends to disappearafter a while

You may as well do nothing for nothing assomething for nothing

Joel Salatin

Where Are the NicheWhere Are the NicheWhere Are the NicheWhere Are the NicheWhere Are the Niche Markets Markets Markets Markets Markets


Niche market opportunities exist because manyconsumers are looking for safe healthy foodproducts raised in systems characterized ashumane organic earth-friendly free-rangeantibiotic-free etc Niche marketing can eitherbe done by working though othersa coopera-tive say or a private label brandor directlyto individuals It can involve freezer meat saleshome delivery farm meat stores farmers mar-kets Internet sales sales to restaurants grocer-ies andor specialty food stores even by cater-ing events and preparing hog roasts

These approaches have been verified by severalstudies during the past few years A 1999 re-search project funded by the Leopold Center inAmes Iowa suggests that producers can addvalue to pork production by marketing meatproduced in ways that benefit the environmentIowa State University economics professorJames Kliebenstein and graduate student SeanHurley say that consumers may be willing topay nearly $1 more for a package of pork chopsproduced under a system that improves airgroundwater and surface water quality(Larson 1999)

In 2002 six Midwestern focus groups were heldto develop key marketing messages for produc-ers of pasture-raised products The result wasthe report FoodRoutesMidwest Collaborators Pas-ture Raised Products Message and Strategy Con-sumer Focus Group Study The groups revealeda range of consumer attitudes about meat pur-chases and found that in general pastureraised is the term the groups favored Some ofthe other key findings were

Consumers shop for food in a variety ofplaces but convenience is key to regularvisits

Coupons and other incentives lead con-sumers to try new products

Consumers buy meat and poultry ac-cording to how it looks

Healthy is important but not at the ex-pense of taste

The complete on-line report is available atlthttpwwwleopoldiastateeduresearchgrantsfiles2002-MSP1_pasturepdfgt

In 2003 the Iowa Pork Industry Center com-pared five niche pork markets available in Iowaand summarized the findings in a chart Com-paring Swine Niche Market Opportunities Thefive markets surveyed were Niman Ranch PorkCompany Organic Valley Pork Pool TrulinePremium Pork 100 Pure Berkshire Pork andFive Star Premium Pork Company The on-linechart is available atlthttpwwwextensioniastateeduipicin-formationIowaPorkNichepdfgt

In 2001 Paula Schafer completed her thesis AKey to Successful Marketing UnderstandingWhat a Consumer Wants When PurchasingAnimal Food Products Directly from the FarmShe surveyed consumers and tried to identifywhat attracted them to buy directly from thefarms in rural upstate New York Her thesisdiscusses the findings of the survey and provides11 action steps that producers need to considerwhen developing a successful direct marketingprogram (Schafer 2001)

Use a variety of outlets such as farm di-rect farmers market and restaurants

Publicize the farm and animal food prod-ucts through word of mouth newslet-ters state agriculture and marketingpromotions on the Internet and at afarm open house

Be knowledgeable and able to commu-nicate to the consumer

Target the products to appeal to thefemale consumer

Offer times convenient to the consumerwith set days and hours

Know the consumers household size

Almost any niche market in NorthAmerica with its 300 million consumerscan support you handsomely One third ofone percent of that market is still a millionpeople If you get 10 percent to buy some-thing worth ten dollars from you a year youhave a million dollars

Dr Marti Skye

Niche MarketingNiche MarketingNiche MarketingNiche MarketingNiche MarketingOpportunitiesOpportunitiesOpportunitiesOpportunitiesOpportunities


Offer a variety of products which mayencourage larger purchases more fre-quently

Produce animal food products that areas healthy and natural as possible

Always sell fresh products that looksmell feel and taste fresh

Never undersell the animal food prod-uct prices should equal or be higherthan those in grocery stores

Ask consumers questions and listen totheir recommendations on how to im-prove products

Information about Schafers thesis is availableon-line atlthttpwwwccecornelleduwashingtonAEDPArticlesmarklivestockhtmlgt

One of the largest and most widely recognizedniche markets is for organically grown productsDespite the fact that organic is a processclaim not a product or health claim the grow-ing demand for organic foods is driven prima-rily by consumers belief in the higher qualityand safety of these foods and their awarenessof the positive environmental animal welfareand social impacts of organic agriculture prac-tices This growth in demand is expected tocontinue in the foreseeable future (Anon 2000)

Organic pork like all other organic productshas to perform commercially alongside conven-tional products Organic pork should not beconsidered a threat to conventional productionbut as a complementary alternative for thosewho demand choice Organic pork can be dif-

ferentiated without damaging conventionalporks credibility (Aitchison 1999)

A study from the University of MinnesotaSwine Center found that modest producer pre-miums are likely to continue over the long runfor organic and natural pork production Thereason according to economist W ParkerWheatley Increases in supplies [of organicpork] are unlikely to keep pace with expectedincreases in demand that cause higher pricesHe says that the demand is driven by the per-ceived safety of organic and natural productsDemand is also driven by the perception thatorganic products improve environmental qual-ity Consumers view the premiums paid to or-ganic producers as implicit rewards for reduc-ing the pollution associated with productionAn additional source of increased demand is theconsumer perception that natural and organicproduction provides for improved animal wel-fare (Anon 2001)

While the study did not look into actual premi-ums received by producers Wheatley says thatin the fall of 2000 one processormarketingfirm paid $6 per hundred over the mean mar-ket price for IowaSouthern Minnesota with aminimum price of $40 per hundred The samefirm will pay $65 per hundred live weight fororganic pork Another national cooperative waspaying an average of about $50 per hundredlive weight for organic pork He also statesThese premiums dont seem substantialgiventhat market prices per hundred pounds liveweight ranged between $40 and $50 in 2000However the premiums existed even whenprices were lower in 1998 and 1999 and pro-vided some stability to these producers incomeThe publication is available at lthttpwwwmisaumneduprogramsaltswinelitreviewhtmlgt or by requesting a copy from

Wayne Martin CoordinatorAlternative Swine Production SystemsProgram385 Animal Science Building1988 Fitch AvenueSt Paul MN 55108612-6256224612-6251210 FAXmarti067tcumnedu

ORGANIC LABELING

USDA Organic Seal


Ethnic markets are a growing and often under-exploited niche market Many ethnic groupsform close-knit communities and can offer con-centrated and potentially lucrative markets forfarmers But bridging the cultural gaps betweenthe ethnic consumers and the producer canpresent a challenging opportunity

The Hispanic market consumes a lot of porkand sees pork as its meat of choice This ethnicgroup is the one of the fastest growing groupsin the United States but that growth variesamong different states A project report fromthe Agricultural Utilization Research Institute(AURI) in Minnesota evaluated the Hispanicmarket for chorizo a traditional type of sau-sage

Any marketing directed at the Hispanic popula-tion must be conducted with the understandingthat Hispanics differ from non-Hispanics thesedifferences include lifestyle choices eating habitsand shopping patterns Various subgroups withinthe Hispanic population also exhibit specific char-acteristics

Hispanics generally shop more often than non-Hispanics the places they patronize also differThe population as a whole spends more on foodand will buy different types of food than the gen-eral population Fresh foods and meals made fromscratch are extremely important to this populationThe tendency to buy packaged or conveniencefoods increases as an individual or family becomesacculturated to the American society

Meat purchasing habits differ from the average con-sumer Hispanics purchase more meat and poul-try on average and prefer fresh products whichthey can see prepared in front of them (Dahlhoff2002)

The Agricultural Utilization Research Institutereport is available at lthttpwwwauriorgresearchmeatexportpdfsmeatexportpdfgtor by contacting

Dennis TimmermanProject Development Director for Value-added Animal ProductsAgricultural Utilization Research Institute

1501 State StreetMarshall MN 56258507-5377440

The National Pork Board has produced threepublications specifically dealing with ethnicmarketing of pork

82-page Front End Guidance for Value-Added NetworksMarketing Pork to theMexican Consumer in the United States(1997) at lthttpwwwmnporkcomproducerresearchguidepdfgt

56-page Guide to Latino Pork Cuts (1998)at lthttpwwwmnporkcomproducerresearchlatino20meat20guidepdfgt

4-page Ethnic Marketing of Pork (2000)at lthttpwwwmeatscienceorgPubsfactsheetsq-ethnicmktngpdfgt

The Front End Guidance for Value-Added Net-works (04322) and the Guide to Latino Pork Cuts(04409) as well as the video Latino Meat Cut-ting Video (08072) are available for $1000each for producers or $1500 each for non-pro-ducers from

National Pork BoardAttn Order DepartmentPO Box 9114Des Moines IA 50306515-2232600 ext 621515-2232646 FAXhttpwwwporkboardorgHomedefaultasp

Niche marketing with others in an establishedmarket can take several forms Producers canbecome members of an established marketingcooperative or they may form a new coopera-tive to develop a processing facility andor adistribution system with other producers whoraise pork in a similar consistent manner Pro-ducers can also market to a company that al-ready has a private label brand and an estab-lished customer base for fresh pork producedin a particular manner

Niche MarkNiche MarkNiche MarkNiche MarkNiche Marketing Weting Weting Weting Weting Withithithithith Others Others Others Others Others

ETHNIC MARKETING


The cooperative marketing concept has longproven useful Hog farmers with a specialtyproduct have organized together identifiedmarkets put together business plans and builtsolid cooperatives However some cooperativeshave also failedbecause they lacked goodmarketing or business plans or because theyneeded good management and clearly definedmissions

For hog producers wanting to form a market-ing cooperative the best source of informationis the USDA Rural Business and CooperativeDevelopment Service (RBCDS) The RBCDShelps farmers and rural residents form coopera-tive businesses and improve the operations ofexisting cooperatives It provides technical as-sistance conducts cooperativerelated researchand provides informational products to promotepublic understanding of cooperatives For ad-ditional information contact

USDARBCDS Cooperative ServicesAG Box 3255Washington DC 20250-3255202-7207558coopinforurdevusdagovhttpwwwrurdevusdagovrbscoopscsdirhtm

Founded in 1985 Cooperative DevelopmentServices (CDS) a nonprofit organization pro-vides a range of innovative results-oriented andcost-effective services to cooperatives and relatedorganizations CDS has participated in the de-velopment restructuring and expansion ofmore than 500 cooperative organizations of allkinds CDS provides consulting on a fee-for-service basis and is often successful in helpingclients secure grant funding For additional in-formation contact

Cooperative Development Services30 West Mifflin Street Suite 401Madison WI 53703608-2584396608-2584394 FAXCDSco-opdevelopmentservicescomhttpwwwcdsuscoop

Organic Valley Family of Farms is an organicmarketing cooperative in Wisconsin Startingin the spring of 1999 they began marketing cer-tified organic pork to various retail outlets forabout 12 organic hog producers Their porkproduction standards are available at lthttpw w w o r g a n i c v a l l e y c o m m e m b e r requirements_porkhtmlgt For information onorganic hog production and marketing withOrganic Valley contact

Organic Valley Family of FarmsCROPP Cooperative507 West Main StreetLa Farge WI 54639608-625-2602httpwwworganicvalleycom

Patchwork Family Farms composed of 15 in-dependent Missouri family hog farmers is or-ganized as a marketing cooperative supportedby the Missouri Rural Crisis Center They mar-ket pork raised using sustainable and humanegrowing practices that prohibit growth hor-mones or synthetic growth promoters and pro-vide sources of water and feed that are antibi-otic-free They also stress that animals mustreceive adequate amounts of sunshine fresh airand quality feed to maintain good health Foradditional information contact

Cooperatives

USDARBS Publications Available from ATTRA

(Call 18003469140 for a free copy) Cooperative Services What We Do How

We Work How to Start a Cooperative Small Fresh Fruit amp Vegetable Coopera-

tive Operations Understanding Cooperatives Ag

Marketing Cooperatives Cooperative Feasibility Study Guide Cooperative Farm Bargaining amp Price

Negotiations Cooperative Marketing Agencies-in-

Common


Patchwork Family Farms1108 Rangeline StreetColumbia MO 65201573-449-1336573-442-5716 FAXRhondamoruralorg or brycemoruralorghttpwwwpatchworkfamilyfarmsorg

Another example of cooperative marketing isthe Ozark Mountain Pork Cooperative orga-nized by the Missouri Farmers Union TheOzark Mountain Pork Cooperative is comprisedof 34 farm families that market their own freshand smoked cuts sausages brats and pulledpork under the label Heritage Acres The hogsare processed in their small locally operatedplant For additional information contact

Ozark Mountain Pork CooperativeRuss KremerPO Box 190Mountain View MO 65548417-9345753417-9345784 FAXhttpwwwmissourifarmersunionorgcoopffcenterporkhtm

An example of a private label product is NimanRanch Pork Company formed in January 1999as a partnership between Niman Ranch in Cali-fornia Paul Willis and some other Midwesternhog producers Operating a pasture-farrowingoperation near Thornton Iowa Paul Willis hasmarketed hogs for several years through NimanRancha 20-year-old company founded by BillNiman that sells natural meat products on theEast and West Coast Niman Ranch Pork Com-pany slaughters hogs every week Paul Willisexplained that Niman Ranch Pork Company islooking for pork producers willing to raise hogsfollowing the criteria set by Niman Ranch andthe Animal Welfare Institute (AWI) If youwould like more information about the NimanRanch Pork Company contact

Niman Ranch Pork Company2551 Eagle AvenueThornton IA 50479641-998-2683641-9982774 FAX

pwillisfrontiernetnethttpwwwnimanranchcom

Some highlights of the AWI Pig HusbandryStandards followed by Niman producers are

Not using any growth promotants orsubtherapeutic antibiotics

Not using any meat or bone mealproducts

Not using farrowing crates but allow-ing sows to build nests and pigs to rootexplore and play

Weaning pigs at a minimum of fourweeks of age

Using low-stress environments such asthose on pasture or in deep-bedded sys-tems with suitable bedding materials

Being family farms with at least onemember actively caring for the animalsand managing the farm

For additional information on the AWI stan-dards contact

Animal Welfare InstitutePO Box 3650Washington DC 20027703-8364300703-8360400 FAXawiawionlineorghttpwwwawionlineorgfarmstandardspigshtm

Another private label brand that markets natu-ral and organic pork in the United States is duBreton Farms out of Quebec Canada DuBreton Farms works with more than 45 smallfamily farms in Quebec and the Maritimes toproduce pork under the new Certified HumaneRaised amp Handled certification program admin-istered by Humane Farm Animal Care (HFAC)For additional information on du Breton Farmscontact

Du Breton Farms150 Chemin des RaymondRiviere-du-Loup Quebec G5R 5X8418-8636711418-8636767 FAXmmailetdubretoncomhttpwwwdubretoncom

Private Label Brands


Humane Farm Animal Care is a nonprofit or-ganization that offers a certification and label-ing program for meat dairy eggs and poultryraised under the HFAC animal care standardswhich are also verified by the USDA Agricul-tural Marketing Services For additional infor-mation on HFAC certification contact

Humane Farm Animal CarePO Box 727Herndon VA 20172703-5910350infocertifiedhumanecomhttpwwwcertifiedhumanecom

Mirabel Fernandez Wright County Educatorfor the University of Minnesota Extension Ser-vice says that producers looking into directmarketing need to do careful analysis and plan-ning before they start This includes assessingyour skills time money resources personalityand determination Fernandez suggests that theproducer write out the goal for direct market-ing of the planned product Then the producershould write down all possible steps betweenthe raw product on the farm and the final prod-uct on the consumers tableincluding trans-portation processing labeling storing adver-tising selling and customer services AsFernandez says

Direct marketing involves a promise to deliversomething of value to the customer without ex-cuses Direct marketing customers expect extravalue not only in what they buy but also in howand when As a direct marketer you are promisingyour customers satisfaction in all areas Blamingother people whom you contracted with for part ofthe processing is not an acceptable excuse for prob-lems You have to be on top of the whole process tomake sure each step is done according to your qual-ity standards (Anon 2001)

Kelly Klober author farmer and value-addedmarketer makes the following suggestions foranyone interested in direct marketing of value-added pork He notes that producers usuallystart marketing to people they know Yourmechanic your barber your insurance agent

the guy that runs the coffee shop and even themanager of your local supermarket are fairgame in your pursuit of sales He also recom-mends that direct marketers begin with simpleinexpensive advertising using postcards flyersor simple mailings containing words such asfresh locally grown or homegrown andemphasizing the control this gives the buyer overeverything from the animals diet to the thick-ness of the pork chops

Kelly Klober explains that word-of-mouth is oneof the best methods of advertising and is a re-sult of consistently good products

Word-of-mouth can reach a very long way withtodays phone service and e-mail but you must beprepared to move on the inquiries it brings per-haps with another simple flyer or brochure Acatchy name a few lines describing how the porkwill be produced a brief outline of processing op-tions and most of the customers potential ques-tions are answered

Todays computer and printer pairings make anewsletter a feasible option as well A small pub-lication such as this can be sent to new contactsand keeps past buyers aware that youre still thereand producing

It also gives satisfied customers something to sharewith others in their circle thus widening your circleof contacts

A short ad under the Good Things to Eat col-umn in the Sunday classified of your nearest ma-jor newspaper will also put your message before agreat many readers for a few pennies each and asimple press release announcing your new busi-ness should get some free play on the local paper

Business cards can often be had for under $20 athousand and they will give your farm venture aprofessional look They can also be pinned on ev-ery likely-looking bulletin board that crosses yourpath

Free or low-cost promotion is where you find ithere are a few other possibilities

Most big cities have health andorenvironmentally oriented publica-tions where ads for humanelyreared additive-free or free-range meat are sure todraw a response

Individual Direct Marketing Opportunities


Help to get you on the Internet isnow available at local Extension of-fices in many areas

Paint an attractive sign and put it bythe road

Give a few free samples In our cul-ture a free sample almost demandsat least a token purchase

Donate some pork to good causes Take your pork to every potluck

church supper and family reunion towhich you are invited

Most farmers dont think of themselves as sales-people But sales and promotion are only going togrow in importance for all family farmers Try outthe above tips and you may find that successfulpromotion of your value-added meat is easier thanyou think (Klober 2001)

Producers should develop a detailed businessplan A business plan is usually required whenapplying for loans or grants A business planshould be a working document that is reviewedand updated at least a couple of times a year

The Minnesota Institute for Sustainable Agri-culture publishes the 280-page Building a Sus-tainable BusinessA Guide to Developing a Busi-ness Plan for Farms and Rural Businesses Thisguide will help develop a detailed business planand looks at ways to take advantage of newmarketing opportunities It is available on-lineat lthttpwwwmisaumnedupublicationsbizplanhtmlgt or can be purchased from

Minnesota Institute for SustainableAgriculture411 Borlaug Hall 1991 Upper Buford CircleSt Paul MN 55108800-909MISA (6472)misamailumnedu$1400 + $395 shipping and handling

Iowa State Universitys Center for IndustrialResearch and Service has developed the on-linepublication Adding Value to Pork ProductionA Business Start-up Manual to Move You Upthe Chain It is available at lthttpwwwcirasiastateeduporkmanualgt

All meat products offered for sale to the generalpublic must be processed in a USDA or approvedstate-licensed equivalent facility If the meat isgoing to be marketed across state lines includ-ing by Internet marketing the processing hasto be done in a USDA-licensed processing facil-ity Marketing activities for meat products aregoverned by a wide variety of laws and regula-tions at federal state county and city levelsWhile marketing regulations vary by type ofenterprise and location there are some generalrules that apply to all areas of direct marketingSome of these legal considerations include thetype of business organization (sole proprietor-ship partnership etc) zoning ordinances smallbusiness licenses building codes and permitsweights and measures federal and state busi-ness tax issues sanitation permits and inspec-tions food processors permits and many moreIf you plan to employ workers there will bemore requirements to meet such as getting anemployer tax identification from the IRS andgetting state workers compensation insuranceEnvironmental laws are also becoming increas-ingly important to farmers

Farmers Legal Action Group Inc a nonprofitlaw center provides legal services to familyfarmers and their rural communities in orderto help keep family farmers on the land FLAGprovides an extensive array of legal servicesnationwide In 2001 FLAG published a seriesof booklets entitled Farm to Market Legal Issuesfor Minnesota Farmers Starting a Processing orMarketing Business The booklets include

1) Introductory Issues2) Choice of Business Entity3) Cooperatives4) Corporations5) Partnerships6) Limited Liability Companies7) Owner Agreements8) Employment9) Minnesota Financial and Technical

Resources

While these booklets are specific to Minnesotathey offer useful information to any new entre-preneur Call for prices or visit their Web site

Develop a Business Plan

Legal Considerations


Farmers Legal Action Group Inc46 East 4th Street Suite 1301St Paul MN 55101651-2235400651-2235335httpwwwflagincorg

Always check with local state and federal au-thorities before trying to market any food prod-uct A retail food establishment license may beneeded in your state In most cases the stateDepartment of Agriculture is a good startingpoint to learn about regulations Certified scalesare probably required for weighing your prod-ucts and a freezer may be required for storingyour products separately from your personalmeats Processed meat products are heavilyregulated to protect public health Stay in-formed since rules and regulations change of-ten and keep good records to prove that yourein compliance (See Further Resources for sev-eral books on rules and regulations such as TheLegal Guide for Direct Farm Marketing and In theEyes of the Law)

Adequate insurance coverage is essential Ev-ery operator should have liability insurance forthe product and the premisesfor breach ofimplied warranty negligence violation of fed-eral state or local statutes and for foreign sub-stances in product Other types of insuranceneeded are employers liability insurance to pro-tect you if employees are injured and damageinsurance to protect against loss of buildingsmerchandise and other property General com-prehensive farm liability insurance often doesnot cover on-farm marketing or direct market-ing operations Many farm liability policies ex-clude business activities that are not a naturalpart of the farm It is best to contact your insur-ance agent and explain your marketing plansin detail Product liability insurance may be themost difficult to purchase Many retailers wantup to a million dollar liability insurance for theproducts that they market

Starting a new marketing business can be re-warding but it may also be frustrating and con-fusing Start-up help can sometimes be foundby contacting your local Chamber of Commerce

doing a search on the Internet or by contactingeither state or federal agencies The Small Busi-ness Administration (SBA) is a good federalagency to contact SBAs Web site is lthttpwwwsbagovgt and the SBA Answer Deskphone number is 800-U-ASK-SBA or 800-8275722 The SBA has offices in all states and theseoffices can be contacted for information on freeor low-cost training available in your state TheSBA also offers on-line training at their SmallBusiness Training Network a virtual campusoffering free training courses workshops andknowledge resources designed to assist entre-preneurs It is at lthttpwwwsbagovtrain-inggt

Producers considering construction of their ownslaughtering andor processing facility shouldremember that it is very important to complywith federal state and local regulations for pro-cessingthe axiom ignorance is not an excuseapplies here

Producers need to understand that meat pro-cessing is a very tough business with very smallmargins involved It is critical that differenti-ated value-added products be added to the pro-cessing mix because there is usually not enoughprofit margin in unprocessed meat alone Theproducer will also have to figure out some wayof making money from the hides offal andother waste products of the processed hogs

Farmers who intend to process on-farm shouldbe aware of all federal state and local regula-tions It is possible that the USDA state De-partment of Agriculture and local Health De-partment may all have different regulations tofollow Your state Department of Agriculturewill have information about regulations as willyour health department Your county Exten-sion office should be able to direct you to thecounty agencies that regulate zoning healthwaste disposal and other local ordinances

For federal processing regulations the producershould contact the Food Safety and InspectionService (FSIS) The FSIS works with small andvery small processing plants to make sure theycomply with the Hazard Analysis Critical Con-

Starting a Business

Processing Regulations


trol Point System (HACCP) For more informa-tion about FSIS and HACCP or for genericHACCP models and guides contact their Smalland Very Small Plant Outreach Web site lthttp w w w f s i s u s d a g o v O A h a c c p outreachsmallhtmgt or call the FSIS TechnicalService Center at 800-233-3935 extension 2 orcontact Mary Cutshall at the SmallVery SmallPlant Coordination Office at FSIS USDA SIPO14th and Independence SW Washington DC20250 202-6906520

Producers need to be aware that the USDA nowhas generic processing plant models to followbut no longer has exact specifications for plantsThis gives some freedom to producers in design-ing their processing plants but it may also leadto a situation where one inspector can approvethe construction of a plant while another in-spector may deny approval of the same plant

The USDAFood Safety and Inspection Service(FSIS) is also responsible for ensuring that meatpoultry and egg products are safe wholesomeand accurately labeled The Labeling and Con-sumer Protection Staff ensure that all labels aretruthful and not misleading Labeling includesall forms of product identification claims netweight species identification and nutritionalinformation related to meat poultry and eggproducts The FSIS Web site states

FSIS strives to ensure that small and very smallmeat and poultry processors are not at a disad-vantage in accessing labeling requirements andgaining label approvals The website has all of

the information needed to help small food proces-sors with technical and procedural labeling con-cerns including the name of the Agency staff liai-son chargedwith facilitating resolution of smallbusiness issues on a one-on-one basis

The Web site address is lthttpwwwfsisusdagovOPPDElarcgt Additionalinformation is also available by contacting

US Department of AgricultureFood Safety and Inspection ServiceLabeling and Consumer Protection Staff1400 Independence AvenueRoom 602 Annex BuildingWashington DC 20250202-2050279202-2053625 FAXFSISLabelingfsisusdagov

Producers will need to work with the federal-or state-inspected processing facility that pro-cesses their hogs This is because the labelingprocess begins with the federal inspector andthe processing facility A generic label may beallowed for a single-ingredient product (suchas pork chops or pork steak) that does not con-tain any special claims (quality nutrient con-tent geographical origin production systemetc) guarantees foreign language or nutri-tional facts The processing facility will be ableto help the producer with generic labeling with-out further authorization from FSIS Informa-tion on generic labeling requirements is avail-able at lthttpwwwfsisusdagovOPPDElarcProcedureshtmgt

The label has to at minimum include the prod-uct name USDA inspection legend net weighthandling statement address (signature) linewhich may require Distributed by or Packedforingredient statement and safe handlinginstructions If any special claims guaranteesetc are wanted by the producer the processingfacility has to submit a printers proof labelshowing all required label fields including anygraphics to FSIS for approval

After approval of the label the FSIS inspectormonitors use of the label and the product for-mulation The labels are kept at the processingplant where they have been approved If youwant to use another processing plant there are

Labeling Pork Products

copycopycopycopycopy20042004200420042004clipartcom


additional procedures and requirement to trans-fer labels from one plant to another

Almost all businesses use some kind of logo ordesign as a means of identification on their la-bels these are called trademarks or brandnames The law that protects trademarks wasdesigned to prevent customer confusion andunfair competition by someone marketing on thereputation of another Trademarks will helpprevent others from copying the look or nameof your product There is both state and federalregistration in the US Each state has a systemto register trademarks used within that stateThe US Patent and Trademark Office (PTO)administers the federal system The symbol regindicates a trademark has been registered withthe PTO The symbol designates a trademarkestablished through common law use but thathas not been registered with the PTO The stateregistration and federal registration both taketime and money but are probably worth it tomake sure your trademarks belong to you Evenif you decide not to register your products us-ing the symbol will provide some common-law protection (Evans 1997)

One obstacle to direct marketing of pork is thatmany consumers want fresh pork rather thanfrozen In a commentary in the Land Steward-ship News Ray Kirsch discusses the differencesbetween the previous and current meanings offresh meat and frozen meat

At one timeduring my parents lives and evenduring my early childhoodfresh meat meantlocal meat Freshness was proof that the ani-mals slaughtered had to have been locally raisedand butchered A frozen product would have beenlooked upon with suspicion as indeed it couldhave come from anywhere

Times however have changed Distances havearisen between rural and urban communities Ad-ditionally industrialization has moved ruralcommunities that produce meats to selected por-tions of the nation Thus we as consumers and

producers have suffered a double removal Formany shoppers fresh meat now means animalsthat have been raised and processed at a greatdistance from their communities These animalsare not part of a local sustainable food systemThey do not contribute to the ecological well-beingof local farms They do not contribute to the eco-nomic infrastructure of local communities

An alternative and possible antidote to these long-distance meat systems is frozen meatFor localfarmers who raise animals collaboratively mar-ket and are successful at negotiating a fair pricefor their product frozen meat is key to their com-merce There are several reasons why Frozen al-lows them to work on a small scale where indi-vidual farms can contribute individual animals toa cooperative marketing effort There is less wasteand spoilage Their meats are available to severalmarkets for a longer period of time than freshmeats In all it allows them to compete on favorable terms it balances the playing field dominatedby the large fresh meat companies

And as frozen allows local farmers to flourish italso allows local communities to flourish It al-lows consumers to choose and purchase locallyraised and processed meats It makes a local eco-nomic infrastructure possible (Kirsch 2000)

Another obstacle to direct marketing of pork isthat many people want only the best cuts mar-keting of the poorer cuts can be challengingHog producers can offer sausagebulk linkandor pattiesto help market the slower sell-ing cuts But what do producers do with thebones and organs that larger slaughtering plantsmarket Well there is an option available thecontroversial natural diet for dogs and catscalled BARF (Bones And Raw Food) diet Manypet owners believe their pets are healthier on araw diet Hog producers Web sites can featureitems on their lists such as stock bones ham orleg bones neck bones and organs for the BARFmarket To learn more about BARF and for listsof pet owners in your area who feed their petsBARF use a search engine such as Yahoo orvisit lthttpwwwonelistcomgt and search forBARF or visit lthttpwwwwillowglencombarfhtmgt There is also a book entitled Natu-ral Nutrition for Dogs and Cats The Ultimate Dietthat discusses the all natural raw diet of meatand bones (see Further Resources Books)

Trademarks

Obstacles


Joel Salatin in another article from The Stock-man Grass Farmer explains how he and his wifedeveloped their customer base using a three-pronged approach Salatin stresses that thisworked for them but that your situation maybe different He wants his approach to stimu-late your creative thinking you will have tomake your own adaptation (Salatin 1995)

Salatins first course was to give samples to any-one he thought might be interested He com-mented Over the years weve never given any-thing away that didnt come back fourfold

The second approach was education They puttogether a slide show and began presenting itto local organizations These groups were gladto get a different interesting program TheSalatins slide show illustrated their alternativeproduction methods for pastured beef and poul-try People are always interested in knowingabout alternatives available to them He didntreally make a sales pitch but at the end of hispresentation hed say Now if any of you wouldlike to participate in this type of agriculture Ihappen to have some order blanks with me andyou are welcome to sign up

Their third strategy was to turn their patronsinto evangelists They let their customers knowthat they appreciated their spreading the wordabout them Whenever a new customer wasadded Salatin asked where they had heardabout their products If the new customer gavea name from the established customer list thenext time that established customer picked upsomething Salatin would say how much heappreciated their referral and give them a smallpackage of beef or chicken in return (Salatin1995)

Salatin concedes that this three-pronged ap-proach was unconventional but it was consis-tent with their unconventional product

Starting small is probably the best approach forthe beginning direct marketer Producers needfirst to determine their target markets Thesecould involve selling frozen pork to friends andneighbors to home delivery customers farmmeat stores farmers markets andor restau-rants The article The ABCs of Marketing toRestaurants provides some good informationon what is important to restaurants and sometips on marketing to them See the article atlthttpwwwnewfarmorgfeatures0802restaurantshtmlgt

Sales to groceries andor specialty food storesmay be more difficult for beginning marketersbecause the stores usually want guaranteedamounts of frozen meat and are sometimeslocked into exclusive contracts with large sup-pliers (Klober 1998) Some store managers mayrefuse to handle and display alternative meatproducts because as one explained if his storemade a big deal out of humane meat cus-tomers might start to wonder whether some-thing was wrong with the regular meat (Anon1993) Producers also need to consider that manygrocery stores have slotting allowances forspace in their freezers or meat coolers This maymake them too expensive for small producerswho do not generate enough turnover (Looker2003)

For many producers selling live hogs to custom-ers for their freezers has been an easy way toget started in alternative marketing Typicallythe producer might sell the hog by live weightto a customer then take the hog to a govern-ment-approved slaughtering and processingplant The customer then picks up the pork fromthe plant and pays for the processing and pack-aging But before beginning live freezer salesthe producer needs to form a good working re-lationship with the processing and packagingfacility An article in Small Farm Today suggestsseveral points to consider

Developing a Clientele BaseDeveloping a Clientele BaseDeveloping a Clientele BaseDeveloping a Clientele BaseDeveloping a Clientele Base

Our experience as well as that of othersshows that advertising an unconventionalproduct conventionally never pays off

Joel Salatin

Live Freezer Meat Sales

Marketing ChannelsMarketing ChannelsMarketing ChannelsMarketing ChannelsMarketing Channels


1) The facility needs to be close to both yourlocation and the market area

2) It should be a clean regularly inspectedfacility

3) The facility operator will need to be will-ing to work with buyers who have littleknowledge of processing and who willprobably do most of their business on aweekend (There are people who thinka hog is all chops)

4) The facility needs to be willing to handlespecial orders

5) Cut size selections packaging packageweight and other processing steps (slic-ing smoking curing etc) should bewritten down and fully understood byall parties (Klober 1998)

Some additional points to consider

In pricing the hogs be sure to includethe cost of handling and delivery to thefacility

Make sure the buyer understands thatthere will be loss of weight during slaugh-tering processing and curing

Require a deposit before taking the hogto slaughter (Klober 1998)

Kalton Bauman in east central Wisconsin has a400-acre farm with pheasants hogs chickensand cattle Formerly a farrow-to-finish opera-tion with 75 sows the farm now has only 15sows Bauman is striving to produce only thenumber of hogs needed for his direct market-ing The Baumans do catering of livestock pro-duced on the farm and direct market chickenpork and beef As the article in Acres USAexplained Caterers are many in todays con-venience-driven society but few can attest tobeing as farm-direct as the Baumans TheBaumans built at a total cost of $7000 fourcooker-roaster trailer units constructed out offormer 275-gallon fuel containers TheBaumans cater many different events during thesummer Pork is not the only meat offered bythis catering service they also offer homegrownchicken The usual offering is three-quarterspork and one-quarter chicken

Bauman notes that a considerable number ofpeoplefor dietary or religious reasonsdo noteat pork while most do eat chicken There arelicensing and insurance requirements for cater-ers but Bauman hasnt had any problems fol-lowing the regulations As he explains Moststate inspectors are good people and are onlytrying to do their jobs in order to protect thepublic (Slattery 1999)

Frozen pork can be marketed by several directmethods such as delivering meat directly toconsumers doors marketing at on-farm or in-town stores marketing at farmers markets orover the Internet As Wayne Martin coordina-tor of the Alternative Swine Production SystemsProgram at the University of Minnesota says

While direct marketing can indeed offer extra prof-its the real value of direct marketing to the wholefarm enterprise depends largely on what other rev-enue streams exist and the personal goals of pro-ducers and their families As with any other entre-preneurial activity marketing your production re-quires a great expenditure of time and energy Pro-ducers place value on an activitydepending on itseconomic return and how well it fits with what-ever else they are doing Due to these inherent dif-ferences what one producer may view as time wellspent may not seem so worthwhile to the next pro-ducer (Martin 2001)

One small-scale direct-marketing hog operationis Madewell Meats LLC in southwest MissouriSteve Madewell and Sons operate a 90-acre farmwhere 90 to 100 sows farrow outdoors all yearAbout one-third of the market hogs are pro-cessed and sold directly to consumers as all-natural pork The Madewells use a federallyinspected processing plant close to their opera-tion The family attempts to set their prices tosell all the cuts They feel their prices comparefavorably to those in grocery stores

The Madewells started marketing frozen porkto family friends and teachers They still de-liver most of the frozen products because theywant to hear comments directly from the con-sumers and they feel this gives them controlover how their product is marketed Theyopened a store in town to diversify their cus-

Catering Events or Hog Roasts

Frozen Meat Marketing


just your name it encompasses the who andwhat of your product and in case of most meatsthe how

Central to building this brand identity is your storyYour products story is crucial for distinguishingyourself to customers who are used to purchasingmeat and poultry from a supermarket case Pic-tures speak much louder than words

Consistency is the most crucial element to ensur-ing lasting success at your farmers market Whenmarketing meats at the farmers market you arestarting with many disadvantages The greatest isthe novelty of the product People arent used topurchasing their meats at a farmers market eventhose that purchase the majority of their producethere Purchasing meats doesnt fit as well in somecustomers schedule due to its highly perishablenature If your product is high quality every timethese inconveniences will be overlooked by yourcustomers You are not only competing againstthe products and pricing of supermarkets you arecompeting against their convenience (Silverman2003)

There are advantages and disadvantages toInternet marketing More consumers are shop-ping on the Internet so Web sites can help buy-ers locate producers in their area and Web sitesare accessible 24 hours a day A big disadvan-tage is that packaging and shipping costs canabout double the final price of products for theconsumers Many people may browse the Websites without making any purchases

Internet marketing of pork requires a well-de-signed user-friendly Web site that provides in-formation about the producers products andservices A more complex Web site may includea secure system to take orders and paymentsand a method to address customer questionsand problems A simple Web site may containonly a phone number and contact address

One company selling beef and pork directly overthe Internet is Carousel Farms LLC The com-pany is made up of three northwest Iowa farm-ers who market their products collectively Theperishable products are usually shipped by UPSin an insulated shipping box packed with dryice to insure their safe delivery For more infor-

tomer base and allow consumers to come di-rectly to them They also help other farmersmarket their products in the store As MichelleCallahan wrote in American Small Farm

Best-selling meat products vary with the seasonsHams are popular during the Christmas holidayschops move quickly during the outdoor grillingseason Nitrite-free bacon sells well all year ac-cording to Steve

Madewell Meats does have a signature productPig wings are made from the upper shoulder bycutting away the bone and marinating the meatTwo flavors are availablehot and apple-cinna-mon If buffaloes can have wings why not pigsSteve comments

People come back because of quality Michael[Madewell] states Our customers like the wayour meat tastes and are constantly telling us howdifferent it is from what they used to buy in thestore (Callahan 2000)

In an article in Growing for Market AaronSilverman a pastured-poultry and -lamb pro-ducer discusses direct marketing of meat atfarmers markets He says that meat marketingat farmers markets has been slow to developand that the burden of regulations for process-ing meat is part of the problem Regulationsvary by stateeven between in-state localitiesbut most are consistent in one area all meat soldhas to be processed in a licensed facilitySilverman makes several suggestions for mar-keting meat in farmers markets

Marketing meat at farmers markets is similar tomarketing any value-added product and verydifferent than marketing vegetables or cutflowersPurchasing meat requires a heightenedlevel of trust by the customer since neither fon-dling nor smelling is possible Your ability to gainand more important retain your customers trustwill determine your success marketing meats atfarmers markets

We use three elements to gain our customers trustThe first is the creation of a marketing brandthecustomers way of identifying our product outsideof the farmers market Brand identity is even morecritical when processing and marketing is doneon a collaborative basis Your brand is more than

Internet or Mail Order MarketingFarmers Markets


mation about Carousel Farms LLC visit lthttpwwwcarouselfarmscomgt

There are many excellent sources of informa-tion on establishing and designing Web sites Agood place to start for information on Internetmarketing is the on-line 50-page publicationHow to Direct-Market Farm Products on theInternet It provides information on developinga marketing plan researching the market andsetting up the Web site It is available from theUSDA Agricultural Marketing Service atlthttpwwwamsusdagovtmdMSBPDFpubListInternetMarketingpdfgt

Another good place to start is the Access Min-nesota Main Street Web site This program isdesigned to help small businesses use theInternet as a business tool The Web site has acopyrighted Electronic Commerce Curriculumthat provides training on electronic commercebasics finding business information and serviceson-line exploring e-commerce Web sites plan-ning your Web site promoting your Web sitedeveloping your Internet business plan andmuch more The Web site is lthttpwwwextensionumnedumainstreetgt or youcan e-mail the coordinator Rae Montgomeryat ltmainstreetextensionumnedugt

The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) has pri-mary responsibility for all food advertising theFood and Drug Administration has responsibil-ity for food labeling This means that your bro-chures mail order catalogs and Web site mustmeet FTC standards for any claims that youmake and must meet their shipping guidelinesSome examples claims must be substantiateddisclaimers must be clear and conspicuous re-funds must be made to unsatisfied customersorders must be shipped within 30 days andother advertising practices can not deceive ormislead consumers For more information aboutFTC regulations visit their Web site at lthttpwwwftcgovgt

According to the National Pork Boards publi-cation Pork Facts 20022003 a typical 250-poundmarket hog will yield about a 184-pound car-

cass The five major parts of the carcass areham (45 lbs) loin (34 lbs) side (35 lbs) Bostonbutt (15 lbs) picnic (16 lbs) and miscellaneousjowls feet tail neck bones etc(39 lbs) Thesefigures are averages from actual carcass testsThe actual yields vary depending on cuttingmethods weights of the pigs and the types ofpigs

Further breakdown into retail parts from thesemajor portions of the carcass will result in about140-pounds of semi-boneless productsinclud-ing 18 pounds of trimmings for such things assausage brats and pork wieners and 15 poundsof jowls feet tails neck bones etc plus 44pounds of fat skin bones and an allowancefor shrinkage or loss Additional processing anddeboning will further lower the weight of theretail pork products that can be sold to the con-sumer (National Pork Board 2003) While thechart below is a good reference it is advisableto test cuts from your own hogs to determineyour own product yield so that more accuratepricing can be calculated

In his article Did the Locker Plant Steal Someof My Meat Duane Wulf provides some ex-amples of pork yields from different cutting re-quests He says that an average 250-pound hogweighed full (not removed from water and feed)would yield about 133 lbs of closely trimmedbone-in chops and roasts and regular groundsausage The same 250-pound hog would yieldonly about 118 lbs of closely trimmed bonelesschops and roasts and lean ground sausageWulf also says that a lean heavily-muscled hogmight yield 133 lbs of closely trimmed bonelesschops and roasts and lean ground pork and avery fat light-muscled hog might only yield 93lbs of the same boneless products and leanground pork (Wulf 1999)

Probably the easiest method of pricing carcassesor halves is to ask a set price per pound eitherby live weight or by hanging carcass weightwithout the head offal hooves etc Carcassweight will also be affected if the skin is left onthe carcass or the carcass is skinned by the pro-cessor a skinned carcass will yield a lower hang-ing carcass weight however neither method will

Carcass CutoutCarcass CutoutCarcass CutoutCarcass CutoutCarcass Cutout and Pricing and Pricing and Pricing and Pricing and Pricing

Whole or Half Carcass Sales


Breakdown of Cuts from a 184 lb Pork Carcass

Retail cuts on semi-boneless basis Fully boneless would show lower retail weightsSource NPPC Purdue University and Texas A amp M University 1994 (National Pork Board 2003)

Ham (450 lbs)Cured hamFresh hamTrimmingsSkin fat boneTotal

Loin (338 lbs)BackribsBoneless loinCountry style ribsSirloin roastTenderloinTrimmingsFat amp boneTotal

Side (349 lbs)Cured baconSpareribsTrimmingsFatTotal

Boston Butt (147 lbs)Blade steaksBlade roastTrimmingsFatTotal

Picnic (166 lbs)Boneless picnic meatSkin fat boneTotal

Miscellaneous (392 lbs)Jowls feet tailneckbones etcFat skin boneShrink and lossTotal

Total

Retail Pork Other Products Carcass Total(pounds)

255 23 58

114336 114 45

32107 76 57 16 16

34304 34 338

19 58 91

10339 10 349

44 78 17

08139 08 147

12640

126 40 166

154

220 18

154 238 392

1398 444 1842


affect the amount of meat the consumer will getfrom the hog (Wulf 1999) Pricing by carcassweight requires customers to inform the proces-sor about their specific cutting wrapping andcuring preferences Customers need to under-stand thatdepending on the type of hogwhether the cuts are boneless or not and howclosely the meat is trimmedthe amount offreezer-ready meat per pig could range from40 to 55 of the live-weight Another way ofexplaining it to customers is that going from livehog to the hanging carcass the carcass weightwill be only about 70 to 75 of live weightand going from hanging carcass to cut andwrapped products ready for the freezer willreduce the hanging weight by 25 to 30

Customers must also understand that the costsfor processing cutting wrapping and curingare added to the price paid for the hog itselfHog-processing costs vary depending on thecutting wrapping and curing but can be be-tween $75 and $150 per hog The producermight want to add a separate hauling or han-dling charge for delivering the hog to the pro-cessor This hauling charge could be a way ofproving that the hog was the customers prop-erty before it was processed Producers need tobe sure to check their states regulations to becertain it is legal to sell live animal carcasses andhalves to the consumer

Setting the price per pound for the many var-ied individual pork products can be challeng-ing The pricing structure needs to reflect thelive hogs value as well as the processing wrap-ping curing storage transportation labor ad-vertising and all the other costs involved in get-ting your product to the consumer Producersneed to be very concerned about carrying a largeinventory of unsold products because the in-ventory will add greatly to the overhead a pro-ducer has to cover To give an oversimplifiedexample of how costs mount lets say the pro-ducer sees the value of a hogcalculated as thecost of production plus a reasonable profitas$150 Processing cutting and wrapping addanother $100 curing another $50 with another$50 to cover other costs So the producer needsat least $350 for the 100 to 135 pounds of pork

to cover all the costs and return a profit mak-ing the average per-pound price for all cutsabout $260 to $350

The Web publication Marketing Meat AnimalsDirectly to Consumers provides an excellent tablefor estimating the retail value of a pork carcassThe worksheet below provides a sample listingof possible retail cuts and weights for a porkcarcass to estimate the total retail value of thehanging carcass (Henning 2003) Producers willneed to determine the weight of retail cuts andother products from their hogs then calculatethe value of these individual products Theymust also determine how the carcass portionswill be fabricated into the various pork prod-ucts that their customers want

Some producers have created alternative porkproducts to help market the parts of the hogthat are in less demand These products includecottage bacon from the Boston butt or porkshoulder and Pig wings made from the uppershoulder by cutting away the bone and mari-nating the meat (see Madewell Meats LLCquote in Frozen Meat Marketing) By creatingthese products producers add significant valueto those parts of the carcass in less demand andhope thereby to increase their customer base andprofits

Producers may want to keep track of how theirprices compare to commodity wholesale andretail pork prices Commodity prices are re-ported by the USDA Agricultural MarketingService (AMS) and the Economic Research Ser-vice (ERS) Their on-line reports are

AMS National Carlot Pork Report atlthttpwwwamsusdagovmnreportsnw_ls500txtgt

ERS Monthly Average Retail Price Datafor Selected Cuts of Red Meat and Poul-try at lthttpwwwersusdagovdataMeatScannergt

ERS Food Marketing and Price SpreadsFarm-to-Retail Price Spreads for Indi-vidual Food Items atlthttpwwwersusdagovbriefingfoodpricespreadsmeatpricespreadsgt

Retail Pork Sales



Worksheet for estimating the retail value of a pork carcass (165 lb)

Retail cutHamCured hams (2)LoinBlade roastCenter chopsSirloin roastSideCured bacon (2)SpareribsShoulderBlade roastBlade steaksArm roastVariousTrimming for sausageMisc (Neck bones feet)Fat skin boneShrinkRetail Wt (excl fat amp bone)Total Retail ValueRetail Valuelb of HangingCarcass (Total $165)

Summary of cutsCured porkRoastsChops and steaksMiscSausage

Pounds

297 X

80 X173 X 56 X

186 X 64 X

73 X 42 X 77 X

208 X 35 X327 351288

Pounds483283215 99209

Pricelb

$___________

$___________$___________$___________

$___________$___________

$___________$___________$___________

$___________$___________

Total $

$___________

$___________$___________$___________

$___________$___________

$___________$___________$___________

$___________$___________

$___________

$___________

(Henning 2003)


need a select product cut into a precise portionandoffered in volume In spite of repeated attemptswe never sold one ounce of pork to a single institu-tion This significantly hurt the potential salesvolume and in time was a key factor in our deci-sion to stop direct marketing

All meat programs are complicated and ours wasno exception Our local sales were strong onground and packaged products like pork sausageand hot dogs We had excellent bacon sales However we could not sell enough pork loin items andham sales were so poor that we often had hamground with the trim meat Here we could not sellthe high value pork and lost the margins that thosecuts produce You can only sell so many $350-a-pound pork chops in Iowa The supermarkets areabout a $1 a pound cheaper and that is wheremost people go

Getting the best value from a hog carcass is a diffi-cult task Loins amount to 20 of the hog carcassSelling the loin is critical as there is little process-ing in this item However the cost of making ba-con and sausage is considerable The expense ofprocessing cuts into the profits quickly Whenhams are ground into processed products they hurtprofits from two directions The ham is not sold asa high value item and the amount of ham (a largeportion of the carcass) that incurs processing ex-pense adds to the bills Fresh Air put most of thehams into their All Pork Weiners These porkhot dogs were a real treat but we made very littlemoney selling them for $275 a pound Pork mar-keting is complicated and the ham market is espe-cially competitive I really wonder how other di-rect marketers sell this item

What lessons can be learned from this experienceIs there a place for direct marketing I think so Butboth the location and the right kind of individualmust be found A large population area is a majorconsideration The marketers must accept the factthat it will take years to build the business volumethat will return profits This means that their ef-fort will have to be subsidized in the beginning(Frantzen 2002)

The failure of Fresh Air Pork is a lesson Mar-keting alternative pork at prices higher thanthose of commodity priced pork will be a chal-lenge and will require exceptional marketingtalent and perseverance In addition sellingpork successfully in a niche market may require

Be prepared for failure No matter how wellyou plan and execute your direct marketing ef-forts some will not succeed On the PracticalFarmers of Iowas Web site Tom Frantzen or-ganic farmer and direct marketer discusses theclosing of the small marketing cooperative calledFresh Air Pork (from the acronym for FamilyRaised Environmentally Sound Hogs) Fresh AirPork was developed to assist a small group ofIowa farmers in the production marketing andsale of alternatively produced hogs The initialactivity of the cooperative was to coordinate theproduction and shipping of market hogs to theNiman Ranch program

However in 1999 Fresh Air Pork decided toenter the direct marketing business targetinglocal sales to the public to health food storesand to institutions All Fresh Air Pork contin-ued to meet the Niman Ranch program crite-ria and the hogs were butchered and processedat several local state-inspected lockers Themarketing to health food stores was successfuleven though Fresh Air Pork could not afford tosell pork to the stores at wholesale prices De-spite the fact that they had to add their storemargin on to the retail price the health foodstores sold the pork on a regular basis The lo-cal grain elevator provided freezer space to pro-mote direct sales to consumers As TomFrantzen says

Local consumers liked our quality and selectionWe promoted the pork through advertising andword of mouth We had bus tours stop to check theoperation and make purchases Several local busi-nesses used our pork in their customer dinners

In spite of these promotions and the significantsuccess of local sales the Fresh Air direct pork mar-keting will end on April 1 2002 The sales volumenever reached a profitable level in three yearsWhat went wrong With so much done right wasthere something out of place

I led the initiative to try to sell our pork to two tar-geted institutions We made professional ap-proaches to the food service managers We do-nated and cooked meals for the advisory councilsthat advise the food service We were well receivedand when the required product specifications weredetailed we met them For example these services

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access to large population centers with enoughpotential customers to fill the niche

Nonetheless a sustainable hog production andmarketing system should be the goal of manysmall-scale hog producers Many consumersare interested in buying pork that is producedby alternative sustainable methods on smallfamily farms As Mark Honeyman associateprofessor of animal science and coordinator ofthe Research and Demonstration Farms at IowaState University says Alternative systems arepig friendly people friendly communityfriendly and environment friendly (Bauer1998) Sustainable farming involves the wholefarming environment both production andmarketing and can be an important part of thelocal community

Direct marketing and niche markets are just twoalternative marketing options that can be con-sidered by all sustainable hog producers If youcare enough about the way you raise your hogsif you do it in a humane system you can be re-warded both financially and emotionally Evenif you dont want to market through farmersmarkets farm meat stores or other direct mar-keting means there are now some alternativemarketing groups such as Niman Ranch PorkCompany and Organic Valley Family of FarmsMore of these marketing groups have formedrecently and one may be near you

Aitchison Angela 1999 The organic meatmyth revealed 1998 Meat New ZealandLinkFoundation Fellow June 22 phttpwwwdpiqldgovauextrapdforganicmeatmythpdf

Anon 1993 Real meatFrom real farmersWisconsin Rural Development Center May-June p 4

Anon 2000 Food safety and quality as affectedby organic farming Twenty-Second FAO Re-gional Conferences for Europe proceedingsPorto Portugal July 2428 14 phttpwwwfaoorgdocrepmeetingx4983ehtm

Anon 2001 Direct marketing food requiresanalysis planning Sustainable AgricultureMarch p 3-4

Bauer Lisa 1998 Sustainable swine produc-tion Low-cost options Small Farm Today Junep 38

Callahan Michelle 2000 All natural pork pro-duction Old methods produce new productsAmerican Small Farm January p 4445

Dahlhoff Amanda 2002 Assessment of Mar-ket Alternatives for Minnesota Meat ExportSouthwest State University Marshall Minne-sota Project funded by Agricultural UtilizationResearch Institute December 2 28 phttpwwwauriorgresearchmeatexportpdfsmeatexportpdf

Daykin Tom 2001 Beefing up sales Milwau-kee Journal Sentinel October 13httpwwwjsonlinecombymnewsoct01graze14101301aasp

Evans Lawrence E Jr 1997 Have you ne-glected corporate(tm) trademarks(r) SmallFarm Today February p 40-41

Frantzen Tom 2002 Direct marketing porkA report from the field 3 phttpwwwpfiiastateeduLocal_Food_SystFresh_Air_Pork_Frantzenhtm

Henning William R 2003 Marketing MeatAnimals Directly to Consumers CooperativeExtension in Bedford County PA 12 phttpbedfordextensionpsueduAgricul-tureLessonsmarket20meat20animalshtm

K i r s c h R a y 2 0 0 0 I t s f r e s h b u t i sit sustainable The Land Stewards h i pLetter AprilMayJunehttpwwwlandstewardshipprojectorglsllspv18n2htmlCOMMENTARY

Klober Kelly 1998 Approaches to market-ingNotes from a direct sales survivor SmallFarms Today October-November p 48-51

Klober Kelly 2000 Hogs in the new millen-nium Small Farm Today May p 21-22

ReferencesReferencesReferencesReferencesReferences


Web Sites

Agricultural Marketing Resource Centerhttpwwwagmrcorgporkporkhtml

Marketing Web site links to hundreds of re-sources on direct marketing natural nicheeth-nic organic processing etc for pork

Practical Farmers of Iowa Pork Niche MarketWorking Grouphttpwwwagmrcorgporkpnmwghtml

Supports the development of niche markets forpork Has on-line newsletters news releasescontact information and project descriptionsCan also contact

Gary Huber PNMWG CoordinatorBox 349Ames IA 50010515-2325661 ext 103garypracticalfarmersorg

USDAs Farmer Direct Marketinghttpwwwamsusdagovdirectmarketing

Provides on-line National Farmers Market Di-rectory on-line listing of Direct Marketing Re-sources by state and many links to general di-rect marketing publications and other USDAprograms related to direct marketing

Books

Farm Fresh Direct Marketing Meat amp Milk2002 By Allan Nation 251 p

$30 plus shipping and handling Contains in-formation on preparing business and market-ing plans naming products setting prices andfinding and keeping customers

Klober Kelly 2001 Promoting value-addedpork Acres USA October p 14

Larson E Anne 1999 Earth-friendly pork Aniche market waiting to happen Leopold Let-ter Spring p 10

Looker Dan 2003 Expert pins blame forconcentration on retailers Successful Farm-ing February 5 3 phttpwwwagriculturecomdefaultsphAgNewsclassFNC=DetailNews__Asearch_listAgNews_html___49330

Martin Wayne 2001 Goals influence directmarketing 4 phttpwwwmisaumneduprogramsaltswinedirectmarketinghtml

Nation Allan 1999 Allans observations TheStockman Grass Farmer May p 13

National Pork Board 2003 Pork Facts 20022003 34 phttpwwwporkboardorgdocs2002-320PORK20FACTS20BKpdf

Salatin Joel 1992 Relationship marketing Fiveadvantagesconsumer education and loyaltyproduct quality lifestyle sales balance TheStockman Grass Farmer September p 19 22-23

Salatin Joel 1994 Sales can fail The Stock-man Grass Farmer June p 31

Salatin Joel 1995 Developing a clientele TheStockman Grass Farmer November p 7-8 11

Schafer Paula J 2001 Successful direct mar-keting of livestock 4 phttpwwwccecornelleduwashingtonaedparticlesmarklivestockhtml

Silverman Aaron 2003 Selling meat at mar-ket Growing for Market April p 1 4-6

Slattery Patrick 1999 Farm-direct catering ampdirect-marketed packaged meatMaking natu-ral meat pay Acres USA April p 20

FFFFFurther Resourcesurther Resourcesurther Resourcesurther Resourcesurther Resources

Wulf Duane M 1999 Did the Locker PlantSteal Some of My Meat Current Research Ar-ticles South Dakota State University Meat Sci-ence Extension and Research 4 phttparssdstateeduMeatSciMay99-1htm


sgfbookshelfhtml

The Legal Guide for Direct Farm Marketing1999 By Neil D Hamilton 240 p

$20 plus $3 shipping Contains some informa-tion specifically on farm marketing meat

Order from

Drake University Law SchoolAgricultural Law Center2507 University AvenueDes Moines IA 50311-4505515-271-2947

In the Eyes of the Law Legal Issues Associ-ated with Direct Farm Marketing 2002 ByRichard F Prim and Daarin K Foede 27 p

$10 Deals mainly with Minnesota laws butshould be helpful for other states as well

Order from

University of Minnesota ExtensionService Distribution Center405 Coffey Hall1420 Eckles AvenueSaint Paul MN 55108-6068800-8768636 612-6244900httpwwwextensionumnedudistributionresourcesandtourismDB7683html

Collaborative Marketing A Roadmap amp Re-source Guide for Farmers 2000 By R King

$475 plus $2 shipping Presents alternativeways to market and form marketing networks

Order from

Extension Distribution Center405 Coffey Hall1420 Eckles Avenue

University of MinnesotaSt Paul MN 55108-6068800-8768636 612-6244900httpwwwextensionumnedudistributionbusinessmanagementDF7539html

Front End Guidance for Value-Added Net-worksMarketing Pork to the Mexican Con-sumer in the United States 1997 NationalPork Board 04322 82 p

Explains how value-added market developmentand implementation might be investigated andcan guide the development of a business andmarketing plan to assess the viability of an in-vestment Can be ordered from National PorkBoard and is available on-line at lthttpwwwmnporkcomproducerresearchguidepdfgt

Guide to Latino Pork Cuts 1998 National PorkBoard 04409 56 p

Shows pork carcass fabrication Latino style in-cluding retail cut pictures cutting procedurescooking methods yields and relative pricingCan be ordered from National Pork Board andis available on-line at lthttpwwwmnporkcomproducerresearchlatino20meat20guidepdfgt

Order from


Cost $1000 each for producers or $1500each for nonproducers

Building a Sustainable BusinessA Guide toDeveloping a Business Plan for Farms andRural Businesses Minnesota Institute for Sus-tainable Agriculture 280 p

Order from

Stockman Grass FarmerPO Box 2300Ridgeland MS 39158-2300800-7489808601-8538087 FAXhttpwwwstockmangrassfarmercom


Will help develop a detailed business plan andways to take advantages of any new marketingopportunities It is available on-line at lthttpwwwmisaumnedupublicationsbizplanhtmlgt

Order from

Minnesota Institute for SustainableAgricultureSt Paul MN 55108800-909MISA (6472)misamailumnedu

Cost is $1400 + $395 shipping and han-dling

Making It on the Farm IncreasingSustainability through Value-added Process-ing and Marketing 1996 Southern Sustain-able Agriculture Working Group (SSAWG)

$1000 includes shipping and handling Tellsthe stories of 12 farmers involved in value-addedmarketing One of these is Clarence Durhama hog farmer in Pittsboro North Carolina whobarbecues three or four hogs a month for saleby the pound to individuals and sells sausagein 5-pound bulk packages Durham says Wecould probably sell a lot more sausage and bar-becueprobably two hogs a week of each butit is a lot of work and he and his wife are sup-posedly retired The book has information aboutDurhams operation information about the 10keys to success that emerged from these in-terviews and a listing of resources for add-ing value to farm products

Order from

Julia SampsonSSAWG Publications210 W South Street 6Fayetteville AR 72701479-5822858

The following book is available from bookstoresand on-line booksellers If a book is listed asout-of-print you may be able to obtain itthrough Interlibrary Loan check with your lo-cal librarian You may also be able to buy acopy through an on-line used-book search sitesuch as lthttpwwwbookfindercomgt

Natural Nutrition for Dogs and Cats TheUltimate Pet Diet 1999 By Kymythy RSchultze 135 p

$895 Discusses the BARF (Bones And RawFood) diet for dogs and cats

On-line Publications and Articles

Adding Value to Pork Production A BusinessStart-up Manual to Move You Up the ChainIowa State University Center for Industrial Re-search and Servicehttpwwwcirasiastateeduporkmanual

On-line manual

Farmers Markets Rules Regulations andOpportunitiesDrake University Law Schoolhttpwwwlawdrakeeducentersaglawcenterfarmersmarketspdf

49-page publication

Consumer Preferences Premiums and theMarket for Natural and Organic PorkLocating a Niche for Small-scale ProducersUniversity of Minnesota Alternative Swine Pro-duction Systems Programhttpwwwmisaumneduprogramsaltswinelitreviewhtml

Publication

Goals Influence Direct MarketingUniversity of Minnesota Alternative Swine Pro-duction Systems Programhttpwwwmisaumneduprogramsaltswinedirectmarketinghtml

Publication

or contact

Wayne Martin CoordinatorAlternative Swine Production SystemsProgram385 Animal Science Building 1988Fitch AvenueSt Paul MN 55108612-6256224612-6251210 FAXmarti067tcumnedu


How to Direct-Market Farm Products on theInternetUSDA Agricultural Marketing ServicehttpwwwamsusdagovtmdMSBPDFpubListInternetMarketingpdf

50-page publication

Small Farm Cooperative Quality and Innova-tionNorth Central Initiative for Small Farm Profit-abilityhttpwwwfarmprofitabilityorgresearchsmallfarmsmallfarmpdf

Case study

Attracting Consumers with Locally GrownProductsNorth Central Initiative for Small Farm Profit-abilityhttpwwwfarmprofitabilityorglocalpdf

Publication a study of consumer attributes andpurchasing patterns in four Midwestern states

Family Farms and Ranches Can Benefit fromNiche MarketsCenter for Rural Affairshttpwwwcfraorgnewsletter2003_03htmFeature

Article

Direct Marketing Pork A Report from theFieldPractical Farmers of IowahttpwwwpfiiastateeduLocal_Food_SystFresh_Air_Pork_Frantzenhtm

Article

Pennsylvania Farmers Consider New Systemfor Happy HogsThe New Farm from Rodale Institutehttpwwwnewfarmorgdeptspig_pagepig_allianceindexshtml

Article

Patchwork Takes Pork to the People and GivesFirm Market to the FarmersThe New Farm from Rodale Institutehttpwwwnewfarmorgdeptspig_pagepatchwork_farmsindexshtml

Article

Direct Marketing Well-raised Hogs TakesSpecial Finesse Fair Partnering with Market-ers Would Allow Farmers to FarmThe New Farm from Rodale Institutehttpwwwnewfarmorgfeatures0902iowa_letterindexshtml

Article

A Pigs Tale Marketing Stories for New ValueChains from Niche and Value Added Mar-keting Whats in it for you 2001 ConferenceLeopold Center for Sustainablehttpwwwleopoldiastateedupubsspeechfiles091801_ppdf

Keynote address

Pasture Raised Products Messages andStrategyFood Routes and Midwest Collaboratorshttpwwwfoodroutesorgdoclib167Pasture+Raised+FRN+project+Final+reportdoc

Consumer focus group study

Comparing Swine Niche Market Opportuni-tiesIowa State University Iowa Pork IndustryCenterhttpwwwextensioniastateeduipicinfor-mationIowaPorkNichepdf

2001 on-line publication

Market To Market To Sell a Fat Hen Howto Grow Your Business from Idea to Success-ful CompanyIowa State University Geography of Rural Fi-nancial Intermediationhttpwwwwallacefdnorgchickenandtheegg1pdf

On-line publication


Case Studies of Value Added Production ampMarketingNational Pork Boardhttpwwwmnporkcomproducerre-searchvalueaddpdf


Ethnic Marketing of PorkNational Pork BoardhttpwwwmeatscienceorgPubsfactsheetsq-ethnicmktngpdf


Videos

Pork The Other Producers A Better Way toRaise Hogs is a 41-minute video examining thechanges in hog production and what they meanfor family farmers and rural communities Pro-duction systems requiring lower amounts ofcapitalespecially important for beginningfarmersare presented as alternatives to thelarge-scale corporate structure of production1998 V3 Cost $1000

Order from

Center for Rural Affairs101 S Tallman StreetPO Box 406Walthill NE 68067402-846-5428402-846-5420 FAXinfocfraorghttpwwwcfraorg

Latino Meat Cutting Video shows meat cut-ters preparing retail cuts to Latino market speci-fications Both carcass and boxed fabrication isshown 08072 Cost is $1000 for producersor $1500 for nonproducers

Order from


The electronic version of Pork MarketingAlternatives is located atHTMLhttpwwwattrancatorgattra-pubaltporkhtmlPDFhttpwwwattrancatorgattra-pubPDFaltporkpdf

Pork Marketing AlternativesBy Lance GegnerNCAT Agriculture SpecialistApril 2004copy2004 National Center forAppropriate TechnologyIP 153Slot 100


Kelly Klober author of Storeys Guide to RaisingPigs and himself a farmer and value-addedmarketer believes that farmers in the futureshould not expect to support a farming opera-tion with a 100 to 200 sow herd Klober saysA lot of folks are seeing a time and means to fita few hogs into their farming mix Hogs will betaken up by producers wanting to work withmodest numbers and also wanting to marketthem all across the swine production spec-trum To succeed on the small farm a sowherd will have to be quite small fewer than 25and perhaps as few as 3-5 Even from smallnumbers however you will have to pursue asmany marketing opportunities as possible(Klober 2000)

Before sustainable hog producers decide to pur-sue alternative marketing they need to under-stand the differences between commodity andniche marketing Commodity marketing ismarketing hogs that are undifferentiated fromother hogs in the mass market Niche market-ing is differentiating your pork product to amarket that wants a unique or superior prod-uct

Allan Nation editor of Stockman Grass Farmerhas stated A commodity orientation meansthat as long as you meet the specs and can standthe price you pretty much tell everyone else togo fly a kite Such a selfish attitude absolutelywill not work in direct marketing Nation fur-ther explains that direct niche marketing is moreabout providing services to others by helpingthem get what they want He says

In the US consumers expect an attitude of defer-ence and responsiveness to their wants and needsIf you are unable or unwilling to developor con-vincingly fakesuch an attitude stay in commod-ity-priced agriculture However if you see serviceto others as a noble calling dont let the lack ofspecific marketing or production skills deter youAptitudes are rather easily learned It is our atti-tudes that are difficult to change and that mostoften determine our fate (Nation 1999)

Direct marketing involves selling products di-rectly to consumers thus allowing the producerthe chance to receive a better price This in-volves making a direct connection with consum-ers determining their wants or needs and pro-ducing the products that meet these needs

Joel Salatin a Virginia pastured-beef and -poul-try producer who has written several books onthis subject suggests some factors to help de-termine your sustainable pork pricing

First dont underprice your productSustainably produced pork products are supe-rior because they are more environmentallyfriendly are humanely produced and are pro-duced on family farms Patronizing local farm-ers ensures that the local economy is stimulatedSalatin suggests that producers set a rewardingand satisfying gross margin and then stick to itThis will allow the producer to build a customerbase with clients who appreciate the productfor what it is not for what it costs (Salatin 1994)

Second dont try to satisfy all customers needsTake into account your time and the extra ef-fort that is needed to accommodate their re-quests Salatin says We must appreciate thatwe cannot compete with the big operators atevery level and learn to stop our production orprocessing at the point where our qualitypriceenhancement cant compete with the conven-tional alternatives (Salatin 1994)

Finally keep accounts receivable low Operateon a cash and carry basis as much as possibleSalatin concludes There you have it Set yourprices so that no matter what your volume yourreturn is both emotionally and financially re-

Commodity vs NicheCommodity vs NicheCommodity vs NicheCommodity vs NicheCommodity vs NicheMarketingMarketingMarketingMarketingMarketing

What Is Direct MarketingWhat Is Direct MarketingWhat Is Direct MarketingWhat Is Direct MarketingWhat Is Direct Marketing

In an article in the Milwaukee Journal Senti-nel Mike Marrwho raises and marketsbeef near Mineral Point Wisconsincom-ments Historically we take what some-one is willing to give us Business sense tellsyou that theyre not going to give you anymore than they have to (Daykin 2001)












Joel Salatin




















Dr Marti Skye















ORGANIC LABELING

USDA Organic Seal


















ETHNIC MARKETING










Cooperatives







Common


















































Resources














Starting a Business

























Trademarks

Obstacles












Joel Salatin

























































Total


255 23 58

114336 114 45

32107 76 57 16 16

34304 34 338

19 58 91

10339 10 349

44 78 17

08139 08 147

12640

126 40 166

154

220 18

154 238 392

1398 444 1842












Retail Pork Sales






Pounds

297 X

80 X173 X 56 X

186 X 64 X

73 X 42 X 77 X

208 X 35 X327 351288

Pounds483283215 99209

Pricelb

$___________

$___________$___________$___________

$___________$___________

$___________$___________$___________

$___________$___________

Total $

$___________

$___________$___________$___________

$___________$___________

$___________$___________$___________

$___________$___________

$___________

$___________

(Henning 2003)


































Web Sites








Books


















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On-line manual


49-page publication


Publication


Publication

or contact




50-page publication


Case study




Article


Article


Article


Article


Article


Keynote address






On-line publication






Videos


Order from



Order from















Joel Salatin




















Dr Marti Skye















ORGANIC LABELING

USDA Organic Seal


















ETHNIC MARKETING










Cooperatives







Common


















































Resources














Starting a Business

























Trademarks

Obstacles












Joel Salatin

























































Total


255 23 58

114336 114 45

32107 76 57 16 16

34304 34 338

19 58 91

10339 10 349

44 78 17

08139 08 147

12640

126 40 166

154

220 18

154 238 392

1398 444 1842












Retail Pork Sales






Pounds

297 X

80 X173 X 56 X

186 X 64 X

73 X 42 X 77 X

208 X 35 X327 351288

Pounds483283215 99209

Pricelb

$___________

$___________$___________$___________

$___________$___________

$___________$___________$___________

$___________$___________

Total $

$___________

$___________$___________$___________

$___________$___________

$___________$___________$___________

$___________$___________

$___________

$___________

(Henning 2003)


































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On-line manual


49-page publication


Publication


Publication

or contact




50-page publication


Case study




Article


Article


Article


Article


Article


Keynote address






On-line publication






Videos


Order from



Order from






















Dr Marti Skye















ORGANIC LABELING

USDA Organic Seal


















ETHNIC MARKETING










Cooperatives







Common


















































Resources














Starting a Business

























Trademarks

Obstacles












Joel Salatin

























































Total


255 23 58

114336 114 45

32107 76 57 16 16

34304 34 338

19 58 91

10339 10 349

44 78 17

08139 08 147

12640

126 40 166

154

220 18

154 238 392

1398 444 1842












Retail Pork Sales






Pounds

297 X

80 X173 X 56 X

186 X 64 X

73 X 42 X 77 X

208 X 35 X327 351288

Pounds483283215 99209

Pricelb

$___________

$___________$___________$___________

$___________$___________

$___________$___________$___________

$___________$___________

Total $

$___________

$___________$___________$___________

$___________$___________

$___________$___________$___________

$___________$___________

$___________

$___________

(Henning 2003)


































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On-line manual


49-page publication


Publication


Publication

or contact




50-page publication


Case study




Article


Article


Article


Article


Article


Keynote address






On-line publication






Videos


Order from



Order from

















ORGANIC LABELING

USDA Organic Seal


















ETHNIC MARKETING










Cooperatives







Common


















































Resources














Starting a Business

























Trademarks

Obstacles












Joel Salatin

























































Total


255 23 58

114336 114 45

32107 76 57 16 16

34304 34 338

19 58 91

10339 10 349

44 78 17

08139 08 147

12640

126 40 166

154

220 18

154 238 392

1398 444 1842












Retail Pork Sales






Pounds

297 X

80 X173 X 56 X

186 X 64 X

73 X 42 X 77 X

208 X 35 X327 351288

Pounds483283215 99209

Pricelb

$___________

$___________$___________$___________

$___________$___________

$___________$___________$___________

$___________$___________

Total $

$___________

$___________$___________$___________

$___________$___________

$___________$___________$___________

$___________$___________

$___________

$___________

(Henning 2003)


































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On-line manual


49-page publication


Publication


Publication

or contact




50-page publication


Case study




Article


Article


Article


Article


Article


Keynote address






On-line publication






Videos


Order from



Order from





















ETHNIC MARKETING










Cooperatives







Common


















































Resources














Starting a Business

























Trademarks

Obstacles












Joel Salatin

























































Total


255 23 58

114336 114 45

32107 76 57 16 16

34304 34 338

19 58 91

10339 10 349

44 78 17

08139 08 147

12640

126 40 166

154

220 18

154 238 392

1398 444 1842












Retail Pork Sales






Pounds

297 X

80 X173 X 56 X

186 X 64 X

73 X 42 X 77 X

208 X 35 X327 351288

Pounds483283215 99209

Pricelb

$___________

$___________$___________$___________

$___________$___________

$___________$___________$___________

$___________$___________

Total $

$___________

$___________$___________$___________

$___________$___________

$___________$___________$___________

$___________$___________

$___________

$___________

(Henning 2003)


































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On-line manual


49-page publication


Publication


Publication

or contact




50-page publication


Case study




Article


Article


Article


Article


Article


Keynote address






On-line publication






Videos


Order from



Order from













Cooperatives







Common


















































Resources














Starting a Business

























Trademarks

Obstacles












Joel Salatin

























































Total


255 23 58

114336 114 45

32107 76 57 16 16

34304 34 338

19 58 91

10339 10 349

44 78 17

08139 08 147

12640

126 40 166

154

220 18

154 238 392

1398 444 1842












Retail Pork Sales






Pounds

297 X

80 X173 X 56 X

186 X 64 X

73 X 42 X 77 X

208 X 35 X327 351288

Pounds483283215 99209

Pricelb

$___________

$___________$___________$___________

$___________$___________

$___________$___________$___________

$___________$___________

Total $

$___________

$___________$___________$___________

$___________$___________

$___________$___________$___________

$___________$___________

$___________

$___________

(Henning 2003)


































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On-line manual


49-page publication


Publication


Publication

or contact




50-page publication


Case study




Article


Article


Article


Article


Article


Keynote address






On-line publication






Videos


Order from



Order from





















































Resources














Starting a Business

























Trademarks

Obstacles












Joel Salatin

























































Total


255 23 58

114336 114 45

32107 76 57 16 16

34304 34 338

19 58 91

10339 10 349

44 78 17

08139 08 147

12640

126 40 166

154

220 18

154 238 392

1398 444 1842












Retail Pork Sales






Pounds

297 X

80 X173 X 56 X

186 X 64 X

73 X 42 X 77 X

208 X 35 X327 351288

Pounds483283215 99209

Pricelb

$___________

$___________$___________$___________

$___________$___________

$___________$___________$___________

$___________$___________

Total $

$___________

$___________$___________$___________

$___________$___________

$___________$___________$___________

$___________$___________

$___________

$___________

(Henning 2003)


































Web Sites








Books


















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On-line manual


49-page publication


Publication


Publication

or contact




50-page publication


Case study




Article


Article


Article


Article


Article


Keynote address






On-line publication






Videos


Order from



Order from














Starting a Business

























Trademarks

Obstacles












Joel Salatin

























































Total


255 23 58

114336 114 45

32107 76 57 16 16

34304 34 338

19 58 91

10339 10 349

44 78 17

08139 08 147

12640

126 40 166

154

220 18

154 238 392

1398 444 1842












Retail Pork Sales






Pounds

297 X

80 X173 X 56 X

186 X 64 X

73 X 42 X 77 X

208 X 35 X327 351288

Pounds483283215 99209

Pricelb

$___________

$___________$___________$___________

$___________$___________

$___________$___________$___________

$___________$___________

Total $

$___________

$___________$___________$___________

$___________$___________

$___________$___________$___________

$___________$___________

$___________

$___________

(Henning 2003)


































Web Sites








Books


















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On-line manual


49-page publication


Publication


Publication

or contact




50-page publication


Case study




Article


Article


Article


Article


Article


Keynote address






On-line publication






Videos


Order from



Order from



























Trademarks

Obstacles












Joel Salatin

























































Total


255 23 58

114336 114 45

32107 76 57 16 16

34304 34 338

19 58 91

10339 10 349

44 78 17

08139 08 147

12640

126 40 166

154

220 18

154 238 392

1398 444 1842












Retail Pork Sales






Pounds

297 X

80 X173 X 56 X

186 X 64 X

73 X 42 X 77 X

208 X 35 X327 351288

Pounds483283215 99209

Pricelb

$___________

$___________$___________$___________

$___________$___________

$___________$___________$___________

$___________$___________

Total $

$___________

$___________$___________$___________

$___________$___________

$___________$___________$___________

$___________$___________

$___________

$___________

(Henning 2003)


































Web Sites








Books


















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Order from







On-line manual


49-page publication


Publication


Publication

or contact




50-page publication


Case study




Article


Article


Article


Article


Article


Keynote address






On-line publication






Videos


Order from



Order from















Joel Salatin

























































Total


255 23 58

114336 114 45

32107 76 57 16 16

34304 34 338

19 58 91

10339 10 349

44 78 17

08139 08 147

12640

126 40 166

154

220 18

154 238 392

1398 444 1842












Retail Pork Sales






Pounds

297 X

80 X173 X 56 X

186 X 64 X

73 X 42 X 77 X

208 X 35 X327 351288

Pounds483283215 99209

Pricelb

$___________

$___________$___________$___________

$___________$___________

$___________$___________$___________

$___________$___________

Total $

$___________

$___________$___________$___________

$___________$___________

$___________$___________$___________

$___________$___________

$___________

$___________

(Henning 2003)


































Web Sites








Books


















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Case study




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Total


255 23 58

114336 114 45

32107 76 57 16 16

34304 34 338

19 58 91

10339 10 349

44 78 17

08139 08 147

12640

126 40 166

154

220 18

154 238 392

1398 444 1842












Retail Pork Sales






Pounds

297 X

80 X173 X 56 X

186 X 64 X

73 X 42 X 77 X

208 X 35 X327 351288

Pounds483283215 99209

Pricelb

$___________

$___________$___________$___________

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Total $

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$___________$___________$___________

$___________$___________

$___________$___________$___________

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$___________

$___________

(Henning 2003)


































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Case study




Article


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Retail Pork Sales






Pounds

297 X

80 X173 X 56 X

186 X 64 X

73 X 42 X 77 X

208 X 35 X327 351288

Pounds483283215 99209

Pricelb

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$___________$___________$___________

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Total $

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$___________$___________

$___________$___________$___________

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Case study




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Keynote address






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Pounds

297 X

80 X173 X 56 X

186 X 64 X

73 X 42 X 77 X

208 X 35 X327 351288

Pounds483283215 99209

Pricelb

$___________

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