How much should I charge for sections off my steer?

[MikahMom]

We have a polled Hereford steer that has been grain fed and on pasture. We will be taking him to the processor at the end of July. There are only 2 of us so obviously we will get WAY more meat than we could even think of eating in a year or fit in our freezer, so we plan on selling off sections (after processing).

How much should we charge per lb? We had thought $5/lb for orders of 25 or 50 lbs and $4/lb for orders of 75 or 100 lbs (this includes hamburger, steaks, roasts etc)-- does this seem reasonable? It would be way less than you could buy at the grocery store...



MikahMom

 

[elevan]

I don't know the answer but it's something that I'm gonna have to figure out myself too.

I plan to call the processor when it gets closer to time and find out what the charge is there (each cut). I also have several beef breeders / sellers near me who I plan to call and price their beef from them to give me an idea.

Calculate in the price of the steer, including feed and medical...

You might want to post what state you're in and maybe someone on here can help you out that way...each market is different, but I'm guessing doing some homework on your market as I am would give you the best pricing for a return.

 

[herfrds]

Figure by hanging weight and quarters.
We sell beef every spring and fall. We trade 1 guy a 1/4 beef for a pig and then we sell the rest to those who want to buy it. They get steaks, roasts, burger and such.

As for price some guys charge $5/lb regardless, some charge more and some charge less.

 

[helmstead]

We buy the hanging weight from a family member who raises angus, and then pay the butcher separately for processing. Last year we only paid $1.50 per hanging lb...then I think with processing it was still under $5 per lb. So I don't think you're far off.

 

[MikahMom]

You might want to post what state you're in and maybe someone on here can help you out that way...each market is different, but I'm guessing doing some homework on your market as I am would give you the best pricing for a return.

We are in Mississippi, if that helps anyone

Also, is there a way to figure out the percentage of each cut? That way we could tell them they would be getting "such and such percentage of the steaks, such and such percentage of the hamburger etc etc" in their order.



MikahMom

 

[herfrds]

I count the number of packages we get, steaks, burger, stew meat etc. How much meat in the packages of burger make a difference, such as 1lb or 2lb packages and so do the roasts.

Now with half a steer and I have 2 quarters sold to 2 different people I divide the packages up evenly between them. If I am short to one person I will take a package from our own to make it fair.
Only had one complaint and the guy had bought 1/4 beef, but though he bought the half. Try explaining that one to an idiot.

 

[MikahMom]

Here is a pic I took today of our wonderful steer Sir Loin (aka Cyrl). He is such a handsome fellow and while we will be sad to see him go at the end of the month, we will greatly appreciate his participation in the circle of life!