Will a farmer give up the whole cow?

[Nommie Bringeruvda Noms]

I asked for the pigs feet, for dog treats. But was told no. USDA rules.

Yup. Makes absolutely NO sense to me, and leaves me utterly infuriated, considering you can buy pickled pigs feet, at the grocery stores. The reason lungs are illegal to sell is that because *most* cattle are raised in factory farms, where they're breathing in feces, urine, and Lord only knows what other toxic gick, so the lungs are considered to be directly contaminated. Grass fed are subject to the same laws, simply because there has been no legal differentiation made between them, regarding processing.
Jftr, I'm not a cattle rancher. I'm just another consumer, frustrated by the system. We've gone head to head with the cattle growers, and several processors. My personal belief is that if I buy the entire live animal, the whole thing belongs to me, and by refusing to give the whole thing back to me, they're stealing from me, because I'm not buying their product, but their service. Unfortunately, that doesn't change the way the laws are written.
What I don't understand is why parts that I KNOW can be and are sold separately are withheld. I see pig ears, pickled pig feet, chitterlings, and more for sale in butcher shops, pet food stores, and on grocery shelves - so how then, can it be illegal for them to give me back those parts of MY animal??? Gaaaah!

 

[farmerjan]

Because you would be getting those parts back "raw"... and the things in the stores, like pickled pigs feet and ears and things have to go through certain processes that will kill bacteria and other organisms.
Plus, when the animal is on the kill floor, the floor is not cleaned and sterilized between animals, so there could be cross contamination from the previous animal.
If you want the whole animal, then either butcher it yourself, or else have an abattoir come to your farm and have it killed on site.
I agree that some of it seems dumb and ridiculous. But when you take an animal to a slaughter house, you should ask up front , EXACTLY what you will be getting back. And be thoroughly knowledgeable of the laws of the state as to what is allowed to be taken back. Butchers figure their prices on slaughter with the knowledge that they are also going to realize a little income from the parts that they are going to have to discard.....head, guts, skin, whatever.
If you want to get EVERYTHING back, then that would mean everything... and 99% of the people that take an animal to get killed do not want, nor are they equipped or able to take everything back.
Certain areas of the country there are traveling abattoirs, that come and kill at your place, and then take the HANGING carcasses in refridgerated trucks/trailers back to a facility to hang and cut. Many of them also take away the non-edible parts and you are paying for their service and the disposal. Unless you have a backhoe or something similar, disposing of 2-300 lbs of guts and stuff is not a simple job. And it is to protect people from just leaving stuff lay around and more disease and flies and predators to come and a stinking mess left behind.
I don't like some of the laws. BUT, it is to protect the general public, and the uninformed people , from making themselves and others sick or spreading diseases. I don't like the raw milk laws, but there are too many dumb ignorant and just plain clueless people that will sue me and I am not going to deal with them. This society in general has no common sense, and sadly we have to protect them from themselves.
So, kill it yourself, and deal with the whole animal. That is what hunters do with deer and such.

 

[Nommie Bringeruvda Noms]

Yup. It's infuriating, in many ways, but I do get it. So, we've been settling for doing our poultry and (hunted) deer, ourselves, and letting our local Mennonite processor do our hogs and beef.

 

[Baymule]

I can and have slaughtered hogs. But since I sell the whole or half, I have it professionally done. It’s a lot of work and it is money well paid for a professional job.

 

[Nommie Bringeruvda Noms]

No doubt! I've not done hogs, but have done poultry, steer, and a variety of game animals, so fully respect the labor that goes into it.

 

[Baymule]

We slaughter and vacuum seal Cornish Cross chickens, we have a few customers for them.