I'm looking for some advice. My siblings and I have had a small herd of Dexters for 10 years, and have in the past just kept the meat for ourselves or sold a bit to friends and family, and if there was any surplus steers sold them on privately.
However over the next 6 months we have a good crop of short and non-short steers that will be finished off really well. With the price meat is making at the moment we are hoping to market the meat ourselves, to cut out the middle man and get a better return on the steers. We were planning on going down the meat box route, and through a friend of a friend found a butcher to cut and vacuum pack the meat at a reasonable price and I have sourced some boxes for the meat.
What I would like some advice on how many meat boxes I would get out of a steer or how best to divide the meat up?
Usually the butcher cuts the beast into 8 equal boxes, these can vary from 11 kg to 20 kg per box depending on the size of the animal. Some breeders take out the fillet for themselves as a treat, must say we take some of it out too, cook it the night the beef comes back from the butcher, one of the best tastes in the world.
I have mine split into 15kg boxes, and the surplus odd bits left I keep or sell individually to those who want to try the meat. I have had up to 130kg off a long leg steer. I prefer to do it this way so the customer knows exactly how much it will cost when they agree to buy some - which is before the animal has been slaughtered.
I used 'Broomcrofts' statistics on the cuts from an animal. I worked out what percentage of each there should therefore be in a 15kg box and filled it accordingly. A bit stressful first time, but now works really well.
Ok thanks for the advice. It gives me something to go on. Some of the steers are nearly ready to go to slaughter so I just need to find someone buy the meat now!
For my first two animals I sent a text/email to all the people in my contacts, and also put a notice up where I work. That did the trick for me. I gave a bit of information about the breed and how they have been reared.
I just charged £8 per kilo for mixed boxes that time. It was a price that I felt they would give it a go at. I am now charging £10 and £11 per kilo depending on box size.
Good luck with finding customers.
Mark
PS - Remember to register with your local environment health for handling the meat. It does not come to our premises so we did not require a visit but I had to notify them that I was transporting the meat.
