OT - how to charge for beef

Hi guys, I"ve got a question for you cattlemen/women out there. I"ve got a couple of steers that will finish out in about a month. Generally I just take them in and sell them, but I"ve had alot of people inquire with me about buying 1/4 or 1/2 of beef. How do you guys make this work? Xdollars/pound? Who pays the processing fee? What"s a fair price per pound of hanging weight?
Thanks
DJL

Here is what I do. Call a place that sells beef by the half and ask them what a half would cost. More than like they will say something like $2.15/pound. I say thanks and I will think about it. I then subtract the cost of cutting and wrapping, 45 cents/pound, and tell the customer that they pay the kill charge, cutting and wrapping to the processor and I want $1.70/pound hanging weight. I sell only halves. I am willing to have 2 people share a half. If you sell quarters you may end up with a lot of front quarters. Bud

I buy a 1/2 every yr from same guy. Had problem w/ some hamburg couple yrs back, had blood sour in it???
lb for lb he replaced it all and threw in some extra to boot. That's why I go back to him yr after yr.
This yr ended up w/ an angus cross steer. My 1/2 was 365lbs and I pd 405$ and 180$ for the cut/shrink wrap and freezing.

Unless this is someone you know well or you're selling the entire animal, make sure you charge extra for the inevitable crap you'll have to put up with. People will expect you to do everything for them and you're stuck being broker between multiple people and the meat locker. If anything is wrong with the processing it will be your fault as far as they are concerned. Also, they won't pick up their meat on time and as far as the locker is concerned that's also your fault.

For all of the time and coordination it takes you're usually better off to just sell the animals at market price.

I`m charging $2.25 a pound hanging wt. this yr. I haul to the slaughter house and they pay all butcher fees . I hav`nt sold anything smaller than a half but the shop I use will split in 1/4s using cuts from both ends if needed .

Don't know where TGIN is, but here in Tulsa, OK area, I go by the same thing. $2.25 on rail weight (hanging weight) and they pay the processing/packaging fees. Usually won't go less than a 1/4 unless it is unusual circumstances.

South east Indiana

Some states, NY being one requires the sale of non-inspected beef to be conducted as a sale of animal not meat. The customer is buying a steer from you. You get paid by live or hanging weight. He pays the processing cost for HIS steer or 1/2 steer. If you pay those costs and charge for frozen beef it is supposed to be inspected.
Selling by the 1/4 is to be avoided if possible because everyone likes hind quarter more than front quarter. So you have to price the two differently or you will have unsold, unloved front quarters. Say $2.80/lb for hind, $1.75 for front.

I should add that it is a good idea to make sure your customers understand the amount of cut out there will be during processing. Hanging weight will be about 70% of live weight. Finished beef weight will be about 50- 60% if hanging weight. They will be dismayed to get 350lbs of beef from a 1000lb. steer. It's been a long time since I've sold freezer beef so I don't know if my percentages are exactly right but you get the idea.

The shop we use has a work sheet for us to give our customers . It gives avg. no. of steaks , roasts and burger then when they call they have a idea how things will go and what they want and how they want it cut up , also a idea on lbs. Ask your shop they most likely have somthing along the same lines . Like I said before if someone wanted a 1/4 they avg. it out of the front and back ends so you get the good , the better and the best cuts .

My cousin buchters twice a year and sells by wieght, meaning if you want a 1/2 or a 1/4 it is by weight not the acual cuts. Then you can custom order hamburger. For intance I get 1/4 with 50 lbs. of it being burger twice a year so i have fresh meat all year. He calls his customers ahead of time to place their orders so he know what he needs as far as burger or cuts of meat, then cuts up his animals based on that.
He charges $2.50 per lb cut and wrapped. He wieghs your boxs of meat cut and wrapped and that's what you pay for. I know he has to be inspected every year but i don't know about that process.

Just had almost this exact conversation last week with a friend of mine, he is trading out a half beef for some big round bales from another hay supplier. His agreement with anyone is by hoof weight, divided by two, buyer responsible for his own processing. You also need to know who your good processors (butchers) are, their is one near here who does charge a little more up front, but end up with more percent of live weight than a couple others who are cheaper in theory but one of them he ended up at 36 percent of live weight, with a lot of it being the cheaper cuts. Can't prove anything, but the good butcher he uses is always over 40 percent of live weight, usually pushing 45 to 50 percent as he will have what some people would call scrap made to sausage. DOUG

I agree that $2.25 is about right for the beef as long as the customer is paying the kill and process fees. I have been selling mine for 2.29/lb hanging weight this year. I take care of the hauling charges. Anyone have any thoughts on what pork should be selling for under the same arrangements. I have some pork about ready for my customers that already bought beef from me. Just wondering what to quote them.

We charge 2.00 a pound cut and wrapped the customer picks it up at the processor. Usually a dime to 15 cent more than what the processor charges for their own stuff. We pay the kill charge and processing fees. The processor we use comes out to kill and quarter and only charges 25 bucks. Last steer we did I believe I made more than selling it at the sales barn.
Of course prices are subject to change.
We do holstein steers and usually sell only halves. But there has been interest in having one ground up in nothing but burger.

Current market price for live steer is about 80-85 cents per lb. Hanging weight for a steer is about 60% of live, package weight is about 45% of live- depends on how much boning is done, etc. I typically charged top market price for a steer I delivered to their processor- within about 15 miles. Sold quarters or halves. Quarters were processed by splitting a half, so each one got some front and rear cuts. Otherwise, rears are more valuable than fronts. There is a BIG difference in butcher shops in regard to packaged percentage. I don't think that any of them buy meat for themselves!

wiegh it say steer is worth 1200 when butcher is done get hangin wieght charge per pound to get your 1200 you can split it up for 1/4 or 1/2 have buyer pick up meat at butcher and pay kill and proccesing

The 25 head or so I finish every year are sold directly to customers by the half or whole based on the live weight. I charge near the top of the price range reported by the nearby auction. The advantage to me is no commission or shrinkage as the cattle are loaded from the feed lot and weighed at the local fertilizer dealer almost immediately. I don't charge hauling as I'd have to haul them to the auction anyway but I only haul when I have 3-4 sold. The customer pays all butchering costs and picks up their own meat. For hogs I charge $180 per head as it's too much trouble to weight and mark individual hogs and I can't raise hogs for market price. Again the customer pays the processing. By my rough calculations hogs need to be $.75 per pound and cattle need to be $1.20 to make any money with feed costs. In the near future one of three things needs to happen:, 1) the cattle market goes up, 2) my customers are going to have to pay above market price, or 3) I'm going to scale back my cattle production. If I was just starting in the business with new customers I'd figure my costs, set a price I could live with and offer it to customers, take it or leave it. You'll be selling a better product that should be priced higher than the super markets.