Question about calfs

larry@stinescorner · Dec 21, 2018

Im not sure if I Can type or ask the question properly,,but Im going to try.

There is a post about the very low price of calves right now.
My question is veal is not cheap in the store.

Is it possible,,or maybe even legal,,for a farmer to sell a live calf to a customer ,then butcher it at the farm?
Its not that hard to butcher a calf,,and slice the back legs into cutlets,,chops can be done with a good handsaw,,etc....not much different than doing a deer.
If it is done in winter,,it seems possible?
I used to do it when I lived at my dads little farm in NJ.
At the time if you took it to the slaughterhouse and brought it back chilled out it wasnt too expensive,,I Dont know about now,,or different areas.
We were lucky at the time a slaughterhouse was 5 miles away,we knew them well.I even worked there for many years.My dad was happy,,he always made a good buck selling the hogs,or veal , etc if the people saw them at the farm and saw the meat cut up.The people were happy too.

Charlie M · Dec 21, 2018

I don't think what you are asking is legal because it bypasses USDA inspections for killing and processing meat. If you were just selling it to friends that were OK with in no one would know but once it looks like a business you would most likely get caught.

Geo-TH,In · Dec 21, 2018

I know of slaughterhouses getting sued because of e coli or some bacteria getting into meat. I wouldn't want to chance it.

On the other hand, my dad had a small slaughterhouse with a walkin cooler for his personal use. Friends would bring deer over and hang in cooler. Then they would process many deer at once. He had bandsaw, meat tenderizer, grinders, slicers, everything you need.

ptfarmer · Dec 21, 2018

(quoted from post at 06:17:26 12/21/18) I don't think what you are asking is legal because it bypasses USDA inspections for killing and processing meat. If you were just selling it to friends that were OK with in no one would know but once it looks like a business you would most likely get caught.

I have to agree ^^^^^^^^^^^^

I have a few friends who hunt, and can process what they kill. If they offer any meat to friends from a hunt they tell them that they processed it as well. Watching my friend process a feral hog the main thing was getting all the guts out without getting any bile on the meat. Even then soon as the guts are out they are washing it out with water really good.

Traditional Farmer · Dec 21, 2018

In Virginia the farmer can sell the calf,goat,chicken whatever to a customer then help the customer butcher the animal and 'help' is a loose term which can mean the customer stands
there and watches the farmer do the work.Personally I think on farm sales should legal if I want to go and buy some on farm butchered meat I can be the judge if I want to buy it
or not just fine.People that don't want to buy on farm can take their chances at the grocery store.

Dan in North Houston · Dec 21, 2018

Years ago my FIL and his brother had a custom cutting service. They would come to the farm, butcher the cow or hog, and then take the meat back to their shop where they would cut, wrap, and freeze the meat. They would typically butcher on Saturday, and let the meat hang in the cooler for several days before cutting and wrapping. People just paid for the service, there was no selling of meat involved.
He kept the hides for re-sale and the guts were picked up regularly by a rendering service. It was very common for people to have a whole cow ground into hamburger. It was just a part time business business. They both had regular jobs, but would spend several evenings a week doing the cutting and wrapping. Many of their customers had actually purchased the cow or hog from the farmer. They would refer people to farmers who had something to sell, but they didn't get involved in the transaction. They were regularly inspected by the state.

Bruce from Can. · Dec 21, 2018

Here in Ontario, Canada , what you are talking about will get you arrested and heavily find. You can slaughter on farm for your own consumption, but the minute you sell some to a friend, relative or neighbor, you are looking for trouble. And there is no way that you could ever sell a calf to someone, and let them slaughter the calf on your farm before they left, this will get you into trouble with local health authorities, and humane society as well. Any farmer that wants to get involved with these kind of deals may as well lay his head on the chopping block himself. If word gets out, your dead meat !!

rrlund · Dec 21, 2018

Thing is,there's a difference between a veal calf,a deacon and a colored feeder calf. In order to get what you're used to thinking of as veal,somebody would actually have to raise a veal calf.

lee little · Dec 21, 2018

What is usually done in this part of Tn. is the farmer sells the animal to the customer then delivers it live to a custom slaughterhouse. It is worked up to the customers wishes and the customer pays the bill. All perfectly legal here. If a farmer wants to sell meat it must be processed in a USDA inspected facility. I think the nearest one is in Pikeville. It would be ok for the customer to buy it and process it on the farm themselves. Some friends in a county east of me sell sheep to some people from the middle east and the customers kill and process the sheep on the farm. The farmer was also a county agent and checked out the legality before doing it. One odd {to me} thing was the middle eastern guys require a place to kill them that is out of sight of the other sheep. They say they don't want to kill them in front of their family.

Crazy Horse · Dec 21, 2018

Bruce .... was that pun at the end of the last sentence intentional? Either way .... good one !!!

K Effective · Dec 21, 2018

Thing is,there's a difference between a veal calf,

Dead on, Randy. A weaned calf now on ground feed and pasture/hay for sale as a feeder will not qualify as veal. If you have weaned calves you are trying to sell but are not satisfied with the price, you would be money ahead to fatten them up rather than butcher them small, assuming feed/housing is available (a big assumption for some operations).

My fattened animals are trucked live to the slaughterhouse and the customer picks up their frozen beef cuts there. There is another place nearby that will slaughter on my farm and haul to their butcher shop to cut/freeze there. The way I do it relieves me of disposing of 20+ drums of renderings on farm, and ensures the butcher gets paid his money before the meat is released.

Last time I was there for kill day, the guys said the rendering plant picks up the barrels if stored in the cooler and they have to pay to have the hides hauled off.

RN · Dec 21, 2018

Hallal kill, face them east toward Mecca, short prayer and cut throat so critter quickly loses consciousness. no shipping stress so meat doesn't have high adrenillin content, quick and merciful. RN.

BarnyardEngineering · Dec 21, 2018

The price of beef in general does not seem to have gone down despite the low price of cattle. I just paid $9.49 a pound at the Costco for the Christmas ribeye roast. That's more than I have been paying, $8.99 a pound for the last few years.

I'm sure there is a supply glut, and hence a LOT of waste. The consumer gets to pay for the waste. Can't be losing money, after all...

cjunrau · Dec 21, 2018

Sorry Bruce but that?s not true. You can sell any animal on farm and let them butcher themselves. Gone through the hassle and they can?t do a thing to you. It is the same as a deer

VADAVE · Dec 21, 2018

All this controversy? When I was first trying my hand at farming, late '80's-early '90'- There was a n individual renting my grandfather's place to pasture a few head. I asked if I could run one with his herd and the answer was yes. He actually bought a calf/feeder for me at auction, pastured it all summer then in the fall called to say it was killing time. I went up brought the my truck to the pasture the man was there with some helpers they shot the about 900 lb. animal WITH A 22 then cut it's throat. After it bleed out he put in the truck and I drove to another farmer that skinned it pulled out the guts, saving whatever I wanted then rolled it into a cooler for a couple of weeks, I was called when the wrapping was done. Now where was this? The auction was either in Maryland, Virginia or Pennsylvania; The pasture was in Maryland and the cutter/wrapper in Pennsylvania. I know the butcher was inspected because he had a small business the rest were/are just local farmers. Does it make a difference that it was also in the Appalachian mountains. Could this happen today (20 year later) Sure.

dhermesc · Dec 21, 2018

If you don't want a problem with E-Coli just cook the **** meat. I worked 5 years in a meat packing plant and if you spent an hour in one you'd never order you meat "rare" again.

Given all the CWD crap with deer they are about the last animal I'd eat.

ADB-Ia · Dec 21, 2018

Hey Randy, I've raised cattle my whole life, and I'm a deacon at church. I know what a veal calf is and I know what a feeder calf is but I don't have a clue what a deacon is when we are talking cattle. Educate me please. ADB

rrlund · Dec 22, 2018

A week old dairy breed bull calf.

Question about calfs

larry@stinescorner

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Charlie M

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Geo-TH,In

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ptfarmer

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Traditional Farmer

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Dan in North Houston

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Bruce from Can.

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rrlund

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lee little

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Crazy Horse

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K Effective

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RN

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BarnyardEngineering

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cjunrau

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VADAVE

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dhermesc

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ADB-Ia

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rrlund

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