Developing Direct Meat Markets
Innovative livestock producers are developing markets for meat through direct local sales. If successful, this could be one of the key income alternatives for the tobacco situation.
While farmers have traditionally sold whole hogs and beefsides to the neighbors, this style of marketing really does not fit current consumers lifestyles very well. Fewer consumers have freezers. Many are more interested in simple-to-prepare meals and less interested in the traditional fix-from-scratch meals of years ago. Still, there is opportunity to develop both types of markets because some consumers still want to buy sides of beef or whole hog.
There really is a lot to gain. The farmer who sales live animals now the traditional way only gets about 50% of the retail value of a steer and 40% of the hog's retail worth. But farmers who want to capture the marketing margin, that is, the other 50% for beef and 60% for pork, will have to take care of processing, freezing, marketing, and promotion. For a typical steer, that is about $800 worth of value, for a hog, it's another $180 too.
There are some key advantages to this direct and local direct meat marketing system that will help both consumers and farmers. One is lower cost to consumers. By reducing some of the marketing costs, these can be shared among consumers and reduce their costs.
This can also result in higher total income for farmers. Another key element is to put more money back into the local economies in the local processing and other activities there.
Improve quality and freshness because the closer the relationship between farmers and consumers, the better we can match preferences of consumers.
Capturing all these benefits is not so simple. Where should a farmer start? Here are some key ideas:
- Evaluate your interests in marketing and dealing with people.
- Think about making your operation more complicated. Are you willing to deal with the complexities of marketing and processing? and
- Can you produce the quality the consumers want?
If you want to proceed, you may want to learn what other farmers are doing. The U.K. College of Agriculture with other partners has a project focusing on direct and local meat marketing. Contact your County Extension Agent or check us out on the Web at www.uky.edu/Ag/KyMeat/
For More Information
For additional information, please contact, Lee Meyer.