Agriculture Reference
In-Depth Information
separate throughout the process. One of the key attractions to organic food is that it is pure of
the chemicals found in conventional agriculture, and this must continue through slaughter and
processing. Such precautions to ensure this purity during the slaughtering stage include hand-
ling the organic animals first before the facilities have been exposed to conventionally raised
animals that day and keeping the different types of animals in separate holding areas.
Mobile processors
Mobile processors have been growing in popularity because they offer an alternative to the
long wait times at larger facilities and because they eliminate the stress of transport on live
animals. These are often mobile trailers where animals can be killed, cut into sides and quar-
ters, and chilled. Sometimes the carcasses have to be taken to a butcher off-premise for final
cutting and wrapping, and these trucks can do this for you. Some are USDA inspected and
some are organic. Local farming experts will know if a mobile processor could be available to
you.
Meat Cutting
A meat cutter — also called a butcher — cuts your beef into retail cuts. This section provides
an overview of how this is accomplished. Here are some beef processing terms you should
know:
•
Hanging weight:
The weight of a side of beef as it hangs on the rail in a meat cooler.
This is after excess fat and bones have been removed. Most beef is priced based on the
hanging weight. Hanging weight is also sometimes called “dress weight” or “dress per-
centage.”
•
Carcass yield:
Slaughtered animals will yield between 55 and 68 percent of their live
weightformeat(therestoftheanimalwereblood,guts,bones,hide,andothermaterial).
Theexactpercentagewillvarydependingonbreed,sex,andbodyconditionoftheanim-
al.
•
Trim:
Meat left overafter thebutcher removes thebestcuts.Trimisusedforgroundbeef,
roasts, or other lower-cost cuts.
Aging
