Agriculture Reference
In-Depth Information
From the lower midsection of the underside, you can get flank steak, flank steak rolls, or fajita
meat.
From the top middle (short loin and sirloin), you get most of the expensive cuts: T-bone steak,
sirloin steak, porterhouse steak, filet mignon (tenderloin steak and tenderloin roast), top loin
steak.
From the rump/round area: rump roast, top round steak, tip steak, tip roast, kabob cubes, eye
round steak, bottom round roast.
Wrapping
You also should consider how butchers wrap their products. Some wrap them in plastic and
cover them with white paper. If you are selling individual cuts, you may want a butcher who
uses transparent vacuum wrapping to allow customers to see the meat inside the package be-
fore they buy.
Pricing
You will base your price on the desired profit you want to make; take into account your ex-
penses per pound. You should put a monetary value on your time and labor. You can set your
prices by the pound — either by live weight, hanging weight, or dress percentage — or you
can just decide on a number you think is fair, if customers will pay it.
You can determine a range to charge for your meat by checking prices farmers in your region
with similar operations will charge. This will depend, in part, on what customers in your area
will pay. For example, you will be more likely to find high-paying customers in New York
City or Los Angeles than in Metropolis, Illinois. Like any business, you will need to sell for
more than what you pay in expenses. So, figure what you spent during the year on seeds, fer-
tilizers, vaccines, gasoline for farm equipment, and anything else you needed to keep your
farm going, and use that to determine how much you need to make from each animal to be
profitable.
People who sell shares or in bulk usually price by the pound according to live weight, but you
also can sell by dress weight because you probably will get differing amounts of meat from
two live animals that weigh the same. People who sell individual cuts often also sell by the
pound, but each pound is not created equally. You would need to sell your steaks for high
enough per pound to balance out the lower price per pound of hamburger.
