Buying meat directly from producer requires time, skills

SHAWANO — Whether reacting to empty grocery store shelves or a desire to eat in a healthier way, going directly to the source for meat has a learning curve and requires some new skills.

That’s the assessment of Seth Berg, who, with his family, sell beef as well as operate a dairy herd from their Cecil area farm.

Berg said the interest and demand for direct purchase of beef has “really hit home in the last two weeks” with the closures of at least 44 packing plants and slaughterhouses around the country including JBS Beef in Green Bay.

Although reasons for direct purchase include environmental concerns on raising meat animals and packaging and concerns for health from additives and antibiotics, Berg chose to focus on economic gain, “The farmer really does benefit when you buy locally.” He said there is a lot of cost added to a cut of meat as it moves through the various channels of the food supply system.

Dale Behnke, a Lena area farmer, also noted “more and more people are calling” but he also focused on the local economic benefit and that many of his buyers want to be sure their meat comes from the U.S.

“Whether it’s chickens, eggs, beef or pork, use a local provider,” he said.

The problem now is getting slaughter dates from the processors who have remained open, both producers said. Berg, for example, takes his Holstein-Angus crossbred animals to a processor 37 miles away near Kaukauna. Other producers have on-farm processing and sales.

First-time buyers have to also learn some new terms. Animals can be grass-fed. meaning their diet is exclusively from grass pastures or pasture-raised where they’re kept in a field but have access to grain and other supplements, or be grain-fed from a diet of corn, soybeans and other grains.

Many producers sell meat “off the hook,” as Berg called it or the hanging weight of the carcass after slaughter. This differs from the live weight of the animal.

Behnke said most of his buyers, even new ones, understand the concepts of “grass-fed” and environmental concerns but often don’t appreciate how much meat comes from half of a steer.

Using figures from South Dakota State University Extension, half of a 1200-pound live weight steer yields about 245 pounds of steaks, roast and other cuts and about 93 pounds of hamburger.

He encourages new buyers to try smaller amounts as a start and then decide on the size of future purchases.

“A lot of people expect the meat can be picked up the next day,” when the process has multiple steps and can take up to two weeks if bacon, hot dogs or sausage are ordered, Berg said. After slaughter, the carcass typically ages for a week before it is cut up and packaged.

The cutting and packaging, almost always a separate cost, requires some thought as well, Berg said and means working with the butcher.

Mark Kropf, co-owner of Kropf’s Meat Processing in Bowler, said people need to think about things such as their preferred thickness of a steak, how many pounds do they want in a roast and the number of pounds of hamburger to put in each package. Kropf agreed the answers to these questions reflect family size as well as taste preference.

“It’s a learning curve,” Berg said, “Everyone has different expectations. Some people want their roasts cut a certain way. Some people like their steaks thick, some want them thin.”