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Lots of small farmers are selling their cows at a profit, selling to local people, and having a butcher cut the meat. You just need to be able to have freezer space for a 1/2 or whole cow. The problem with 4 major meat packing plants, 2 owned by china, they control the market, pay less to the farmer, and get more from the consumer. Some States in turn, are allowing producers to pack their own meat, making more money themselves. Lots of small mom/pop meat packers are popping up due to demand. The problem is larger producers who have hundreds-thousands of cows, they currently sell to the 4 major packers, and get paid less. >Miller noted that a rancher might lose $500 on a steer, while a processor might make $2,500 to $3,000 in profit. https://www.yorkdispatch.com/story/opinion/editorials/2022/0... |
You can sell live animals (and fractions of them, e.g. 1/2 or 1/4), which are in turned butchered for the customer, but you can only sell cuts if they are slaughtered at a USDA-inspected facility, which is relatively rare. Since most folks don't want to buy that much beef at once, it severely curtails the audience.