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Butcher pricing

Michael Pollan (journalist) recent article about eating meat is very interesting.  I especially enjoy how he puts pen to paper and talks about the cost of small farming versus big cooperate.  He states that meat pricing is cheaper with big cooperate because of volume, he is right.  But he further misinforms his readers that it costs a small farm $150.00 to custom butcher their meat to sell off the farm or at farmers markets.  I wish that were true, for a small farm to raise fresh local and high quality beef is very costly.  I would like to share with our readers that it really costs $100.00 to have the animal killed at a USDA facility then .50-.65 per lb. to have it freezer wrapped.  A typical beef cow going to the butcher weighs at least 1200 – 1350lbs. you do the math.  This is why is so costly for the small farms to raise your food and the prices you need to pay to keep small local farms raising fresh meat going.  No matter whether the meat has been straight grassfed or grass and grain fed, the butcher charges the same pricing.  To butcher a goat is even worse because only a few USDA butcher shops in Maryland will kill and butcher a goat because it is so time consuming.  It costs a minimum of $100.00 to have a goat processed as well, plus the time and energy it has taken the farmer to raise the goat meat.  I wanted to share this with you because consumers should be aware of what they are paying for and why there is such a difference in price from going to the grocery store.

You are buying from your local small farms because of the quality of meat you are looking for and because you get to know the people that raise your food and how it was taken care of.

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Proverbs 31:16: “She considers a field and buys it; with the fruit of her hands, she plants a vineyard.

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