SUDLERSVILLE, Md. — Demand for locally grown food remains strong, even in a struggling economy.
Recent news reports focusing on how ground beef is prepared at large meat packers has more people giving locally raised and butchered meat a second look.
At a recent meeting on direct marketing beef, Jay Douthit, Extension agriculture assistant in Kent County, said even before the recent media blitz on lean finely textured beef, there had been demand for meat sold from farmer to customer.
“There’s a lot of opportunity and a lot of demand out there for local beef and local meat,” Douthit said during the meeting held at Sudlersville Meat Locker. “Consumers are wanting to buy local and their wanting the history on that animal as far back you you can get it.”
Dwayne Nickerson, who’s owned Sudlersville Meat Locker for 17 years, told those at the meeting that he’s seen more demand for locally raised meat, especially across the Chesapeake Bay where he gets about 45 percent of his slaughter business.
He said a program in Southern Maryland that offers rentals of freezer trailers for farmers to haul meat back to their farms without risk of it thawing, has helped the market grow in that region.
“I have definitely seen a big difference in the last two years since they started the program,” Nickerson said. “It’s becoming a big thing over there.”
Douthit said Delmarva farmers are fortunate to have at least three smallscale USDA-inspected meat packers relatively close. Along with Nickerson, there is Haass’ Family Butcher Shop in Dover, Del., and Galvinell Meat Company in Conowingo, Md.
The demand has also kept Nickerson buying animals for his store’s meat counter from nearby farmers.
“In the last five years, I don’t think I bought a single cow out of the sale barn. Between here and Delaware, it’s all been local,” he said.
At the meeting, Douthit discussed the different ways to market beef, from selling live animals to retailing individual cuts of meat.
Selling live animals either through an auction or privately to an end user can fit well into certain operations, as it doesn’t require as much time in marketing as retail but also comes with limited income potential.
“You’re taking the price you get when you take something to the auction,” Douthit said, adding that selling animals to individuals for butchering mostly limits the customer base to those who have the freezer capacity to store a whole or half of beef.
Getting into retail sales allows for more profit in selling higher end cuts of meat and can guard against market fluctuations but requires a dedicated freezer for the meat, and generally more time in establishing a market for the beef — especially for the lower-end cuts — whether it’s at farmers’ market, to restaurants or through on-farm sales, Douthit said.
Steve Isaacson has raised beef cattle on his Brickhouse Farm in Cecilton, Md., since 1993 and after a permitting protocol was established between the Maryland departments of agriculture and hygiene and mental health for direct market sales, began marketing Angus hamburger and steaks to restaurants and grocery stores in 2008.
“I was already going through most of the motions,” he said in a telephone interview last week. “Animals were being born on the farm and fed on the farm. I just didn’t have the required permits to do it.”
Along with getting a premium for his beef over selling live animals, Isaacson said the year-round sales have helped with the farm’s cash flow and in year-round income to the farm.
“I consider myself vertically integrated,” he said. “I’m growing the feed, raising the animals and selling the end product
No comments:
Post a Comment