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Back to Local Processing?

2K views 13 replies 8 participants last post by  RetiredFreedomfighter 
#1 ·
This video was fascinating to me. As someone who's been in the meat industry off and on since 2006 there is a lot of commentary I have about this. But for now, watch the video:


The crux of it is that people began wondering why their chain supermarkets didn't have meat in the first stage of Covid lockdowns. And a lot of people started looking around and realizing: Hey, there's farmers around here with animals. Is there a local shop selling them?
 
#2 ·
Some changes surely do need to be made in the industry. But then we also need to watch out for what those "cow fart" nazis in PETA and even the EPA and other organizations wanting to tax CO2 emissions from agriculture. They would literally like to shove a vegan lifestyle down our throats and have us all mandated to not eat meat protein of any kind. There are some really powerful forces at work trying to undermine the meat industry at any cost.
 
#3 ·
#12 ·
But speaking of local beef here is a place that does that in north Texas. Schumacher also raises and propagates some of the most impressive Texas Longhorns cattle you've ever laid your eyes on, many with world class horns.
https://www.schumacherbeef.com/our-story
http://www.schumachercattle.com/
The orginaly Wild Cattle of the South West were imported here by the Spanish. The current beef market would have no interest in the Long Horns and low connective tissue mass. What you have pictured is the Black Angus/Black Cows of Scotland injected with well who knows what?
 
#4 ·
I live in a rural area, and a lot of people raise steers and hogs to sell, or for themselves. The local mom and pop slaughter houses / butchers have been overwhelmed this year, and have a 3 to 4 month wait list to get animals in and processed.
 
#6 ·
Interesting follow up on this. When I arrived at church yesterday morning my organist was chatting with me about a local producer she was put in contact with who keeps some cattle and heirloom hogs. She had gone in 50/50 with someone to buy a beef from the guy. Anyhow, he told her he gets his processing done in NC. Now, I knew there was not a small scale processor in the seven cities of Hampton Roads - or anyone that handles game until you get to Gloucester or New Kent counties.

She was trying to talk me into getting into mobile butchering. I know the clientele is out there.
 
#8 ·
Sharp knife and saw. "Get er done."
Yes, I've done many a deer and elk on the kitchen table in my life and I may have to do that. I think I've found a place that could hang it for several weeks. I can kill it at the ranch, hang it up with my buddy's tractor, bleed it out, gut it and half it and hang it in his blockhouse. I usually bone all my meet out but like beef bones left in. Time to buy a bone saw.
 
#9 ·
We have quite a few unlicensed family butcher shops around here. They open up for deer hunting season and butcher and process your deer. They do this on their personal properties and its all neighbors, friends, relatives and others in the area that take their deer there sometimes. Its only like 1/3 the cost of a butcher shop. They have the walk in coolers and saws and grinders. I know at least a few. The butcher shops that sell meats in their stores are back logged with waiting lists. Many private families who have a pig or cow to butcher and waiting. These shops are small and not set up for mass production. My son in Tennessee said he can get pigs cheap now because of no butcher shops available.
 
#10 · (Edited)
People could consider building a cooler to hang cows, elk, deer, hogs etc in. My cousin that lived in Montana for years had a really good friend whose 2 sons ran a cabinet shop. They built their dad an apartment attached to the backside of that cabinet shop. Part of that remodel included a big cooler that was probably 10' W x 16'L x 12' H. It was lined with stainless sheet metal and heavily insulated. They could hang and age a lot of meat in that cooler. Another option would be buying a refrigerated trailer from one of the trucking companies when they trade them in. Some of those are 53' and would be big enough for a complete processing facility, others are as short as 28'. You could cut the DOT bumper off of the back of them, unbolt all of the suspension, and have a wrecker set it down on some railroad ties for you. Smaller units would be the straight trucks with a refrigerated body on the back; those bodies would be great for a small operation. Other smaller units would be some of the refrigerated container units that you see double stacked on rail cars.
 
#11 ·
Another thing that has impacted the locally available meat is that over the last several years numerous livestock auctions that have closed down. That curtailed the availability of meat on the hoof for small local processors as well as families that might be wanting cows, pigs, etc to have butchered or to raise for processing at a later date. The one here in Denton has been closed for many years. I miss going out there just to watch and visit with people even. Lots of that marketing of critters on the hoof is done online now and caters more to the big producers and processors than it does the mom & pop operations or the famlily or individual.
 
#14 ·
There was federal money that Trump got for small farmers to sell butcher cattle locally. The goal was to set up local butcher shops to process local cattle. I think the grants were only $150,000 each but it got local cattle to local people. There is a new $5.1 billion going to cattle producers and I think it has the same program in it. Here is a link to the first one. ISDA: Grants & Funding Opportunities

I have a meat processor about 20 miles from me. In the fall they process deer, hogs, elk, whatever. They can hold 275 at once. I killed my deer opening day and they were full of deer the first day although they may have had others as archery season is also running.. Not sure how many deer they process but estimate maybe 1,000 per year in addition to their regular butcher business.

Just another reason why we need to support out local business and quit buy our meet at Walmart.
 
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