How to Price Farm-Direct Beef

There is no single correct price for farm-direct beef. A sustainable price needs to reflect what it actually costs your operation to raise, finish, process and deliver the product, while also accounting for your time, risk and the value you provide.

Start with your real cost of production

Before comparing your price with another farm, understand your own numbers. Two farms can raise similar cattle and have very different costs.

• Breeding and replacement costs
• Feed, forage, pasture and minerals
• Veterinary care and livestock health
• Land, fencing, equipment and fuel
• Labour
• Transportation
• Processing and slaughter charges
• Packaging or specialty processing
• Marketing, payment and customer-service costs
• Losses, shrink and business risk

Alberta’s AgriProfit$ beef program is one example of a cost-of-production approach that separates stages of beef production and helps producers evaluate profitability and efficiency.

Choose what your price is based on

Farm-direct beef may be priced by the whole animal, by live weight, by hanging or carcass weight, by packaged weight, or as individually priced cuts and boxes.

Whatever method you choose, customers should know exactly what the quoted number means.

Processing should not be invisible

Be clear about whether slaughter, cutting, wrapping, aging, specialty products and other processor charges are included in your advertised price or paid separately by the customer.

Processing prices and services vary between facilities. Confirm current charges with your processor rather than relying on last year’s numbers.

Build a business, not just a price

Farm-direct sales involve more than cattle production. Time spent answering questions, organizing cut sheets, collecting deposits, coordinating slaughter dates and arranging pickup is part of the business.

A price that covers the animal but consistently loses money on the rest of the transaction is not sustainable.

Keep estimates separate from guarantees

Final carcass and packaged weights vary between animals. Give customers realistic examples or ranges where useful, but identify them as estimates.

The clearest pricing system is one the producer can explain in a few sentences and the customer can understand before paying a deposit.