Maine Farmland (for sale, home, organic)

[Maine Writer]

Zymer, that makes me wish I had an extra turkey!

[Submariner]

Originally Posted by Zymer

Perhaps you might reconsider on the turkeys. I'm not much for raising/slaughtering livestock, but I'd gladly trade ale and mead for fresh meat and eggs.

Being a member of the farmer's market; we do know folks who raise chickens and turkeys for meat and they market such. The expense of the USDA inspection and butchering is high. In fact it exceeds all other expenses involved in raising the animals. It is more than their feed, vaccinations, and routine repair of sheltering.

At the market we have vendors who raise their own animals, and sale the meat [inspected, cut, wrapped, frozen]. Again the expense of the USDA butcher is a price 'barrier'. And it keeps the price of their meat high.

Those vendors do manage to market small amounts of their beef / pork / chicken. Frozen turkey tends to sit in the ice chests week after week.

I do have layers, and I market their eggs. With eggs there is no inspection required.



We did raise turkeys. This is not something that we have not tried to do. We did it.

We advertised them with a number of options:
1. live - you buy, you take away and you slaughter;
2. slaughtered by a butcher - you get the meat from him;
3. inspected / cut / wrapped / frozen - we deliver.

Adding the butcher, raised the prices for those options a great deal.

Offering turkeys that were available via each of those options, you already know how many we were able to sale. Zero.

Had we sold 25% of our birds, then I could see that perhaps our marketing methods needed improvement. But we ended up eating every bird ourselves.



We have nearby friends [these guys are not members of the farmers market yet] who are raising rabbits and goats for meat. They hope to be able to market both rabbit meat and goat meat. They have also contacted three meat lockers and have the pricing tables for processing these animals.

This week they have both rabbits and goats that are ready for butcher. Ready to go! and they have been for the past month.

At market each week, I do see folks who are asking about rabbit or goat meat, and I do hand out my friend's phone number. I have been telling customers that these friends have rabbits and goats ready for slaughter, just contact them and decide what option you wish to go with.

So far now, they have not been able to sale any.

?

[familyfarmer]

forest,
what is the cost to process chickens in Maine? Here in Illinois our cost is $2.00 a bird at a USDA plant.

[Submariner]

We are seeing $3/bird and 65 cents per pound.

For deer, goats and sheep $65/head and 40 cents a pound.

[Zymer]

Forest-

Let's forget about those extra expenses, I'm talking about friendly trading among individuals that keeps costs lower, barter system, not commercial sales under the scrutiny of Big Brother.

The expense of the USDA inspection and butchering is high. In fact it exceeds all other expenses involved in raising the animals. It is more than their feed, vaccinations, and routine repair of sheltering.

If BB were to start inspecting *my* product, they'd like to want to put me right out of business, or at least tax it so heavily that it wouldn't be worth doing.

[Zymer]

Originally Posted by Maine Writer

Zymer, that makes me wish I had an extra turkey!

LOL, I'm not there yet, still waiting on the bankers to suck up their loss and sign the papers. Once I get moved and set up it'll probably take about 6 weeks to get some good ales ready, a little longer for cyser...assuming that there is any honey available.

I caught a blurb on the hypno-box about bee colony collapse. If the TV people are picking up the story it might be worse than I thought.

[familyfarmer]

FOREST,
So you are saying a 4lb bird would cost approx $5.60 to process ($3.00 + .65 x 4). That is crazy! In order to sell chickens do they have to be processed at a USDA facility? Can you process your own and sell off of the farm?
Broilers are a major part of our farming operation as we sell approx. 2000 birds a season direct off of our farm. We sell out and have a customer waiting list usually. We currently sell for $2.99 lb for organic broilers. What is
the going rate in Maine?
THanks in advance

[Submariner]

When we lived in California, very close to us were big processors. Trucks of chickens coming in everyday. A couple inspectors, dozens of cutters, and warehouse people. They were able to process and move a lot of birds each day, and show a profit.

Here, as a small guy, I can only get what 'deal' the few meat lockers in the area are willing to do for me. I talk to a few vendors who market their own meat. So far among the vendors that I have spoken with, they range from as small as raising four head each year, to having a dozen to three dozen head of cattle and/or hogs butchered each year, and these are the prices that they get.

I do know one vendor who told me that he raises and slaughters 1500 chickens a year. I do not know how much he gets charged. Or where he goes to get it done. His poultry is all frozen and vacuum-sealed when he sells it. With USDA stickers on every piece.

All of these guys [at the Farmer's Market with me] raise their own animals and are required to have it all inspected by USDA. Also we just learned this past week, that the state has it's own license for meat producers which requires it's own liability insurance coverage. So paperwork from the state, plus a USDA butcher, plus a liability policy.

One vendor has sows and produces around 70 piglets each year. She sells live piglets starting at $60 each, and raises the price slowly up until butchering time. After butchering time, of course, they are all in her freezers, and she sales the meat by the pound vacuum-sealed and frozen. With USDA stickers on every piece.

Some folks do have a sign at the road in front of their farm. I do not have such a sign. One of our neighbors does have a sign it says 'blah farm', and they get folks stopping and asking for: eggs, rabbit meat, chevron, beef and pork. Now these neighbors are dearly tempted to begin slaughtering animals on their own. But the fines would be severe, if they were caught.

My wife wants me to sell animals 'on the hoof', to slaughter, cut, wrap, freeze ourselves and deliver. Since this post and thread are public domain, and for public consumption, I should state: "I have never sold anyone meat that was not USDA inspected. That might be illegal".

[bignhfamily]

Currently here in NH we sell our lamb 'on the hoof'. Then I give the customer a cut sheet so that it is processed how they would like (leg of lamb, chops, ground, etc) I truck lambs to butcher. Customer pays for butchering (currently $70). Then I deliver or they pick up. I should be able to keep most of my customers here when we move to Maine.
What's the market for lamb like in Maine?

[Submariner]

Orono Farmers' Market Home page

I goofed. I typed one thing, and then I looked at the list of products that our vendors have. So here is my revision.

Yes, our market does have one farmer who produces sheep meat.

I have not had opportunity to speak with them, and learn of their tale.

I do apologize for any confusion.