Interested in Selling Your Beef Direct Market?

Interested in Selling Your Beef Direct Market?

The increasing popularity of Farmers Markets and the focus on Local Food are fabulous current trends that can be good news for Northwest ranchers wanting to direct market their beef to consumers. However, before a producers starts a new endeavor like this, there are many elements to consider in managing the risk from ranch to consumer. I’m KayDee Gilkey with Open Range.

There has been an increase in demand of home-grown beef and for those ranchers interested in pursuing a new direct market enterprise, it brings opportunity.

Tom Platt, Area Extension Agent from Washington’s Lincoln County says that a new meat processing facility being build in Odessa has increased interested in ranchers’ pursuing direct marketing of their livestock.

Platt: “When livestock producers transition to a new business like this, there are a number of new risks that they undertake and the purpose this series of workshops is to help them understand what those risks are and create a plan to manage the ones they think are important.”

Beginning in early November, there will be a series of four workshops over a four month period. discussing topics like: business and contingency planning, marketing basics; understanding production, price and market risk; understanding and complying with regulations; and managing food safety risk and liability. These seminars were developed specifically for livestock producers who are considering beginning to direct market their meat to consumers.

To learn more about this series of workshops and register, go to http://livestocktopics.wsu.edu.

I’m KayDee Gilkey with Open Range on the Northwest Ag Information Network.