Farm Director, KC Sheperd, caught up with Oklahoma State University Extension Farm Management Specialist Courtney Bir and talked about OSU’s upcoming Direct-to-Consumer Meat Sales workshop series.
Oklahoma State University’s Robert M. Kerr Food and Agricultural Products Center is set to host two upcoming workshops designed to teach participants about direct-to-consumer meat sales. The first of the two workshops will take place on Aug. 9 at FAPC. The second workshop is slated for Sept. 12 at the Canadian County OSU Extension Office, 218 N Country Club Rd., in El Reno, Oklahoma.
“During Covid, when there wasn’t a lot of meat on the shelves, there was a lot of interest in getting food locally and getting food direct from farmers and ranchers,” Bir said. “With that came an increased demand for direct-to-consumer beef, and we really needed to help ranchers understand both the opportunities and the pitfalls with selling meat direct to consumer.”
The workshop series will help producers decide what they should price their beef at to be profitable and help them to develop a plan based on input costs.
“There are a lot of price-sensitive consumers out there that want that low-cost beef, and that is really hard to provide in a direct-to-consumer environment,” Bir said. “Understanding what kind of inspection you need, understanding your cost structure, and understanding what works for your ranch is really an important step.”
At the workshop, participants will have the opportunity to go through a carcass and see where each different cut of meat comes from.
“When you are selling direct to consumer, we take for granted that we know a lot of information about how beef works,” Bir said.
Consumers may not understand how slaughter works, Bir said, and why they are not getting 1200 pounds of meat from a 1200-pound animal.
“Being able to explain to consumers shrink and loss and those sorts of things, and have them prepared for the amount of meat that they will be receiving if they are doing a half, a whole or a quarter, or helping them understand that if you really want a brisket, you don’t want a back quarter,” Bir said.
Having the ability to educate consumers about the product they are purchasing, Bir said, helps to create a good customer experience and provides a high chance that customers will return.
The workshop is open to anyone, Bir said, but it is mainly aimed at those who are looking to sell direct-to-consumer beef or already do.
“The FAPC workshop, I know, is already filling up, and because it is an interactive workshop, we do cap the number of participants, so signing up early is really important for these two workshops,” Bir said.
Bir said there will be additional workshops offered next year, and they are also working on an online course for people who don’t have the time to travel and attend the workshops in person.
For more information and registration for the Aug. 9 workshop at FAPC, contact Karen Smith, workshop coordinator, at karenl.smith@okstate.edu or call 405-744-6277. To learn more about the Sept. 12 workshop at the Canadian County OSU Extension Office, contact JJ Jones, OSU Extension area agricultural economics specialist, at jj.jones@okstate.edu or call 580-332-7011.
