TBF 015 :: Whole Hogs or Individual Cuts, Making Hay, and a Hard Lesson Learned

Anyone who raises livestock and produces more than their own family can consume will at some point have to consider how they are going to sell their products (or even how they will barter it). For many small-scale direct marketing livestock farms the question then becomes are the going to only sell whole/half animals, only individual cuts in some sort of retail setting, or a combination of both. In our case we do almost an equal amount of whole/half sales and individual cut sales when it comes to our pork, but in the future I would like to see that scale take a major tip towards mostly (or even only) selling whole and half hogs.

In this episode I spend a little time talking about how we sell pork on our farm and what the positives and negatives are with our method at this point. This is a topic that I'm very passionate about, but because of that I have a tendency to find myself rambling a little and possibly repeating myself. In fact you can read this post ... or this follow up post from two years ago on this very same topic. What I would love to hear about though is your thoughts on how to sell the animals that you raise!

• Do you only sell whole/half animals?
• Do you only sell individual cuts or small bundles?
• Do you sell retail or wholesale or even to convention markets?
• Do you do something crazy cool like a "Meat CSA" with a variety of meat cuts each week or two?

If you have an input on the topic be sure to leave a comment below or send us an e-mail.

As always, I want to thank you so much for listening and supporting the show with your encouragement and reviews on iTunes! I am continually working to produce a better show, and I'm thankful for all of the listeners sticking with me as I learn. If you do enjoy the show, don't forget that you can subscribe on iTunes and leave a five start rating and review (by clicking the link or the image on the right). If you are an Android phone user you can also subscribe on the free Stitcher App. It is so very encouraging to know that people are listening and enjoying the show! 

I would love to hear your questions, show ideas, or comments about the show. Feel free to shoot me an e-mail! As always you can follow along with The Beginning Farmer and Crooked Gap Farm by checking out these links ... 

• Crooked Gap Farm
• Crooked Gap Farm on Facebook
• Crooked Gap Farm on Twitter

TBF Show 015 :: Play in a New Window | Right Click to Download

**Special Note :: A few users are experiencing issues downloading the show on iTunes. If you have any experience with podcasts and how they can play nicely with iTunes I would love some suggestions.**

(if you are interested in the music in this episode check out my brother's record label, Historic Records)