2 ms·

Can you enlighten us on the costs you’re talking about? Our former nanny came from a farm family. It was very interesting hearing her talk about various challe

Can you enlighten us on the costs you’re talking about? Our former nanny came from a farm family. It was very interesting hearing her talk about various challenges of farm life - occasionally including high level costs/revenue. Inspections were literally never mentioned. In fact, there was basically no talk of regulation. The only thing that came close was a business decision on the “standard” of product you raise. E.g. Free range captures higher dollar amount but has smaller throughput. My impression is farming is extremely challenging for small farms because the margins are razor thin. Most meat products are essentially commodities and subject entirely to “market rates”. The only way to raise margins is to build a small, local brand.

bombcar 2y ago
The main one is the butchering, as mentioned elsewhere. If you're trying to "sell into stores" you get hit with insane costs because you have to commute the animal to a USDA-inspected slaughterhouse. If you sidestep this by having the customer buy the animal and butcher it himself (or hire someone to) you can't market the resulting meat. The other big one is feed costs. Small farms are basically impossible to be financially relevant unless subsidized by someone "with a real job" or deliberate things like CSA (community supported agriculture) and free child labor (small farm families still have lots of kids, which is a double benefit - free labor AND you can eat your own produce and "save" a ton that way).