Pricing
Price Per Quarter = (Price per lb of beef + pro rata share of processing expense) x total lbs of vacuum sealed beef received
Proprietor’s Philosophy
While several methods are routinely used to price direct farm to consumer sales, such as standing weight, hanging weight, and vacuum sealed weight, I have always found transactions most satisfying when I pay only for what I receive. Consequently, at Drawbars we set price by the amount of vacuum sealed beef received.
A Walk- Through Example
After a wonderful life spent on the same pastures in which he was born, a steer shows for his first day of freezer camp. His standing weight of 1200 lbs is recorded. Necessary adjustments are then made to prepare him for the favorite and longest event at camp, the zip line, where the steer will now hang for 3 weeks in optimal conditions for aging. This hanging weight is approximately 40% of the standing weight, which in this example would be 720 lbs. After aging, trimming fat and bone while dividing into cuts removes another 40% from the hanging weight, yielding 432 total lbs or 108 lbs per quarter of vacuum sealed beef that can go to the customer. Note that each quarter consists of one fourth of cuts assembled from throughout the steer, in contrast to one customer getting the forequarter while another gets the hindquarter. The butcher’s processing fees of $907.20 are then divided by the total lbs of beef, which in this example equals $2.10/ lb. This is itemized for the customer to see and reflected in the final price of the order as follows: (current Drawbars price of $9.00/ lb across all cuts + $2.10/ lb processing) x 108 lbs = $1,198.80.