pasture raised meat and poultry?

Submitted by SeaboltFamilyFarm t3_zv1kem in springfieldMO

We are a local community food project looking to raise and sell pasture based meat and chicken we are open to questions about how our meat is raised and the care our animals received throughout their lives our goal is to be as humane as possible while providing the most sustainable ethical and best quality meat for your family and ours! If your interested please email me at

seaboltfamilyfarm@gmail.com

Will be happy to answer any questions and take orders for this spring, summer, and fall!

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SweetSewerRat t1_j1nq272 wrote

Hey man, I wanna say I really like what you're doing, and for what it's worth, I respect the hustle.

My family has farmed beef in southwest Missouri for 4 straight generations, and I continue to see fewer and fewer small scale farmers every year. I'm happy you guys are keeping this tradition alive. The amount of connection to the food we eat is getting lower and lower. Most of us eat food that was farmed an ocean away these days. Hope this next year goes well for you, and I hope to buy something from you in the future.

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SeaboltFamilyFarm OP t1_j1mokwn wrote

Food project in this case, means the consumer knows where it came from, how it was raised, the diet, and local instead of big market government subsidized and pumped full of vaccines and steroids for super growth these animals will be raised in fields with hay and grass, so by all means there is nothing free about the process because as before mentioned I cover all my cost uncle Sam don't foot the feed bill, pay for heat, water, and give me big checks to help me with anything I cover all costs and by doing so I give the best product I can and a product that is raised openly raised ethically and lived it's life as good as possible in turn There is less pollution, less diesel and oil consumption, less wasted meat and produce, more locally grown animals and won't be contributing to deadzones, will be using 99% of our waste as compost the reason I call it a project is because it is exactly that, we want to try these methods of Zero waste and local grown pasture based foods we also know the importance of making money and producing the absolute best quality meats possible to keep the consumer happy and wanting more!

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the_honeyman t1_j1n4ef9 wrote

Ignore that dude. He's a prick. You guys keep doing what you're doing, sorry there are so many bitter people in this sub who downvote everything.

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the_honeyman t1_j1n4o65 wrote

What kinds of animals are you raising? Pork? Beef? Sheep?

We need more of these kinds of projects around here, hopefully yall can find a way to keep your prices down below the $20+/lb insanity that goes on down at FMO.

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SeaboltFamilyFarm OP t1_j1n86v4 wrote

Well on whole chickens I'm at 6$ per lb we are currently raising a premium pork (Mangalitsa) which is a Hungarian swine breed with great marbling and is considered by many to be the Kobe of the swine since it is a slower growing breed it does cost more to produce but you will never have pork similar to it and our beef comes from a neighboring farm who raises grass fed beef and a whole beef will cost around 3,500+ butcher fees they are also going to be marketing sheep in the near future like I said we can discuss further options if you're interested!

Prices vary on everything deals can be made on bulk purchases for the chicken.

10whole birds - $300

20whole birds - $550

40 whole birds - $1,000

All cut up - will vary and be sold by the pound this year chicken breast for example will be 18$ a pound and legs and thighs 15$ a pound.

This seems high until you break down what I spend as stated before we are a non government subsidized farm so our cost is in our product instead of a government bailout program!

(Disclaimer all livestock, poultry, is purchased alive) we offer on farm butchering for the poultry for free!)

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the_honeyman t1_j1nczca wrote

I admire what you're trying to do, but $18/lb for chicken breasts is pretty high no matter what kind of farm you are. I have family who's pasture raised beef goes for less than half of that.

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SeaboltFamilyFarm OP t1_j1ngq1r wrote

I completely understand but being chickens they are fed a non GMO and organic grain (not grass fed) and it's roughly 28$ a bag so doing the quick math of 500 birds is 1,572$+1/4lb feed per day per bird is 125lbs per day ×6weeks is roughly 5,250lbs ÷ 50 = 2940$ + average cost of water and a 10% loss (which is standard for chickens due to predators and a fast growing chicken raised outside) then my labor of raising the chicks which is roughly 2 hours a day then butchering day which I offer for free is around 6 hours per 100birds so hours of labor and care is 139.

1,572+2940+50 =$4562 total cost

500birds - 10% = 450birds

450birds × 25$ = $11,250

11,250 - 4,562 = 6,688

6,688 - 4562 = 2126

Profit is 2,126 labor hours 139 $per hour =15.29

I'm not getting rich by any means!

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the_honeyman t1_j1nimc0 wrote

What brand of feed are you using?

Edit: also, you're feeding that much on pasture based poultry? Do you not have enough room for them to forage when it's warm? That sounds high for "free-range" chickens. Not in quotes because I'm making fun of you, just hate the term free-range.

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SeaboltFamilyFarm OP t1_j1nj0pt wrote

Nature's best but currently working with a local mill to find a more local option for feed that can hopefully reduce cost!

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the_honeyman t1_j1nj4d1 wrote

Damn yea there's the place to cut more costs. Also I edited that comment above, just so you know.

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SeaboltFamilyFarm OP t1_j1njx40 wrote

Also if you send me an email I can send pictures of the process in which the birds are raised and go more into detail of how it works!

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the_honeyman t1_j1ococq wrote

I'm pretty familiar. My whole family are/have been farmers. I admire the dedication to the grind.

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SeaboltFamilyFarm OP t1_j1njrve wrote

Yes but when living in Tyson and Georges country finding a local option trustworthy is the hard part but these chickens aren't exactly free range they're raised in a Chicken tractor 12'×12' to help with predator loss and to control where they go on pasture this breed of chicken is lazy and lethargic but it produces the most meat the fastest due to genetics and breed so it's the most cost worthy option for an 8 week grow time most other birds would be half the size in double the time so the outdoor Chicken tractor allows protection exercise sunlight bugs fresh grass we rotate 6 tractors with around 84 birds in each one moved across the pasture 2x per day

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GrannyLow t1_j1o6jqm wrote

So your gross sales on 450 birds is $11,250 and your expenses are $4,562

That makes your net $6,688. Why did you subtract your cost from that a second time?

I am getting $6,668 / 139 hours = $48 per hour

Of course that's ignoring taxes and your overhead for the land and all that. I'm just trying to get a feel for the numbers you are putting out there.

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SeaboltFamilyFarm OP t1_j1o6os6 wrote

Because after selling 500 birds you have to buy them again to sell again

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GrannyLow t1_j1o86wo wrote

Which will then gross you another $11,250 which will cost you $0 because you already accounted for that expense with the last batch?

That's not really how that math works.

This is going to sound a little ass-hole ish but I don't mean it that way. If you are going to try to make a living like this you really need to get a better handle on the numbers. A lot of small businesses fail only because they suck at keeping books.

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SeaboltFamilyFarm OP t1_j1o9263 wrote

Well you're wrong though? I have to buy the feed in bulk for the next batch then I have to purchase the chickens? I accounted for the original birds and then the next batch? When you buy an animal that doesn't reproduce you have to make the purchase again? Which comes from the profit of the last batch?

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GrannyLow t1_j1ockc4 wrote

Batch A revenue - batch A expenses = batch A profit

Batch B revenue - batch B expenses = batch B profit

You accounted for both batch A and batch B expenses in batch A, which is fine, but you can't account for batch B expenses again in batch B profits. So batch B profit is now the full $11,250. Otherwise you are double dipping.

In other words you are subtracting the cost of 1,000 birds from the revenue from 500 birds.

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SeaboltFamilyFarm OP t1_j1oe036 wrote

Yes, but as you mentioned I went over most cost I didn't add in maintenance, I also didn't add in help butchering, brooder costs and electric also bedding costs I just did quick math to show that I'm not making millions but yes batch 2 makes almost double what I bring in on batch 1 and batch 3 all the kinks are worked out for the year and the weather can be better if it's not super wet or super dry lol there are a lot of variables that can't be accounted for but batch 1 doesn't make much, batch 2 makes a little and batch 3 generally sets us up to make much needed improvements, update equipment, maybe someday expand or hire some help so yes there is money being generated but 99% goes towards the farm and making it better like I said not getting rich but expanding is always happening like I mentioned we want goats for kids and dairy, we want more egg layers, we want more pigs, we want better buildings equipment and one day I'd like to quit my off the farm job that subsidized the farm and just farm but in order to do these things money has to be made and I have to work really hard at producing the best products I can and sell them to people like you but as of right now off the farm I make 45k and on the farm I break even with updates and buying and selling animals to make my dream come true of having a regenerative and prosperous farm!

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the_honeyman t1_j1od1zg wrote

You're still double counting the expense of buying the new birds.

I knew something was off with your numbers, but I couldn't quite place it (and frankly didn't care enough to try earlier). They're fine for the initial batch, if you want to count the expense for the next batch in with the first, you can't then take it out of the next as well.

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Low_Tourist t1_j1nb3cc wrote

What kind of chickens are you raising? And where are you located?

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SeaboltFamilyFarm OP t1_j1nc5ga wrote

We raise the Cornish cross breed and we are located in Southwest Missouri (25 minutes outside of Rogers Arkansas)

We put our Cornish cross chickens on pasture after the last frost of the year and they move across the fresh spring grass daily getting sunlight, bugs, worms and Fresh Air!

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Low_Tourist t1_j1ozltr wrote

Those are just broaster chickens, and the same variety that the big producers are raising.

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[deleted] t1_j1mkzlg wrote

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