Why It Cost More To Buy From Small Farmers

Many people don’t buy from small local farmers because it cost too much, food safety concerns & inconvenience. 

The “it costs too much” reason is understandable, but there is a reason WHY it cost more. 

1. Most small farmers raise their cattle out on pasture. Pasture rotations, time and lots of grass go into every single animal we raise. This mean lots of land. Land - whether it is owned, leased or rented costs money. 
   
2. Small farmers take their time raising a good quality animal and there is a SIGNIFICANT taste difference! More time means more resources like land, feed, water, etc.
3. Live animal to meat talk.. small farmers have to transport their animals to a processor, we use a USDA Inspected facility that processes up to 50 head of cattle a day. Big meatpackers can process like 20,000 head per day. Y’ALL. Thats a huge difference & processing costs are going to be different between what is paid by small farmers & commercial companies. Both have to charge their customers these fees. The same thing applies to pork & chicken, or any meat that you purchase from the store.
4. Speaking of processing & food safety, we aren’t guaranteed information about meat packaged at a large processing plant. That’s why we have meat recalls! It’s scary to think that meat from the store, could be a mixture of more than one animal and it may not be traceable if any issues occur. Smaller farmers don’t have that issue. We have smaller processors who have inspectors & it’s a much safer process. You can trust that the meat you eat is from one animal when purchasing from a small farmer, that peace of mind along with amazing flavor makes a HUGE difference. The inconvenience of buying from a small farmer is changing but if you want to continue buying meat from your local grocery store, read the labels... buy meat that is raised & processed in the USA, inspected by the USDA and make sure there are no added ingredients. It’s easy to follow small farms on social media to see how your food was raised. Have a questions? Shop small and ask the farmer who raised it directly.