March 2016 — NC Growing Together and partner NC Choices are collaborating on a series of upcoming events and tools for pasture-based meat producers and businesses.

Funded by USDA Rural Development, the NCGT/NC Choices’ Meat Quality Project is developing a software interface that allows meat processor Acre Station Meat Farm to collect meat quality data for the NC Natural Hog Growers Association, the largest pasture-based pork cooperative in NC. The software has been developed and the team is making a few minor changes before it’s up and running in the plant. The interface will collect meat quality data per hog in one central location (processing plant), thereby enabling the farmers to assess and improve production practices within the co-op in order to achieve greater product quality and consistency.  Once finalized, the software will be made available for public use.

NCGT is also supporting the Pasture Porkshop, a full day of workshops for pastured pork producers on May 25 in Winston-Salem sponsored by NC Choices and NC Cooperative Extension. Topics include Alternative Feeds & Developing Good Forage; Maximizing Meat Quality; Determining Costs, Capital Investments, and Pricing Your Pig; Wholesale versus Retail: Side by Side Pork Breakdown Illustrating Two Ways to Process Pork for Wholesale and Retail Markets; Building Your Market Round Table: Determining Markets, Scale, and the Right Mix for Your Farm; and more.  Registration is coming soon, check the NCGT website for details.

Save the date!  NCGT will be sponsoring the 2016 Women Working in the Meat Business Conference, to be held October 2-4 in Efland, NC.  The conference, which brings together women farmers, processors, and professionals from across the country who raise, butcher, prepare, and or market pasture raised meat, will double in size this year to accommodate the growing demand. For more information, stay tuned to www.carolinameatconference.com/women.

The conference is a hotbed of innovative thinking and supply chain collaboration. At the 2014 Women Working in the Meat Business conference, NCGT partner Firsthand Foods presented their Carcass Value Estimator Tool, which they are now making available for public use through NC Choices’ website. The excel spreadsheet can be used for Beef and Pork, and, when populated with a producer or meat business’ data, outlines the absolute and relative values of different cuts of meat. The result enables a producer or meat business to clearly see where they are making (or losing) money, and adjust their pricing and production accordingly.

The tool takes into account the cost of the animal, slaughter/processing, and distribution to arrive at Net Revenue, Gross Margin, and Monthly Breakeven (revenue/animal) figures. Firsthand Foods’ Co-CEO Tina Prevatte built the tool and calls it “invaluable” to Firsthand’s planning and pricing decisions.

For more information about Firsthand Foods, please see firsthandfoods.com.

This article originally appeared in the March 2016 NC Growing Together Newsletter.