Profitable Meat Marketing Workshops
Event Details
Cornell announces new Meat Price Calculator and Profitable Meat Marketing workshops for direct marketing livestock farmers
The Cornell Program on Agribusiness and Rural Development announces that a new, improved version of the Cornell Meat Price Calculator (MPC) is available for free use at www.meatsuite.com. The MPC, originally launched in May 2018, is a user-friendly online tool that allows farmers to set prices that ensure they reach farm financial goals. The new version, launched in March 2022, allows NY farmers to create a free account and save their data. This way, as their costs change over time, they can revisit the site and make adjustments to their pricing to maintain profitability goals.
The release of the improved MPC comes at a time when both farmers and consumers face increasing costs. Inflation of grocery store meat prices may lead to increased consumer interest in locally raised meats. Likewise, increasing input costs for farms will cause farms to revisit their current pricing. In the summer of 2021, Cornell researchers observed meat prices from 17 NY farms and 7 Ithaca-area grocery stores. They found that farm store and farmers market prices were typically lower than grocery store prices for similar products. It may be that some farms do not account for all costs or include sufficient profit margins relative to grocery store competition. The MPC offers a user-friendly approach to account for production, processing, and marketing costs and then set prices to reach a profit goal. To read a short article about the 2021 meat price observations, click here. (https://www.meatsuite.com/calculator/about/docs.php)
To support the launch of the new MPC, a series of "Profitable Meat Marketing" and "How to Use the Cornell Meat Price Calculator" workshops are planned for locations around the state and online. At the workshops, MPC developer, Matt LeRoux, Extension Associate in Cornell's Dyson School of Economics and Management, will present on marketing strategy and technique, pricing logic, and demonstrate how to use the new Meat Price Calculator. The workshops will be relevant to any farms selling meat directly to consumer, whether in bulk or by-the-cut.
Raising prices can feel like a challenging task. The Cornell Meat Price Calculator aims to simplify the process and the Profitable Meat Marketing workshops prepare farms for successful marketing and pricing. A complete list of locations and dates, as well as registration details follow.
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Upcoming Events
Organic Farmer-to-Farmer Meetings
April 4, 2023 : NYCO Field Crop Meeting
Geneva, NY
NYCO's field crops meeting has been rescheduled to April 4th, 2023 from 9 am - 1 pm. This meeting is free for all farmers to attend and participants are encouraged to bring a dish to pass for lunch.
How to Value Your Business, Planning for the Future
April 4, 2023
April 11, 2023
April 18, 2023
This three-week workshop series for livestock-based businesses will be held online. It is specifically targeted at existing meat, fiber, small ruminant dairy, or other livestock value-added processing businesses. A team of Cornell Cooperative Extension Educators will provide tools to assess your existing business and to assist in understanding options for business expansion or transfer. The workshop series will also be of benefit to livestock value-added business startups and is of relevance to both owners and employees in management positions.
Business Planning for Beginning Farmers
April 10, 2023
Jamestown, NY
Business plans for farms are often viewed as yet another chore to do and usually result in dusty binders taking up space on the office shelf. This discussion based workshop will walk you through the mental exercise of planning your future agricultural adventures. Participants will leave with a better understanding of the use of a business plan, the essential components, and a "to-do" list of things to think about to inform future planning efforts. Additional opportunities for one-on-one follow up will also be offered. FSA Borrower credits may be made available for your attendance. This workshop will be taught by Katelyn Walley-Stoll, Team Leader and Farm Business Management Specialist from the Southwest New York Dairy, Livestock, and Field Crops Program with Cornell Cooperative Extension. She is a graduate of Cornell University with a degree in Animal Science and Ag Business Management, and owns and operates a diversified livestock farm.
$5 per person REGISTER