You asked, and we answered! For the past several years, we have hosted our live “Where’s the Beef?” direct beef sales programs around Texas.  We have had several hundred participants attend, and 100% of them say they would recommend this course to a friend. However, we know that not everyone has the ability to take time away to attend the live courses, and we are unable to host these everywhere that has shown an interest in the topic.  Many of you have been asking for years for an… Read More →

We are very excited to announce the launch of our Where’s the Beef Video Series.  If you are interested in or involved with direct beef sales, this information is for you! In these seven interviews, we talked to people with boots on the ground in the direct beef sales arena.  From producers who have taken a variety of different approaches to marketing their beef, to a small packing plant operator who works with a number of these businesses, to the State of Texas licensing authority, we asked the… Read More →

Question:  When can I sell meat to customers across state lines?  Are there different rules if the sales take place on the internet?   Answer:  For Texas producers (and those in most other states as well), only meat processed at a federally inspected facility may be sold to customers in another state. This is true for both in person and internet sales. Analysis:  Let’s look at the applicable rules.  (Do note that here, we are focusing on “amenable animals,” which include cattle, sheep, goats, and swine.  For “non-amenable animals,”… Read More →

One common way that cattle producers enter into the direct beef sales world is by selling a live calf to the consumer and then delivering the calf to a custom processing facility where it will be processed.  As we discuss in detail in our “Where’s the Beef? Legal & Economic Considerations for Direct Beef Sales,” this approach can be attractive to producers as it allows them to avoid many of the additional requirements that come when selling beef, as opposed to selling the live animal. For example, if… Read More →