Regional Beef Direct Marketing Workshops

Published on by Andrea Thill

Workshops for Wisconsin farmers who are direct marketing beef, or considering it, will be held in four regional locations in the coming months.  The workshops are offered by the Wisconsin Beef Council and are being held in conjunction with the Wisconsin Association of Meat Processors, UW-Madison Division of Extension, and the Wisconsin Department of Agriculture.  This will be an opportunity to network with fellow beef producers who are direct marketing, as well as the processors who play a key role in getting beef to consumers. 

The workshops will begin with a classroom session and then move to a local processor for a carcass cutting demonstration.  The dates and locations are as follows:

  • February 25 – Plum City.  Morning session – American Legion, 132 Pine Ave E, Plum City, WI. Afternoon session – JM Watkins, W2431 US-10, Maiden Rock.
  • March 6 – Viroqua.  Morning session – Sheriff’s Office Training Room, 1320 Bad Axe Court, Viroqua, WI.  Afternoon session – Nordik Meats, E7342 Three Chimney Rd, Viroqua.
  • March 11 – Kaukauna.  Morning session – Grand Stay Hotel, 1541 Arbor Way, Kaukauna, WI.  Afternoon session – Haen Meats, 600 County Hwy KK, Kaukauna.
  • March 17 – Clinton.  Morning session – Boxcars, 108 Allen Street, Clinton, WI. Afternoon session – Country Pride Meats, 109 Church St, Clinton. 

Check-in of pre-registered attendees will begin at 9:15 am, and the program will start promptly at 9:45.  Lunch will be offered at noon.  Following lunch attendees will travel to the processing plants for the cutting demonstration.  The program will adjourn by 2:30 pm. There is a $25 registration fee and space will be limited at each location to 30 participants.  You can register by calling the Wisconsin Beef Council at 1-800-728-2333 or at https://www.beeftips.com/directmarketing.

Topics to be covered during the workshops include:

  • Easy to Use Marketing Tools – Kaitlyn Kesler with the Wisconsin Beef Council will share tips on free resources that can be used to create flyers, social media posts and other resources to help market your beef online, along with showcasing the recipes, cut charts and other resources available through the Beef Checkoff. 
  • Licensing & Labeling Requirements – Whether your farm is looking to direct market quarters or halves or is ready to transition to retail sales of individual cuts of beef, this segment will bring you up to speed on the requirements for licensing and labeling. Speakers: Wisconsin Department of Agriculture, Trade & Consumer Protection, Bureau of Meat and Poultry Businesses Staff
  • Meating Consumer Expectations – UW-Madison Extension will discuss quality and yield grades, dressing percentage, understanding when cattle are finished, and considerations for animal size to match marketing plans. All these factors can affect consumer experience, expectations, and satisfaction.  
  • Farmer-Processor-Customer Relations – a local meat processor will share tips on how to best communicate with those involved in the transaction, how to educate the consumer around pricing and cuts of beef, labeling and packaging options, and building the processor-farmer relationship. 
  • Bull session – Bill Halfman, UW-Extension, will facilitate a group discussion covering topics like online sales, insurance, and collecting payments. 
  • Carcass fabrication – watch a meat processor breakdown a half carcass, seeing how you get from primal to packaged beef.