Meadowbrook Farms Cooperative is the Illinois
producer-owned meat processor based in Belleville, IL. It has a
new state-of-the art packing plant up and running in Rantoul, IL.
Meadowbrook pays producers based on primal cut weights versus carcass
weight or back fat thickness.
Ron Ness, a Meadowbrook producer and member of
its board of directors, says automatic sorting will allow him to
sell more uniform loads with pigs that produce loins weighing 22
to 26 pounds. Those loins are worth twice as much as loins weighing
over 26 pounds. Ness points out that loads of tightly sorted pigs
return more dollars per head than loads with the same average weight
but more varied individual weights.
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Employees processing pork loins
at Meadowbrook Farms Cooperative. |
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Ness also compares income differences between
two loads sorted tightly around the ideal weight but one with a
slightly heavier average. He says the heavier load would earn more
per head than the lighter load because more pork was sold within
the desired loin category while per head processing costs would
be the same. He also notes that the heavier hogs would have higher
feed consumption and likely more time in the finisher but the net
result would still be increased profits. (See charts below.)
Selling more pork at a premium price is the name
of the game. “We want to get the most pounds out of the building
without going over the upper weight threshold,” concludes Ness.
The charts directly below compare two typical
loads of market pigs, each with an average carcass weight of
205#. In the first chart, Sample Load A exhibits a bell-shaped
curve and represents a more uniform sort than Sample Load B.
Sample Load A would be worth $2.35 more per head than Sample
Load B based on pricing programs by Meadowbrook Farms Cooperative.
Sample Load
A – Average Meat Value = $152.67
Sample Load
B – Average Meat Value = $150.32
Below, Sample Load A is compared with Sample Load C, a uniformly-sorted load with a heavier average weight of
#209.5. The heavier load earns $4.23 per head.
Sample Load
A – Average Meat Value = $152.67
Sample Load
C – Average Meat Value = $156.90
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here to learn more about Farmweld Automatic Sorting
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