Most folks may recall that in September 2024, the southeastern U.S. was hit by Hurricane Helene, a Category 4 storm that made landfall in Florida’s Big Bend area with 140-mph winds. It crossed Florida and came up through Georgia, South Carolina, North Carolina and eastern Tennessee, causing numerous fatalities and billions of dollars in damage. We are still hearing about the recovery efforts across much of the region, particularly areas of North Carolina devastated by flooding.

With the price of cattle and beef often in flux, wise producers are always looking for ways to build financial resiliency. One way to capture the most value out of cattle is to process them and market the meat directly to customers.