Beef diversification

[Aspiring Peasants]

Regarding meat quality. As with a lot of things, forget about what the "experts" tell you and look at the markets. High street butchers businesses are based nowadays on selling a better quality product than supermarkets and it is substantially better meat in my experience. What do the predominantly buy? Beltex lambs and Limousin heifers.

 

[neilo]

Regarding meat quality. As with a lot of things, forget about what the "experts" tell you and look at the markets. High street butchers businesses are based nowadays on selling a better quality product than supermarkets and it is substantially better meat in my experience. What do the predominantly buy? Beltex lambs and Limousin heifers.

Lots of high street butchers don’t source their own animals, they just buy wholesale carcasses from the same abattoirs the supermarkets do, then hang it longer and cut it up themselves. It’s the extra hanging that makes most of the difference.

Beltex is certainly not ‘quality’ meat, it has next to know imf in it. It just makes for a higher yield in the hindquarter.

 

[farmerm]

no maggots .

Do remember BTB hassle as mentioned above (depends a bit where you are ) biggest reason imo for a no no. especially if in a hot spot area .

To the op , could be Brexit wont make so much difference , other parts of the World, China I dare say will have morx bearing as they might have been in recently ? ?

Look at lamb values inside the EU and compare them to lamb values outside the EU... We get a deal, we get EU lamb values, when we leave without a deal we face having to sell lamb at values much closer to world market price.... the difference is substantial

 

[Bury the Trash]

Look at lamb values inside the EU and compare them to lamb values outside the EU... We get a deal, we get EU lamb values, when we leave without a deal we face having to sell lamb at values much closer to world market price.... the difference is substantial

Yes I know.

Just trying to be positive.

Beef is not a viable option for me atm.

 

[Agrivator]

Yes I know.

Just trying to be positive.

Beef is not a viable option for me atm.

If you have the finance to buy them and a good dry out wintering area, just buy some poorly-done store cattle.

A ring feeder, a feed trough, bought-in straw, some high protein beef nuts, and an old tractor with a fore end loader, and a new battery so that it starts on a frosty morning.

I'm sure David Mitchell must have covered this in his ''dead easy'' farming advisory videos.

 

[Aspiring Peasants]

Lots of high street butchers don’t source their own animals, they just buy wholesale carcasses from the same abattoirs the supermarkets do, then hang it longer and cut it up themselves. It’s the extra hanging that makes most of the difference.

Beltex is certainly not ‘quality’ meat, it has next to know imf in it. It just makes for a higher yield in the hindquarter.

But I've seen plenty of lambs knocked down to butchers and I know what type they go for. I agree the extra hanging makes a huge difference. We have always liked eating lamb and have it every week. Wouldn't dream of buying it from a supermarket, apart from poor quality there's not enough meat on the cuts. Butchers lamb has got better in recent years because you can get really meaty chops etc. That's why they pay a premium for beltex.

 

[neilo]

But I've seen plenty of lambs knocked down to butchers and I know what type they go for. I agree the extra hanging makes a huge difference. We have always liked eating lamb and have it every week. Wouldn't dream of buying it from a supermarket, apart from poor quality there's not enough meat on the cuts. Butchers lamb has got better in recent years because you can get really meaty chops etc. That's why they pay a premium for beltex.

The lambs I put the grading sheet up for earlier will likely be sitting on a supermarket shelf by now, and I would guarantee the loin chops on the Charollais crosses amongst them will have deeper muscles than any Beltex ( I have both pure, and have measure both!).
But no, they will have been spoilt by not hanging them and my retailer buyer tells me that they don't really want those types of lambs anyway, just an 18kg R2/3L.

Given the choice of lambs to go in our freezer, it certainly isn't a Beltex that gets picked!

 

[livestock 1]

Why wouldn't they push dairy bred beef, the supermarkets have spent the last few years forcing dairy farmers to stop shooting bull calves (kind of fair enough) they are now pushing for everything to live for at least 8 weeks or something. Lots more calves coming to market so there's an opportunity there.

Get some consultants together and give them some cash and they'll run round telling as many people as they can that the only way to do it is graze dairy bred bulls year round, supermarkets might even garuantee a contract price for a few years (provided you hit the exact spec of course).
Lots of cattle finished out of spec or going overage? Not to worry sir we'll still take them but obviously the deductions are exceptionally high as you haven't hit the spec on your contract.

Cheap beef, garuanteed supply for long enough to drive off an amount of farmers producing cattle that supermarkets actually have to pay for.

Maybe I'm a cynic...

Yes that’s kind of what I’m getting at. A similar example is when someone turns up with some good shaped well fleshed beef cows but receives less per kilo than someone with a few dairy cows. There’s plenty more dairy cows to come so let’s pay more for them.

 

[livestock 1]

The current grid grading for confirmation and subcutaneous fat level doesn’t mean anything when it comes to eating quality, hence the move to viascan grading in many places around the world, rewarding imf and meat yield instead. Like it or not, it will come here too, sooner or later.

The Aberdeen Angus certainly doesn’t receive a premium on account of it’s shape!

It doesn’t matter to me. I will breed what the market demands.
If what you are saying is true then why is the supermarket beef still the worst beef available?
My theory is that once they get enough folks on the Angus hook they will drop or reduce the premium. Oldest trick in the book to control suppliers

 

[livestock 1]

Not cynical at all imo, the retailers operate on a ruthless business model and would stab their grannies in the back for a quid.

However, if you sign a contract to deliver x number of cattle at a certain spec, then fail to do so, then you should be penalised. If you can’t do that then don’t sign up for it (which is probably most of us if we’re honest).
If you agreed to buy 28t of fertiliser in 600 kg bags, but it was 3 bags short and 10 bags were only 400kg, would you still pay full whack for it?

Yes but we haven’t been buying 28t loads of fert and paying for 24t which the processors have done to us (and still are doing) for years

 

[Norfolk Hill Farmer]

Lots of high street butchers don’t source their own animals, they just buy wholesale carcasses from the same abattoirs the supermarkets do, then hang it longer and cut it up themselves. It’s the extra hanging that makes most of the difference.

Beltex is certainly not ‘quality’ meat, it has next to know imf in it. It just makes for a higher yield in the hindquarter.

We have two village butchers local to us . One fattens his own forward stores that have been purchased for excellent conformation and good weight for age ,and has lambs produced for him ,but only wants the ones that are 50kg + and are full of lean meat in the loin He kills and butchers on site and hangs the carcasses for the optimum time. More often than not there is a que to get in the shop.
The other buys what ever the wholesaler has on the day, his meat is less popular and as much money as the supermarket. The first butcher may charge more money than the supermarket, but it is always consistent top quality.

 

[neilo]

We have two village butchers local to us . One fattens his own forward stores that have been purchased for excellent conformation and good weight for age ,and has lambs produced for him ,but only wants the ones that are 50kg + and are full of lean meat in the loin He kills and butchers on site and hangs the carcasses for the optimum time. More often than not there is a que to get in the shop.
The other buys what ever the wholesaler has on the day, his meat is less popular and as much money as the supermarket. The first butcher may charge more money than the supermarket, but it is always consistent top quality.

I don't doubt it. The second butcher is just a retailer, the same as a supermarket is, but they may hang those carcasses longer in their cold store of course. The first butcher has a lot of extra costs, but is what 'proper' butchers always did. I wonder whether the customers of the second realise he's not doing that though?

You only have to read @Clive 's 'I can't find my fancy fru fru cuts anywhere' thread to see how many butchers are in the second camp these days.

 

[Clive]

Regarding meat quality. As with a lot of things, forget about what the "experts" tell you and look at the markets. High street butchers businesses are based nowadays on selling a better quality product than supermarkets and it is substantially better meat in my experience. What do the predominantly buy? Beltex lambs and Limousin heifers.

High street meat retailers are no better than supermarket quality, just more expensive, I blame them and supermarkets for the popularity of vegans ! They do meat no favours IMO

I reserve the title “butcher” Now for a shop that actually cuts up carcasses ........ they are a rare thing

 

[Aspiring Peasants]

High street meat retailers are no better than supermarket quality, just more expensive, I blame them and supermarkets for the popularity of vegans ! They do meat no favours IMO

I reserve the title “butcher” Now for a shop that actually cuts up carcasses ........ they are a rare thing

We are fortunate then because our butchers do, as do many others round here.