Beef / Lamb & Pig Price Tracker

digger64

Member
Yeah the difference is the processor business model as I said, the meat and milk processors are co-ops with farmers on the shareholder list and boards - it makes all the difference.
Hence they are good to deal with, and generally very few surprises as processing capability handles normal peak volumes fairly easily (y)

Current lamb price reflects this different approach, P lamb sitting around $7.60 which is very good, especially relative to COP.
You said you had to do night shifts at the abbattoir ,so must be busy, never come across that here maybe others have
 

Kiwi Pete

Member
Livestock Farmer
You said you had to do night shifts at the abbattoir ,so must be busy, never come across that here maybe others have
They often have a nightshift beef kill albeit at a lesser kill rate.
We handle 430 dayshift and 370 nightshift, but now will be 500 bodies per dayshift as I finished a week ago.
They even put on a BBQ for those of us finishing for the season :cool:
employs around 1300 staff at peak so they do a lot of BBQing :D

Lamb kill was very similar to how yours seems to be panning out, an early surge due to a widespread fodder pinch, then reflecting supply after that.

Hold in there guys (y)(y)
 

digger64

Member
They often have a nightshift beef kill albeit at a lesser kill rate.
We Interesting dayshift and 370 nightshift, but now will be 500 bodies per dayshift as I finished a week ago.
They even put on a BBQ for those of us finishing for the season :cool:
employs around 1300 staff at peak so they do a lot of BBQing :D

Lamb kill was very similar to how yours seems to be panning out, an early surge due to a widespread fodder pinch, then reflecting supply after that.

Hold in there guys (y)(y)
big scale compared to local ones here then ( except pigs perhaps ) here sounds as if your plants are more
seasonal .
Interesting re cop yours nearly totally forage fed but how old at sale ?
my bulls high input / maize silage near 400 kg 14 months around 0.95 carcass gain/ day bit of rat race though
 

Kiwi Pete

Member
Livestock Farmer
big scale compared to local ones here then ( except pigs perhaps ) here sounds as if your plants are more
seasonal .
Interesting re cop yours nearly totally forage fed but how old at sale ?
my bulls high input / maize silage near 400 kg 14 months around 0.95 carcass gain/ day bit of rat race though
These cattle were all bought as freshly weaned stores a year ago so will be 18-20 months at slaughter.
COP is a tricky one as these cattle margins pay all my mortgage and farm costs so at face value there is no margin.
Directly attributable costs taken off, about 23-28% of sale value is my margin.

Just as well we have lots of sheep, I tend to look at both operations as separate entities to figure my costs more accurately.
 

digger64

Member
Kiwi Pete said:
These cattle were all bought as freshly weaned stores a year ago so will be 18-20 months at slaughter.
COP is a tricky one as these cattle margins pay all my mortgage and farm costs so at face value there is no margin.
Directly attributable costs taken off, about 23-28% of sale value is my margin.

Just as well we have lots of sheep, I tend to look at both operations as separate entities to figure my costs more accurately.
The weights and ages would be similar to the heifers I finish here on a more forage / grazing diet but still have some cereals to finish them I think you are perhaps getting a much greater return on your working capital , from the pics you have put up I think pasture quality / management look to be something to learn from
 

Kiwi Pete

Member
Livestock Farmer
The weights and ages would be similar to the heifers I finish here on a more forage / grazing diet but still have some cereals to finish them I think you are perhaps getting a much greater return on your working capital , from the pics you have put up I think pasture quality / management look to be something to learn from
Yeah, I am not the best farmer by any means but this type of system is easily the most profitable way to grow meat, here.
Cereals are hugely expensive down here, for a start - it would take my per/hd margin to buy a tonne of concentrates, or close enough.
It really comes down to increasing the length of grass, and therefore increasing the length of time grazing is possible - without losing pasture quality too much in the deferred feed, as housed forage-fed animals just don't want to eat enough!
However the composting barn is good, cheap, just they are too warm and comfortable is the perceived problem with it. Their bedding is around 15° at its lowest.
Best individual weight gain for the 12 months was 421kg, but we are not aiming to replicate that in future, the profit point is below the peak production point if that makes sense?
 
Location
Devon
Okay folks it just gets worse...

Trade slumps yet again at both Exeter and Sedge today for lambs even thou numbers were well down on last weeks entry's.

Exeter SQQ 170.4pk down 13.8pk on the week

Sedge SQQ 173.5pk down 9.4pk on the week

Far far too many lean lambs of all weights entered by all accounts which is not helping the trade.
 

SFI - What % were you taking out of production?

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Red Tractor drops launch of green farming scheme amid anger from farmers

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As reported in Independent


quote: “Red Tractor has confirmed it is dropping plans to launch its green farming assurance standard in April“

read the TFF thread here: https://thefarmingforum.co.uk/index.php?threads/gfc-was-to-go-ahead-now-not-going-ahead.405234/
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