Imported beef

[Northeastfarmer]

They try and hide imported beef with British knowing that shoppers are in a hurry so dont check . Irish is mixed up with British in Tesco .with the same Fake Farm label

Well best not to shop in Tesco then

 

[yellowbelly]

The videos / pics I've seen of finished suckler bred cattle in America show a level of fat that would be heavily penalised here. But I have no direct experience.

It's a long time since I was in the USA, so things may have changed, but all the cattle we saw, like you say, looked to carry much more fat than anything that would be accepted by processors here.

When it came to eating beef there, we were never served anything with any evidence of high fat levels, but it was all excellent eating quality.

This lead me to believe that they were happy to trim fat carcasses (and accept the waste) to ensure their beef was of superior eating quality.

 

[Tarw Coch]

Well best not to shop in Tesco then

But they’re the uk’s largest retailer and I don’t think you’re going to persuade joe public to change their mind.

 

[farmerm]

I’m ready to be shot down, Stormzy stab vest is on.
I bet they will be excellent. Best steaks I’ve ever had have been in the US or South America, is it the way it’s cooked or grown ( hormones )? I fear once the general UK populace eat US ref they won’t want UK beef until it tastes the same.

Sadly I have to agree, I have had fantastic steaks in very ordinary eateries in the US and also South Africa. Too often similarly priced, family friendly, food outlets in this country dish out leather and gristle.

 

[Top Tip.]

If we werent deducted money for older slower grown larger cattle we could produce the big tasty steaks like south america produce. Hardly fair to knock our beef when we produce it with our hands tied behind our backs. Perhaps thats the plan , force us via price to fatten young cattle too quick on meal producing tastless dense beef which people moan about and then use that excuse to source foreign grass fed matured beef without any of the in-spec penalties and rave about the taste. You couldnt make it up.

The vast majority of American beef is grown in feed lots and an increasing amount of South American,they would argue that it is the fact that it is grain fed that gives it the marbling and taste that it has.

 

[Andrew1983]

So much of it is in the hanging. Our own beef we sell is hung for as close to 28days as we can, the breed/diet seems to make little difference. Iv had heifers not settle to the bull who have not had any grain not look/taste any different to a beast that’s been on a grain ad lib diet.

I’m sick of buying steak in restaurants that’s poorer than what we can do at home. It must be doing so much damage to us.

Does this imported beef come in frozen already cut and packed or is it sides/joints coming to us on boats that are effectively hanging for longer?

Second what others have said American steak eats very well over there also. I’m also certain the growth hormones pumped into their food is behind the obesity problem they have.

 

[Andrew1983]

So much of it is in the hanging. Our own beef we sell is hung for as close to 28days as we can, the breed/diet seems to make little difference. Iv had heifers not settle to the bull who have not had any grain not look/taste any different to a beast that’s been on a grain ad lib diet.

I’m sick of buying steak in restaurants that’s poorer than what we can do at home. It must be doing so much damage to us.

Does this imported beef come in frozen already cut and packed or is it sides/joints coming to us on boats that are effectively hanging for longer?

Second what others have said American steak eats very well over there also. I’m also certain the growth hormones pumped into their food is behind the obesity problem they have.

 

[Werzle]

So much of it is in the hanging. Our own beef we sell is hung for as close to 28days as we can, the breed/diet seems to make little difference. Iv had heifers not settle to the bull who have not had any grain not look/taste any different to a beast that’s been on a grain ad lib diet.

I’m sick of buying steak in restaurants that’s poorer than what we can do at home. It must be doing so much damage to us.

Does this imported beef come in frozen already cut and packed or is it sides/joints coming to us on boats that are effectively hanging for longer?

Second what others have said American steak eats very well over there also. I’m also certain the growth hormones pumped into their food is behind the obesity problem they have.

Neighbours just came back from canada and took in the stampede thing i think and they said everything seemed to be deep fried and fattening.

 

[Werzle]

Home killed grass fed 21 day hung beef takes some getting used too after being conditioned to eating supermarket bland beef. The difference is night and day

 

[Northeastfarmer]

But they’re the uk’s largest retailer and I don’t think you’re going to persuade joe public to change their mind.

To use their phrase
“Every little helps”

 

[digger64]

Hormones don’t have anything to do with it, those just affect conversion rates.

You want beef like America then finish it on rations like feedlots do. 6+ months of 85% grain and anything will have the fat of a whale. People can say it’s genetics as much as they want but there is a large portion of mongrel, mutt, commercial farms here that run a mixing pot of breeds. Yet those mixing pots can all get put together in even more mixed pens at feedlots and still finish as consistent products. Don’t think there’s any regulations there that stop this kind of finishing? Just the products that can save on conversion - like implants and beta agonists.

Other things said on this thread that can be put paid to:

Most beef in this hemisphere isn’t hung. There’s no space for the time it takes.

Some of the biggest and best breeds the market wants here are traditional British breeds. Their lines have evolved, yes, but they’re still British breeds.

Can’t reliably say how S America produces beef however I’m fairly sure it’s similar to N America and here you get discounted for anything over 30 months. Just recently I believe it’s Japan that has lifted that on Canadian beef in some way.

how does the abattoir know the age ? - teeth?

 

[digger64]

Anyone who’s seen the recipe for feedlot rations can tell you how far they push the line. UK farmers may run into issues with abx in feed as the reason those are used here is to limit liver abscesses due to such high grain diets.

When I was at the feedlot the starter ration was silage and DDG with a bit of straw and grain. Every five days that ration would change and by the time the cattle were in for 25 days they had three ingredients. Grain, DDG and a bit of straw. That’s it. The use of DDG let them be fed less grain so anything I seen probably topped out at 70-75% barley or wheat. In places where there’s less DDG available they can easily be in the 85-90% range. The cattle don’t get a choice, they just get grained.

Like I said, would put fat on anything.

what is DDG ?

 

[digger64]

It's a long time since I was in the USA, so things may have changed, but all the cattle we saw, like you say, looked to carry much more fat than anything that would be accepted by processors here.

When it came to eating beef there, we were never served anything with any evidence of high fat levels, but it was all excellent eating quality
This lead me to believe that they were happy to trim fat carcasses (and accept the waste) to ensure their beef was of superior eating quality.

The stabiliser cattle I finish on a grain diet usually visually look to fat , and really need to be sold DW as they get discounted LW, but they consistently grade R4L , their backs are wider in the sirloin than the inny and outy lim/blonde/blue types but we don't pull many calves etc .

 

[digger64]

thank

Dried distillers grains.
Some of the intensive dairy folk here feed it

thanks I use that here sometimes

 

[Farmer1001]

Its quite odd the amount of producers who don't realise we already import Beef from the USA, Argentina, Australia, Uraguay, Botswana etc, perhaps it's because the amounts are quite small and limited by virtue of the EU quotas and tariffs we impose. The flip side is if you visit China and their major retailer Woomart (I kid you not), you can but British milk, pork, cheese etc, go to Aus and buy Somerset cheese, Cambodia the same and obviously Paris and buy British lamb.

 

[waterbuffalofarmer]

how does the abattoir know the age ? - teeth?

I assume from the passports handed in and paperwork?

 

[Blaithin]

how does the abattoir know the age ? - teeth?

Yes, teeth. Any animal over a year that comes into the feedlots tend to be mouthed too. That way if they're over 24 months they get quick finished.

They are trying to push the age verification with the CCIA tags but can't say that's consistent at all

what is DDG ?

Dried distillers grains. Because the starch is taken out in the distilling process it doesn't have the risk of bloat and acidosis that grain grain does.

 

[Samcowman]

The stabiliser cattle I finish on a grain diet usually visually look to fat , and really need to be sold DW as they get discounted LW, but they consistently grade R4L , their backs are wider in the sirloin than the inny and outy lim/blonde/blue types but we don't pull many calves etc .

Have a small handful of stabilisers here at the moment. Quietly impressed by how they are filling out.

 

[Blaithin]

You are payed for tenderness/ eating quality, yes?
We are payed on a "europ" grid that rewards carcass shape (which may be skeletal shape as much as meat yield). It also penalises (heavily) anything over fat. The videos / pics I've seen of finished suckler bred cattle in America show a level of fat that would be heavily penalised here. But I have no direct experience.
That is why traditional breeds fell out of favour here, though there is a realisation that they still have something to offer and various schemes and niche markets now encourage them again, along with their ability to finish off grass.
Most cattle here wouldn't be hung here either, I just mentioned it because there's no doubt it improves flavour, and many who deal in direct sales would see the benefits.

Not really. While I've heard of using ultrasound to check degree of marbling and while it is becoming more popular, it still isn't common. When it's done I'm sure it helps bring a premium, it's just not done often. Like I said, the feedlots take in a hodgepodge mix and the slaughterhouses buy it. The most separating there tends to be done is dairy breeds from beef.

Generally the cattle owner who's placing in a feedlot will tell their buyers what they want - beef calves, dairy calves, etc. and the buyers will purchase the amount required at various auctions. All colours, all breeds, as long as they're within the same size range. As that pen goes through the feeding process it will usually be sorted one or two times to pull off heavier animals and market them when they're ready instead of waiting for any smaller animals to catch up. When a pen is at the desired weight of 1400ish lbs they are sent to the slaughterhouse. Usually this is based on premade contracts for a certain number of head. The feedlot/cattle owner goes to the slaughterhouses and say they've got so many head that will be ready at this date, or the slaughterhouses come to the feedlots and say they need so many head at this date, and they work out the price. There's no scanning for tenderness, they take the entire pen.

The feedlots could be getting paid differently if they have cattle grading AAA vs A I suppose, I've never seen the breakdown for that. But most of the feedlot beef is graded high anyway. Producers don't get paid on tenderness or carcass potential when they sell calves at the auction though. If they have the more popular colour (black) or beef breeds then they'll usually make more than off colour of skinny types, but that's it. It's all visual judgement on the calf at the time it walks into the auction ring.

It's been my understanding and experience that to get well marbled meat you either need a disgusting layer of fat on the outside or an older animal that's had time to put the fat in the meat. Since we don't have time for aging it and it's an additional hurdle, especially for export, they take the fat layer on the carcasses, it's all trimmings anyway. It gets used.

 

[Blaithin]

Neighbours just came back from canada and took in the stampede thing i think and they said everything seemed to be deep fried and fattening.

That's because it's Stampede. Everything there is awful

Do you go to fairs and carnivals in the UK and expect prime food from booths?