WHY 21kg Tops, DW?

[Coximus]

WHY?
SIMPLE?

I sold 9 DW this week as I had commitments all week and just wanted these gone for a clean sweep on the 2017 lamb crop.
All were finished and about 45-48kg live, but gutsy as been on poor ground and are my homebred closed flock type composite.

Every single one came in between 21.5 and 22.5kg.... which is bit better than normal for mine - but why do they stop paying at 21kg? The other lamb dfoesnt go in the bin, it gets sold.... so to me its just a scam to steal meat?

At least live the pkg might drop but you get paid on every kg.

That and I sell some direct myself and eat my own..... The only downside to a bigger animal is sometimes the leg is too big to cook so has to be cut down - but given most gets processed or diced or steaked anyway surely its better to have big stock to kill - same fixed slaughter overhead but more per KG again.

Feel even more that DW is always long term a looser....

No live sales then what? 21kg but suddenly if its E its 24 and R grade 19.... goals changing to make sure no one scores.

 

[Northeastfarmer]

Why do they stop paying after 21kg
Their reason...ideal joint size
My reason.....to cap what they pay you

 

[glensman]

WHY?
SIMPLE?

I sold 9 DW this week as I had commitments all week and just wanted these gone for a clean sweep on the 2017 lamb crop.
All were finished and about 45-48kg live, but gutsy as been on poor ground and are my homebred closed flock type composite.

Every single one came in between 21.5 and 22.5kg.... which is bit better than normal for mine - but why do they stop paying at 21kg? The other lamb dfoesnt go in the bin, it gets sold.... so to me its just a scam to steal meat?

At least live the pkg might drop but you get paid on every kg.

That and I sell some direct myself and eat my own..... The only downside to a bigger animal is sometimes the leg is too big to cook so has to be cut down - but given most gets processed or diced or steaked anyway surely its better to have big stock to kill - same fixed slaughter overhead but more per KG again.

Feel even more that DW is always long term a looser....

No live sales then what? 21kg but suddenly if its E its 24 and R grade 19.... goals changing to make sure no one scores.

I think it's to try and ensure they have a consistent product at the weights /size of cuts they want, hence they discourage producers from sending heavy lambs they don't have a market for.

 

[GTB]

They cap them at 21kg and they get say 5% over weight which they don't really want as they need a consistent size for packaging as said above. If they capped at 23kg they'd still get 5% over weight because farmers would still keep the lambs in an attempt to get as much weight as possible. Basically they have to draw the line somewhere or lambs would get bigger and bigger.

 

[yellowbelly]

Unfortunately we live in a 'mass produced' world that just wants 'mass produced' chops that are just the right size to fit in one of these...

 

[Wink]

Could you not just have the heavies back for you and direct sales and let them have the in spec ones? I too do the butchering and marketing of own lambs and the heavier the better for me. Most tend to be 18 - 20kg but the 25kg would be ideal and heavier as long as not stupidly fat.

 

[GTB]

Unfortunately we live in a 'mass produced' world that just wants 'mass produced' chops that are just the right size to fit in one of these...
View attachment 602318

And bigger chops or joints also become very expensive and therefore difficult to sell.

 

[Wink]

It's because I guess most end up in large processing plants. Place near me will do a fair few thousand a day everyday. It's all line work going for set customers with set packaging and specs. Only retail butchers will want something different/heavy etc as they can cut themselves and decide the best way to market it.

 

[Northeastfarmer]

I bet they absolutely LOVE getting over weight cattle and sheep

 

[GTB]

Dunbia have a state of the art cutting plant attached to the abattoir at Llanybydder. I was lucky enough to see it working along with a group of other farmers. To say it was eyeopening would be a gross undertatement. I thought I had a pretty good idea of how the meat industry operated but even I was gobsmacked. It's very easy for us farmers to complain about abattoirs and supermarkets but when you see the other side of the story you see that it's not at all easy for them either. They have huge problems with balancing carcasses i.e. for every two legs there are two shoulders to sell too. There's an awful lot of thought put into how carcasses are cut up and where the various cuts are sold etc etc. It's mindboggling.

 

[GTB]

I bet they absolutely LOVE getting over weight cattle and sheep

Manager at Dunbia told us (and I believe him) that if we could supply him with 6000 lambs at 18kg dw R3L five days a week every week he'd be a very happy man. Consistency is what they want. As it is they're killing lambs from 8 to 25kg dw and have to find various different markets to suit.

 

[Northeastfarmer]

Manager at Dunbia told us (and I believe him) that if we could supply him with 6000 lambs at 18kg dw R3L five days a week every week he'd be a very happy man. Consistency is what they want. As it is they're killing lambs from 8 to 25kg dw and have to find various different markets to suit.

Cattle and sheep aren’t like pigs though

 

[GTB]

Cattle and sheep aren’t like pigs though

No but he said if you went into an abattoir lairage in NZ the lambs would be like peas in a pod. Over here there are countless different breeds and crosses and all sorts of shapes and sizes.

 

[Northeastfarmer]

Manager at Dunbia told us (and I believe him) that if we could supply him with 6000 lambs at 18kg dw R3L five days a week every week he'd be a very happy man. Consistency is what they want. As it is they're killing lambs from 8 to 25kg dw and have to find various different markets to suit.

It’s funny that when dunbia comes to our mart he has no consistency in what he buys

 

[Wilddog]

No but he said if you went into an abattoir lairage in NZ the lambs would be like peas in a pod. Over here there are countless different breeds and crosses and all sorts of shapes and sizes.

Oo lets all bum Nz. Nothing wrong with different shapes and sizes. Something for every market.

 

[Nithsdale]

No but he said if you went into an abattoir lairage in NZ the lambs would be like peas in a pod. Over here there are countless different breeds and crosses and all sorts of shapes and sizes.

All being fed different diets which changes the colouration of the meat, too... Added into the different breeds of different shapes and different sizes!

 

[gatepost]

It’s funny that when dunbia comes to our mart he has no consistency in what he buys

How many tickets is the man buying on?

 

[Northeastfarmer]

How many tickets is the man buying on?

Probably 2

 

[Frank-the-Wool]

Heavy lambs cost the same to kill as any other, so the cost per kg is lower.

Catering outlets like large carcasses and will pay a good price for them as long as they are not too fat.
Just sell heavy lambs alive and you won't be disappointed.

 

[Wink]

Cattle and sheep aren’t like pigs though

The beauty of beef and sheep in the UK but perhaps also it's downfall?