Crossgar Meats

[Mark Bowles]

For various technical reasons Conor Bell has been unable to post on this forum so he asked if i could post for him. These are his words.

Crossgar Meats would firstly like to thank everyone for being given the opportunity to make our presentation at your meeting on 6th February 2010. We were made to feel most welcome! I feel Martyn and Caroline Ryder must be commended for doing an excellent job. They clearly explained the options available to help producers achieve the best return for their stock.

For those among you who prefer to sell the finished animal, then maybe the Crossgar Meats option might suit your needs. At Crossgar Meats, we are dedicated to the Dexter Breed and keep animals of our own at the company farm. In addition, our Commercial Manager, Jason Hamilton, has Dexter cattle,so we are aware of this animal's attributes and are committed to promoting the breed and securing it's future.

We have invested considerable resources in the promotion of Dexter, and as a result, now have it listed in some of the best eating establishments in Ireland. Local chef/ Owner of Balloo House, Danny Millar, used our Dexter Beef on the Great British Menu, ,and Jason appeared alongside him on the show.

We require a steady supply of good quality Birth Notified Pedigree Dexter cattle to meet our increasing demands.If you feel you have the right animals for our requirements, then please contact Stephen Adcock on 07976 758063. Stephen has recently organised previous consignments on our behalf, and can advise you on all aspects of selling your cattle to us.

I have set out below the offer made by ourselves:
• Price paid on grade of animal up to 30 months of age as published weekly in the press.
• Cow's and Bulls negotiated separately
• Additional £0.10 p/kg bonus on the carcass deadweight (excluding cows and bulls)
• Crossgar Meats will pay the Abattoir kill charges.
• Payment will be made within 14 days of kill.

On behalf of Jason Hamilton, Michael Morrissey and myself, I would like to thank everyone and look forward to a mutually beneficial working relationship.

Regards

Conor Bell
Crossgar Meats

[Conor Bell]

Crossgar Meats would like to make an amendment to our post on the 8th of March 2010.

In response to requests made to Stephen Adcock we would like to clarify the position regarding animal age.
The preferred finished animal age is under 30 Months, however we are prepared to accept clean cattle up to 36 Months with prior approval from Stephen.


Regards

Conor Bell

[pudser]

Hi,

I am interested in finding out how the sxcheme is working.Crossgar are paying a premium of 10p on the kilo but how are dexters grading? I know very few of mine would grade better than o and I have not seen an R yet?

Cheerrs

P

[Broomcroft]

I'm doing a test next week and sending 3 steers to Sainsbury's. Haven't got a clue how they will fair, but their abattoir is just 15 miles away and it's where I send culls and get fair prices. I will have a grades and weights within 24 hours of the kill which comes automatically by email. I did get an "R" once, he was an 8 year old bull! All those I have graded (and that's only very few) have been O+'s.



Edited By Broomcroft on 1274702925

[Saffy]

We have only sent one to slaughter he was very young, just 17 months, practically no fat on him and he was Graded at O + 3. We wondered if he would be tough with hardly any fat and if he would have any flavour but he was VERY yummy, and extremely tender! :D
The next one we send will be 26 months and have quite a layer of fat which will make an interesting comparison for us.


Stephanie

[acrossthesea]

My wife has kept the grades for 140+ cattle that the group have sent for beef. The bulk of these were O+3,
O3, O4L. Only 2 were R Grade and 1 of them was suspect ie, fed straits. R Grade are few and far between. It is worth bearing in mind that most of the native breeds do not grade well. The short legged Dexter tend to lay fat down after 20 months so consequently grade worse over this age.
Regarding dealing with Crossgar Meats we as a Group have had no complaints from any member sending stock. I think the only complaint that Crossgar have is that we cannot supply enough due to the demand for this quality beef. Long may it last.
We hope to have a beef class at the Show and Sale supported by Crossgar Meats.
Howard Hilton (Northern Ireland.)

[Broomcroft]

It is worth bearing in mind that most of the native breeds do not grade well.

That's what I've been saying. In America they have Choice and Prime which are the top grades and include more fat and much less meat. They pay top prices for those grades. Our grading system, as it appears to me anyhow, is designed to produce less tasty meat. I was told that the supermarkets were going to demand a change to the American system.

When we started in beef, as I've said before, we spent a year tasting every breed we could obtain and the best by a long shot (before we tasted Dexter) was Aberdeen Angus. It was much better than all the rare breeds we tried, BUT........it wasn't in the UK, it was in New York and it was Angus Prime. Only 1.5% of AA gets through to Prime.

Dexter beef should be no more graded by our system than you would consider grading Wagyu. As I see it you get a lower price the better it is!!! The bull I had at R grade was corn fed for months which just about says it all!

Maybe I've got it wrong because I'm no expert in grading to say the least but that's how it appears to me.

[domsmith]

Whats with the Sainsburys. have they hunted you out for dexter or are they just going as standard beef?

will under weight carcasses be down graded. i have heard of that. a carcass below 225kg down graded as too small.

O 3s and 4L here at sunnyside. struggled for fat over the winter but with summer grass hopefully we will get it.

[Broomcroft]

Dom, our steers will just go into the normal supply chain and they could go to Sainsbury or Asda, I don't know where they'll end up but some customer down the line will be saying how good their beef was :D. I've sent OTM and 30-48 before and got a good return. The price is just normal and may be downgraded because of being under 270kg, but the weight seems to be higher than when I supply a butcher. I sent a small 36 month old heifer and she came back as not particularly good price per kilo, but a deadweight of 200kg!!!! I've had that sort of result now 4 times, not so good price but good cheque!!!

[pudser]

Thats great but are Crossgar paying the all steers at the equivalent of the R grade plus premium ?
if they do and iI am not sure it looks a great deal for bigger producers?