Hi it would be even more intresting if a few more people out of the 367 people who had looked at this subject would add their pennies worth to the subject. surely we aren't the only ones with some thing to say on the subject.
Ann :p
Beef Prices - Prices achievable through private sales
Sorry to have taken so long to reply to this subject, but I have been so busy that I have only now had time to reply, although I have viewed the comments a few times,Ann!
I could print out the different prices I charge for all the various joints, and will do that if anyone would find it useful, but it is still fairly similar to every one else who has replied.
I have everything vac packed, so that I can sell all items individually from the farm, and to farm shops. Vac packing certainly helps me ,as it removes the risk of "contamination", so that the main thing I have to worry about is storing it at the correct temperature.
My butcher will charge approx £200 for deadweight 200kg plus, with sausages and burers if required. This is hung for 3 weeks and everything vackpacked and cut to my requirements.
The presentation of the beef is paramount if good prices are going to be made, and my butcher is a real craftsman. Everything is cut to my requirements each time, which means that I can keep my customers happy by providing exactly what they want for certain occassions.
There should not be any secrecy about prices and how people are marketing the Beef. I repeat my comment that it would be beneficial to have a National meeting for all those interested in marketing Dexter Beef, so that we can share information, and look at prices, which is so important with the CAP reforms.
If nothing is to happen within the DCS, then perhaps everyone would like to come to North Yorks?!
NB our farmhouse is a bit delapidated at present, but the herd is looking good!
Even sharing dexter recipes would be good. We are trying Dexter sausages made with Guinness, and Dexter Sausages with Marmalade, this Xmas. I will let you know if it is a success or a disaster!
Penny
I could print out the different prices I charge for all the various joints, and will do that if anyone would find it useful, but it is still fairly similar to every one else who has replied.
I have everything vac packed, so that I can sell all items individually from the farm, and to farm shops. Vac packing certainly helps me ,as it removes the risk of "contamination", so that the main thing I have to worry about is storing it at the correct temperature.
My butcher will charge approx £200 for deadweight 200kg plus, with sausages and burers if required. This is hung for 3 weeks and everything vackpacked and cut to my requirements.
The presentation of the beef is paramount if good prices are going to be made, and my butcher is a real craftsman. Everything is cut to my requirements each time, which means that I can keep my customers happy by providing exactly what they want for certain occassions.
There should not be any secrecy about prices and how people are marketing the Beef. I repeat my comment that it would be beneficial to have a National meeting for all those interested in marketing Dexter Beef, so that we can share information, and look at prices, which is so important with the CAP reforms.
If nothing is to happen within the DCS, then perhaps everyone would like to come to North Yorks?!
NB our farmhouse is a bit delapidated at present, but the herd is looking good!
Even sharing dexter recipes would be good. We are trying Dexter sausages made with Guinness, and Dexter Sausages with Marmalade, this Xmas. I will let you know if it is a success or a disaster!
Penny
Butchering charges have gone up recently in my experience - I last paid 80p per Kilo for cutting, packing and labelling plus killing and stripping charge. These came to £508 for 2 animals
Like Penny, my buTcher vacuum packs using foil packets and the presentation has been much appreciated by my regular customers. People really do taste with their eyes!
My costs per lamb this autumn came to £28 which is hefty as my sheep are shetlands and therefore only 10kgs - 20kgs dead weight each fortuately the meat is also excellent and carries a premium price!
Jo
Like Penny, my buTcher vacuum packs using foil packets and the presentation has been much appreciated by my regular customers. People really do taste with their eyes!
My costs per lamb this autumn came to £28 which is hefty as my sheep are shetlands and therefore only 10kgs - 20kgs dead weight each fortuately the meat is also excellent and carries a premium price!
Jo
I too have been here a couple of times without responding...AnnWe are a large family and don't usually have much left over from a steer...or heifer...to sell. But when we do or happen to do 2 at once we get $5 per kilo deadweight, just like Paula. Our butcher is great, he comes to the property...kills, hangs it and cuts it up for $175 and charges the same no matter the size. We only hang for a week and our animals are usually around 10 - 14 mths old...tender as can be.
Shazz :;):
Rosnasharn Farm
Rosnasharn Farm
To put it politely - I think some of you are being ripped off (or like paying for a hands off 'quality' service). This week a 320 kg (live wt) steer cost me £96 for slaughtering and hanging for 2 weeks at the local abbatoir and my local butcher charged me £25 for butchering it into plastic bags (not vacuum packed or labelled).
In a similar vein, my end of season lambs cost me £5 each to slaughter (on farm but by a professional slaughterman) and the same butcher charged me £5 a lamb for the butchering.
All the above is for consumption by my family and friends so I am happy with simple packaging but those selling commercially must be struggling to make a profit(post subsidy) at the cost levels quoted.
Peter
In a similar vein, my end of season lambs cost me £5 each to slaughter (on farm but by a professional slaughterman) and the same butcher charged me £5 a lamb for the butchering.
All the above is for consumption by my family and friends so I am happy with simple packaging but those selling commercially must be struggling to make a profit(post subsidy) at the cost levels quoted.
Peter
Peter
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Duncan MacIntyre
- Posts: 2372
- Joined: Tue Mar 30, 2004 12:38 am
- Location: Isle of Bute, Scotland, UK
Hello Peter,
Having done meat inspection for much of my career part time, I can perhaps see the cost of slaughtering and butchdering with more than one hat on. Those who wish to sell meat on the open market in todays climate need to be sure that it has been dealt with according to professional standards all along the line, and that costs money. And when it comes to butchering, how much of a skilled butcher's time can we reasonably expect to buy for £25? I know that in kilos the Dexter carcase is small but in many respects the cost of slaughtering and butchering is not directly related to the weight of sellable beef. I can't comment on details of selling since all mine goes to family. Our butcher has not yet billed me for a bull killed in June so I am short of detail there too, but I do think we want a high standard of hygeine and butchering to do our beef justice.
Having done meat inspection for much of my career part time, I can perhaps see the cost of slaughtering and butchdering with more than one hat on. Those who wish to sell meat on the open market in todays climate need to be sure that it has been dealt with according to professional standards all along the line, and that costs money. And when it comes to butchering, how much of a skilled butcher's time can we reasonably expect to buy for £25? I know that in kilos the Dexter carcase is small but in many respects the cost of slaughtering and butchering is not directly related to the weight of sellable beef. I can't comment on details of selling since all mine goes to family. Our butcher has not yet billed me for a bull killed in June so I am short of detail there too, but I do think we want a high standard of hygeine and butchering to do our beef justice.
Duncan MacIntyre
Burnside Dexters 00316
Burnside
Ascog
Isle of Bute
Burnside Dexters 00316
Burnside
Ascog
Isle of Bute
Sorry Peter, but I disagree that you are getting a better deal than us.
You are paying £124 for a 320kg steer that is hung for 2 weeks and served up in the standard black plastic bin liners, am I right? You don't mention what price you sell to friends and family.
If I sent a 320kg steer in, then the price is reduced to£150 for hanging 3 weeks and vac packed ( burgers and sausages would be more). Given that it is easier to charge a "premium" price for something that is beautifully presented and vac packed so that the customer can immediately put it in the fridge or freezer, I still think it is me that is getting the value for money!
You are quite right in your assumption that it will be a challenge to make a reasonable profit from the beef without the subsidies ( although we don't know what we are getting exactly from the SFP (single farm payment) yet so some should be in a similar position to when they got BSP( beef special premium).
It is up to producers like us to market the beef effectively to get the best prices, so that a premium can then be passed on to those who want to sell their steers rather than market the beef, and a decent price to make it worth their while.
This is why I will continue to have all the beef vac packed, pay that bit extra and have the potential to earn a lot more, not just for me but for others who want an outlet for their steers.
It has been mentioned by some members that, post subsidies, prices will need rise by 25%. This is some challenge, but we all need to rise to this, as we know that Dexter Beef is the best!
Yours in an optomistic mood, having been "dexter sausage tasting" new flavours this afternoon......
Penny
You are paying £124 for a 320kg steer that is hung for 2 weeks and served up in the standard black plastic bin liners, am I right? You don't mention what price you sell to friends and family.
If I sent a 320kg steer in, then the price is reduced to£150 for hanging 3 weeks and vac packed ( burgers and sausages would be more). Given that it is easier to charge a "premium" price for something that is beautifully presented and vac packed so that the customer can immediately put it in the fridge or freezer, I still think it is me that is getting the value for money!
You are quite right in your assumption that it will be a challenge to make a reasonable profit from the beef without the subsidies ( although we don't know what we are getting exactly from the SFP (single farm payment) yet so some should be in a similar position to when they got BSP( beef special premium).
It is up to producers like us to market the beef effectively to get the best prices, so that a premium can then be passed on to those who want to sell their steers rather than market the beef, and a decent price to make it worth their while.
This is why I will continue to have all the beef vac packed, pay that bit extra and have the potential to earn a lot more, not just for me but for others who want an outlet for their steers.
It has been mentioned by some members that, post subsidies, prices will need rise by 25%. This is some challenge, but we all need to rise to this, as we know that Dexter Beef is the best!
Yours in an optomistic mood, having been "dexter sausage tasting" new flavours this afternoon......
Penny
Duncan et al
My beef is killed at a professional abbatoir - my butcher is a very skilled middle aged village butcher who is certainly a higher class (and I don't mean social) than the average butcher. The meat is hung by him for a week (to bring it up to three weeks) and it is beautifully prepared into rolled joints etc and packed into (my) standard freezer bags. My point was that we seem to accept galloping inflation without query -not that I should protest as down stream I should be able to undercut your prices.
Cheers
Peter
My beef is killed at a professional abbatoir - my butcher is a very skilled middle aged village butcher who is certainly a higher class (and I don't mean social) than the average butcher. The meat is hung by him for a week (to bring it up to three weeks) and it is beautifully prepared into rolled joints etc and packed into (my) standard freezer bags. My point was that we seem to accept galloping inflation without query -not that I should protest as down stream I should be able to undercut your prices.
Cheers
Peter
Peter
www.kahurangi.org
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Re being ripped off
I think it depends on what you are doing with the meat, also a 360kg animals is quite small and I would certainly expect to pay less for having one butchered that size.
However I do not know how any butcher with overheads can cut up, label, and indivually box meat for £25.
much as I would like to pay less, I do think that I get a good service from my butcher and because thats exactly what he is, so his overheads are I surpose more than the bigger abbitors, as he can only slaughter 10 cattle a week. However I think the welfare of my animals also come into the equation as I do not like the bigger places,
So I guess if your happy with your butcher, then I would certainly look after him.
Ann :p :p
I think it depends on what you are doing with the meat, also a 360kg animals is quite small and I would certainly expect to pay less for having one butchered that size.
However I do not know how any butcher with overheads can cut up, label, and indivually box meat for £25.
much as I would like to pay less, I do think that I get a good service from my butcher and because thats exactly what he is, so his overheads are I surpose more than the bigger abbitors, as he can only slaughter 10 cattle a week. However I think the welfare of my animals also come into the equation as I do not like the bigger places,
So I guess if your happy with your butcher, then I would certainly look after him.
Ann :p :p
Ann
The cost to my village butcher is marginal as he does it in his 'spare' time between customers so you could argue it is all profit.
Slight change of subject - you say 360kg live weight is small. I had a previous topic running on beef finishing that implied somewhere between 300 kg and 360 kg depending on short/medium legged was reasonable for grass fed dexters (with a dash of corn on frosty nights). What weights are you getting and how are you finishing?
Peter
The cost to my village butcher is marginal as he does it in his 'spare' time between customers so you could argue it is all profit.
Slight change of subject - you say 360kg live weight is small. I had a previous topic running on beef finishing that implied somewhere between 300 kg and 360 kg depending on short/medium legged was reasonable for grass fed dexters (with a dash of corn on frosty nights). What weights are you getting and how are you finishing?
Peter
Peter
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Kathy Millar
- Posts: 725
- Joined: Wed May 19, 2004 4:53 pm
- Location: Vancouver Island, BC, Canada
Hi Peter
I usually run my non shorts up to the 30mths and they are finishing around 440 to 460 kg of grass
Its a while since I've weighed a short one, but I know they will be quite a lot litter, it cost £5 to use the weigh bridge each time plus two trips. one empty and one full, so although its at the end of my road, it still takes time and money, however if I sell liveweight or just want to keep a check on my live to dead ratio and keep my butcher on his toes VBG
its worth the odd £5 it use to be only £3 so just to get an overall idea of size to weight ratio I did it with both short and long for a while. Now I usually have an idea of what they will weigh..
Ann :p
I usually run my non shorts up to the 30mths and they are finishing around 440 to 460 kg of grass
Its a while since I've weighed a short one, but I know they will be quite a lot litter, it cost £5 to use the weigh bridge each time plus two trips. one empty and one full, so although its at the end of my road, it still takes time and money, however if I sell liveweight or just want to keep a check on my live to dead ratio and keep my butcher on his toes VBG
its worth the odd £5 it use to be only £3 so just to get an overall idea of size to weight ratio I did it with both short and long for a while. Now I usually have an idea of what they will weigh..
Ann :p
PeterO, I am amazed by the prices you quote. I wonder whether maybe you have a few local abbatoirs and therefore some competition between them. What part of the country are you from?
I pay either £160 or £180 for killing and cutting at the only two local places which will hang for 3 weeks or more. This is for bagging, but not vacu packing.
For lambs I can pay anything between £12 and £15 for the same service. Admittedly this is at an abbatoir and not at home.
I think you must be lucky with your butcher.
Liz
I pay either £160 or £180 for killing and cutting at the only two local places which will hang for 3 weeks or more. This is for bagging, but not vacu packing.
For lambs I can pay anything between £12 and £15 for the same service. Admittedly this is at an abbatoir and not at home.
I think you must be lucky with your butcher.
Liz
Liz
Shropshire near Bishops Castle - it is only a small abbattoir and yes I am lucky with my butcher. I think the going abbattoir rate for killing and butchering lambs is over £20 so you are doing well there.
Cheers
Peter
Shropshire near Bishops Castle - it is only a small abbattoir and yes I am lucky with my butcher. I think the going abbattoir rate for killing and butchering lambs is over £20 so you are doing well there.
Cheers
Peter
Peter
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