It's not just auction prices that are on the floor...

[Jac]

What I can provide is an average figure given to me for over 50 animals both short and non-short
that I have found useful rule of thumb when working out how much to pay per kg for a carcass

AVE L/W 356
AVE D/W 192
AVE FAT 35
AVE BONES 32
AVE SALEABLE BEEF 125 KGS
KILL ONLY £65 D/W UNDER 150 KGS
KILL ONLY £70 D/W OVER 150 KGS
OWN CUTTING ROOM COST VARIES DEPENDING ON HOW MANY DONE AS WE HANG, CUT AND PACK OUR OWN (ESTIMATE £300)
ABATTOIR WILL KILL HANG AND CUT FOR £120
(LOOSE IN BIG PLASTIC BAGS WITH NO LABELS ON, MINCED BEEF SUPPLIED FIT FOR ECONOMY BURGER MAKING (IN MY OPINION)
PRIVATE BUTCHER CHARGE £1 KG TO HANG AND CUT, 50P PER BURGER (APPROX 160), £30 FOR BAGS/LABELS (TOTAL £235)
PRICES CHARGED AVE JUST OVER £10 KG PRIVATE SALES
INSULATED BOXES/ICE PACKS APPROX £40
TRANSPORT COSTS NOT INCLUDED

[nuttalls]

hi all, lakes n dales butchers kill n cut 120.00,thats wot he said when i asked and someone else told me that too, the shop is very well set out that says a lot about the cut up i reckon jean

[Jac]

hi all, lakes n dales butchers kill n cut 120.00,thats wot he said when i asked and someone else told me that too, the shop is very well set out that says a lot about the cut up i reckon jean

The average price for killing only is around £70 and I think that is a pretty universal price, so that leaves £50 to hang and cut an animal. It costs me £15 per week in electricity alone to run my coldroom (hanging space for four quarters of beef) by the way my coldroom is not an old inefficient unit, the labour to cut is 6/8 hours to a good standard, the disposal costs of the bones and fat is £24 (Cat 3 waste).

By the way Jean, I am not doubting your word but note this is a very basic breakdown not including the costs to equip and run a shop or cutting room. Please evaluate how it is worthwhile anyone providing this service for £50?

[Broomcroft]

Sorry, my kill and butcher prices should be £200 not £275, I'd included travelling twice. I can get it done for £110 locally, all in, but to be honest, the reason I pay £200 (and also travel 50 miles to get it done) is because it's to a really high standard of presentation as well as butchery.

[Jac]

Sorry, my kill and butcher prices should be £200 not £275, I'd included travelling twice. I can get it done for £110 locally, all in, but to be honest, the reason I pay £200 (and also travel 50 miles to get it done) is because it's to a really high standard of presentation as well as butchery.

Still a lot of outlay and hardwork for £130.

[nuttalls]

we use riley bros near rochdale, and their shop make a very good job, one just back next week so i let you know how much they charge jean

[Rob R]

Can I please ask for more information on the finances and figures as it doesn't all make crystal clear sense to me?

We have tried killing Dexters for beef and it is hard. Hard to find an abattoir, hard to get a price for killing and butchering and hard to sell on a regular basis rather than a one off. There is only so much that one can eat oneself and as miles make a difference it is tempting to take more than one animal at a time.

Can we please assume that we produce an animal at £300kgs live weight and then go through the figures, eg

KO%
DWT
Price per kg sold and to whom, eg butcher, abattoir, private.
Abattoir Costs
Butcher cost
Mention of selling to butchers, how are you getting them to the butcher, is this a private one off sale?

Every ones costs are different depending on whether they own or rent grazing, transport distances feed or fodder.

However I do think that if each person who contributes to this could actually put their figures forward in the same format we could compare and see what systems are working.

Every breed I am or have been involved with is constantly adapting their market or animal and it is of interest to see how everyone manages the Dexter.

Rob

Really, if you own your grazing you should be putting a rental value down on it as you could be renting it out for no work if you weren't farming it yourself.

Butchery prices are best kept separate from farm prices though, with the farm 'selling' the cattle to the butchery at the going rate so you can calculate which part of the chain is losing/making money.

I'd agree with Clive's 53% KO average, making deadweight 159kg @ 300kg LW, slaughter and butchery about £1/kg DW, so £160. We bone out everything apart from shortrib joints or anything by special request, which comes out at 67.8% (107kg). Our butchers kill and cut on the same site, so I just have to make one trip to drop the animals off, one to drop trays off/pick offal up and another to pick the meat up. Some of our land is just across the road, the farmyard is 4 miles away and the furthest land is about 12 miles away, so transport varies quite a bit.

Our butcher doesn't pack anything, so we have a cold room/packing room on the farm. It cost about £6000 to set up, including the chiller and weigh scale, but a lot of that was done using reclaimed materials and all the work was done ourselves. Paying someone to do the work and new everything I think you could easily double it.

Packaging costs 4p/kg, labels 3p each, so 7.5p/kg the way we cut it, so 11.5p/kg total.

Disposal of bones etc; we keep working dogs, so they live off what we don't sell, but when there's more than they can cope with it's £9 per beast to the knackerman.

Packaging for mail order is 78p/kg and transaction fees for Paypal comes to 43p/kg.

Assuming £4 per kg DW for the beast that gives a total cost of 884.9p/kg meat sold before fixed costs, excluding offal sales, which bring in ~ an extra £30 net per beast and cover the fixed costs.

[victorfirst]

I am totally new to this, so this is probably a silly question. But is the £10 odd pounds an average price as different cuts are different prices. As i say just a learner at this stage.

[Rob R]

Yes, most people sell mixed boxes equivalent to an eighth of an animal, or whatever, so the box, like the price, is an average of the animal.

[Rob R]

My initial calculation used £3.25 as a deadweight price, with a 67.8% DW to saleable meat ratio came to £4.79, plus £1 per kg for killing and butchering and we're already up to a 29p loss before packaging or anything else.

Last time I took some I got £4.35 a kilo DW Rob, don't know current prices but thought they'd were still high? That equate to more like £7 boned-out. Then add kill, butcher, pack, collection, freezer, extra work, hassle, phone calls, time spent with customers. Still get my bottom line well over £10 and that's just to break-even with what you get from the butcher. £12 to make it pay minimum IMO.

I was just using the price from last time I bought one deadweight, I pay myself £4 per kg for my own at the moment, haven't got any butchers round here that would pay that kind of money (for Dexters) though, most would see it as doing us a favour to get rid of them. Last time I sold one that way was for £1.95/kg, so you can tell how long ago that was!

[TomGDexters]

Hi

Reading some of the posts, can anyone suggest a butcher that may be worth contacting regarding the finished heifer we have. We are based in S Yorks, but don't mind travelling within an hour or so to deliver


Cheers

tom

[Broomcroft]

Tom, The Rare Breed Survival Trust used to publish a list of TBMM (Traditional Breed Meat Marketing) Butchers online. But last time I looked, it didn't work. Try phoning them maybe? Think they're in Stoneliegh, not sure.

[Robert & Alison Kirk]

TBMM are based in Cirencester - contact details on their website. RBST are based at Stoneleigh.

Kind regards
Alison Kirk
Boram Dexters