Agri Vehicles Insurance from Greenlands

Author Topic: Finally - what it's all about!  (Read 5575 times)

Cowgirl

  • Joined Aug 2013
Finally - what it's all about!
« on: August 01, 2015, 01:51:17 pm »
Our first steer went to AK Stoddart's in Ayr at the beginning of July and this is a small part of what we've got back from our obliging butcher at Afton Glen meats this morning. It was hard taking our steer to be slaughtered but the abattoir people couldn't have been any nicer and more helpful - they were fantastic. Private kill cost £60 and they hung the carcase for three weeks until the butcher collected it. He graded R4H with a carcase weight of 288 kg, so we were quite pleased with that, particularly as he was offspring of an AI bull born in 1971! Thought this information might be helpful for anyone else thinking of doing the same thing.

Bionic

  • Joined Dec 2010
  • Talley, Carmarthenshire
Re: Finally - what it's all about!
« Reply #1 on: August 01, 2015, 02:02:06 pm »
Wow, that looks  good to me  :thumbsup:
Life is like a bowl of cherries, mostly yummy but some dodgy bits

JEP

  • Joined Oct 2011
Re: Finally - what it's all about!
« Reply #2 on: August 01, 2015, 05:22:59 pm »
what does R4H mean

Factotum

  • Joined Jun 2012
Re: Finally - what it's all about!
« Reply #3 on: August 01, 2015, 06:01:03 pm »
It's all about carcasse classification.

See: http://www.mlcsl.co.uk/pdf/Beef%20Carcase%20Classification%2021Apr.pdf

Carcasses are graded according to confirmation - it is well covered in meat in all the right places, and according to fat cover. The first letter refers to confirmation and the number and following letter indicate fat coverage.

Have a look at the pdf file, there's lots of info.

Sue

Bionic

  • Joined Dec 2010
  • Talley, Carmarthenshire
Re: Finally - what it's all about!
« Reply #4 on: August 01, 2015, 06:12:35 pm »
Thanks for that link Factotum  :thumbsup:
Life is like a bowl of cherries, mostly yummy but some dodgy bits

Loobylou

  • Joined May 2015
Re: Finally - what it's all about!
« Reply #5 on: August 01, 2015, 06:48:12 pm »
Looks great, and your slaughter cost sounds very reasonable too. How much was your butchery?

Cowgirl

  • Joined Aug 2013
Re: Finally - what it's all about!
« Reply #6 on: August 01, 2015, 07:57:43 pm »
Butchery was £350, about what we had been quoted elsewhere, but he also fetched the carcase from the abattoir for no extra charge, which was a stumbling block for some, and vacuum-packed and labelled the meat.

Loobylou

  • Joined May 2015
Re: Finally - what it's all about!
« Reply #7 on: August 01, 2015, 08:31:06 pm »
Great value, you must be really pleased :excited:

Louise P

  • Joined Jul 2015
Re: Finally - what it's all about!
« Reply #8 on: August 01, 2015, 09:16:11 pm »
Super. What age and breed of steer was it? Is the carcass weight the amount of meat you got or was there some waste from that?
I'm only asking as the last belted galloway steer I sent in was 2 years old and I got about 160kg of saleable meat from that.

nutterly_uts

  • Joined Jul 2014
  • Jersey - for now :)
Re: Finally - what it's all about!
« Reply #9 on: August 01, 2015, 10:39:23 pm »
Ooh  :thumbsup:

What does that equal roughly in terms of what you got? Looks like a lot of steak?
Never had or seen what you get back from butcher so am curious how it comes/in what breakdown of cuts

Cowgirl

  • Joined Aug 2013
Re: Finally - what it's all about!
« Reply #10 on: August 01, 2015, 11:07:04 pm »
He was 28 months, a Traditional (Original population) rare breed Hereford. They're quite similar to a Galloway really. Haven't added it up very accurately but the amount of useable meat is definitely somewhere between 180 and 200kg. The carcass weight includes bone. There is about 3 kg of fillet and 13kg of sirloin. There is a lot of popes eye and rump steak, not sure of exact amounts, also silverside, topside, shoulder steak and diced stewing steak. We chose not to mince too much - got about 25 kg . Also about 50 kg of sausage meat and 22 packs of burgers. You can tell the butcher what you want done with the meat, to a certain extent. We divided it into 10 kg mixed boxes.
Wasn't sure how I'd react to eating the meat, as he was a soppy, loveable beast that would always come to see you in the field. However I really enjoyed my steak tonight I have to say. Just told myself it's what his life was for, and said a prayer for him.

nutterly_uts

  • Joined Jul 2014
  • Jersey - for now :)
Re: Finally - what it's all about!
« Reply #11 on: August 01, 2015, 11:10:24 pm »
Thank you :) Knowing roughly what you get is interesting and useful

Cowgirl

  • Joined Aug 2013
Re: Finally - what it's all about!
« Reply #12 on: August 01, 2015, 11:24:50 pm »
Forgot to mention the ribeye steaks - must be about 8 kg as there were a pair in each pack.

SallyintNorth

  • Joined Feb 2011
  • Cornwall
  • Rarely short of an opinion but I mean well
    • Trelay Cohousing Community
Re: Finally - what it's all about!
« Reply #13 on: August 02, 2015, 01:58:55 am »
Sounds like a really good beast - and your butchery was a bargain for that amount of meat!

My Jersey heifer graded -O3 (which is great for a Jersey, but nothing like as good as your Hereford - as you'd expect.)  Deadweight was 192kg dw, of which I got approx. 106kgs butchered meat back.  The butcher was amazing and managed to make up 9 x 10kg mixed boxes, and still have some good joints, mince, burgers and steaks for us.

My total kill & butchery costs, including vac packing and making up the 10kg boxes, was £350.  The butcher collected the carcase from the abattoir along with his own for the shop.

Don't listen to the money men - they know the price of everything and the value of nothing

Live in a cohousing community with small farm for our own use.  Dairy cows (rearing their own calves for beef), pigs, sheep for meat and fleece, ducks and hens for eggs, veg and fruit growing

Cowgirl

  • Joined Aug 2013
Re: Finally - what it's all about!
« Reply #14 on: August 02, 2015, 11:44:34 am »
Thank you all for your comments. It was quite stressful but it has worked out well. I tried to find this information trawling the internet and had great difficulty finding it, so glad if it helps anyone. We won't have another steer ready until next summer as we only have a small number, so can relax a bit. For anyone who would like to see what a Traditional Hereford looks like, here is a photo of Fergus last September at 18 months old. RIP...

 

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