[Hilarysmum]

Back to the point of supermarket meat.  Last time I was in UK I noticed a lot of the meat was poorly labelled and on closer investigation realised that much that is labelled British is foreign (polish ??) and can be labelled British because it was (I am sorry my English head has gone today cant find the word) made into something else, i.e. came as  a carcass and changed into ham or sausage etc. 

Until the labelling is done correctly and people are aware of what they are buying British farmers will be up against p!ss poor animal welfare producers sending poor quality meat to be labelled as British. 

In France its much the same, and the pig farmers here exist only because of the subsidies, with up to a third predicted to go to the wall this year.  I dont buy any meat here in France that is not either produced on our holding, or by someone who I know and can see the quality of l ife the animal had.  We eat an awful lot of pork and chicken 

Rant over. 

[ShaunP]

Morning. I have re read through my postings.
It seems to me, the general public are hooked on cheaply produced food. I have only started in the last few years to take an active interest in producing more of the food I consume myself. Not everything I have done has been a success. I now find it better to batter my sausages with the local farm fresh chicken supplier as I am not very good at chicken plucking!!!! I am truly an Accidental Small Holder as when I bought this place it was for somewhere to live and I need the space for the Construction Business. For many years I had no invovlement in the sheep that ran in the fields. On the sudden death of my partners father that looked after the sheep, I found that we had 50 ewes giving birth and suddenly I needed to wake up and start learning about farming. I have been helped by the local farmers on this road. I have a lot of respect for the hard work that goes into farming.

I did not mean for my "crud" commment to be taken as knocking a farmer producing for the supermarket. It is a personal reflection that you get what you are prepared to pay for. The supermarkets do offer a choice in price ranges of there sausages. I charge £8 a kilo, for many people that is more than what they are prepared to pay. For many that dont have the space or means to produce there own pork. I am lucky that I do. And now
when I am hungry, I try to get home to eat my own produce rather than stop at the burger van!!!

[hughesy]

The issue with supermarkets is a simple one. If you are a farmer who has expanded to the extent that you have to shift large volumes of produce every week, be it pigs, lettuces or whatever, you need to know that there will be a buyer waiting when your produce is ready. Up steps Mr Tesco or Asda etc and says I'll take all your pigs, but they must conform to the standard I want, and I'll give you £x amount for them. So Mr Farmer signs the contract. He is now in the enenviable position that he MUST supply Mr Tesco with the specified amount of pigs on the specified timescale. If he doesn't meet his obligations the supermarket will impose financial penalties and they will not give him the agreed price for any pigs that don't meet their specification, in fact they might decline to buy them at all.Trouble is Mr Farmer has set up his pig farm to produce hundreds of finished pigs every week safe in the knowledge that Mr Supermarket will honour their obligations. But Mr Supermarket will use every ruse in the small print to minimise the cost to himself at the expense of Mr Farmer, who now has shitloads of pigs on his hands that he will end up losing money on. Thus the ridiculous situation that we have hundreds of loss making businesses that only exist as a result of the EU subsidies that the poor farmer has to use as his wages. Meanwhile Mr supermarket makes billions and gives himself a pat on the back for giving everyone such a great service. When you see stuff in the supermarket  at half price or buy one get one free, who do you think has financed this promotion? Clue, it's not the supermarket.

[robert waddell]

hughesey  you forgot the part that the suppermarket can stop the contract overnight the farmer cant supply any other suppermarket or outlet and the payment terms 90 days before you get the money try getting your weekly shop on a 90 payment system

[Hairy Hogs]

That'll be the fault of the English again then hey!
Lillian, you are a bolshy, unfriendly, argumentative bint sometimes!  Still, its grey 'oop there' and it rains a lot!

Jas.

www.hairyhogs.co.uk

[robert waddell]

Hairy Hogs,
What irks your eyre?
This is a public open forum, if questions are asked, it is only reasonable to assume you will get a variety of comments. Sometimes going off the point completely (but still relevent) just because the responce to these questions does not fit in with your view, you should not be so venomous in your opinion.  Anything i have written is fact that can be backed up.
You southerners, seem to have a chip on your shoulder, bigger than the McCain chip factory could supply.

[jacksonsrarebreedpork]

i agree hairy hogs
i asked a question about the price of sausages but as usual liilian waffles on trying to get  to an argumaent

So!!!!!!!!!!!! ill repeat the question
What are you all chargin for sausages???
i dont mean the SSSSSHHHHHHHHHIIIIIIIIIITTTTTTTTEEEEEEEEE supermarkets are selling   ( notice i didnt say crud lillian ) but our free range quality produce
ps

Please dont comment on my posts any more lillian NO BODY WANTS TO HEAR YOUR RANTS

[robert waddell]

oh dear, I'm sitting here laughing at your antics both you and hairy hogs

[jacksonsrarebreedpork]

your like a bad odour robert always there pissin everybody off

So can we get an idea of what everybody is charging for non CRUDY sausages or will lillian keep sticking her nose in

Thanks anybody else but robert

[deepinthewoods]

i buy locally reared free range organic sausages off a small local producr here in cornwall for 6.50/kg and they are lovely. i wouldnt do business with any supermarket. not even to the extent of buying a pack of sausages.
i do buy baked beans from aldi tho.

lillian doesnt piss me off. maybe its a different perspective but all are valid on a public forum.

as b4 i buy at 6.5/kg hth

[Hairy Hogs]

Lilian, honestly, your dribble is seldom worth getting upset about, this particular load of twaddle even less than usual.  You have an amazing ability to turn the simplest questions or comments into pure bile!

To bring this back on topic, we charge £8 per kilo.  Jolly fine they are too!

God, it must be raining again oooop north!  I bow to Hadrian and his obvious understanding of the need for national security!

Regards
Jas.

www.hairyhogs.co.uk      

[Billy Rhomboid]

We sell at £8/kilo too (well, £4/lb in fact). Previously we consciouly undersold to friends and family because we felt somehow embarrassed to ask what is admittedly a high price, but then realised this was utter madness - we were barely breaking even on our costs, putting in huge effort and would quickly sell out of meat and end up having to buy shite from the supermarket to feed ourselves because we couldn't afford to pay £8 kg, having invetsed so much into farming... this way madness lies.

So now we charge what we consider a fair rate for our inputs, and tbh no one has batted an eyelid.

[jacksonsrarebreedpork]

Thanks for that guys much appreciated

[princesspiggy]

For what it is worth, I think the biggest problem with British farming is there lack of marketing and selling direct there own produce.

in australia, they positively and completely buy australian produce. in britain they have it all wrong. i grew up thinking lamb came from new zealand and bacon came from denmark.
i dont see how they can change the culture much now with the EU there. if they changed the philosophy farmers would be better off, but thats not the govts priority.
the nfu etc try to get folks to buy british, but govt cud do so much more....but can they with free trade there? joke really if it wasnt so sad.

[Hilarysmum]

As my earlier rant its really hard to find true British produce in supermarkets because of the cr@p labelling.  British farmers in particular are fighting with one hand tied behind their backs because of the higher level of animal welfare (at least in pigs).  We need to start educating primary school children that decent food is far more important than popping a few pills to top up the vitamins and minerals missing in so much processed food.