sligo/lietrim lamb producer group.

cattle man

Hi.
Just wondering does anyone on here no anything about the producer group for lambs in sligo/lietrim that goes to irish country meats in navan. and how do you become a member.

thanks

oj9

Contact teagasc office in mohill 071 9631076. as the advisor there is involved in it.

razor8

whats people opinions of producer groups, know a few that have left them last year as they felt they were getting better flat rates if they bargained harder with the factories

Farmer Pudsey

Do not know about lamb producers groups but the AA and hereford schemes are becoming a joke

jay gatsby

Farmer Pudsey wrote: »

Do not know about lamb producers groups but the AA and hereford schemes are becoming a joke

Why so? Because of the numbers required to qualify or due to other requirements. I don't know much about them but the bonuses advertised for both looked good I thought.

Farmer Pudsey

jay gatsby wrote: »

Why so? Because of the numbers required to qualify or due to other requirements. I don't know much about them but the bonuses advertised for both looked good I thought.

Take the new higher bonus scheme, you have to kill 50 AA cattle a year for a small finisher that would mean they would have to nearly change over to AA scheme completely so it is only really suitable to big finisher.

It then is applicable to periods where cattle are scarce which I do not have an issue with but you have to book cattle into a target factory 60 day's in advance this this means that the factory has control and can quote you there base which may be up to 10 cent less than they are paying for non booked in cattle. You then have to produce to a spec and if your cattle kill under or over fat, under or over weight, you end up with a very poor base price. Then they deduct 5 euro a head to finance the scheme which in a 1.5-2 cent/head depending on wheather it is a heifer/bullock.

So a bonus of 30 cent/kg might end up as being worth only 15 cent/kg at the end of the day and you now find that AA cattle are to a certain extent have a premium price attached to them.

I also find them very variable in that there are a lot of AA cattle that fail to grow to carry decent weight ( steers killing below 300kg @ 28 months) very poor growth rates sometimes as low as 450 grams/day liveweight. I had a case where I purchassed FR and AA on the same day ran them in the same group the Fr averaged ( now the Fr were 80kg heavier and cheaper) but they gained 0.85 kg/day from purchasse to slaughter and the AA had to be killed in two groups one lot gained 0.6 Kg/day and the other lot averaged 0.48kg/day from the date of purchasse and the average grade on the AA was 0+ while the FR were half O= and half 0-

jay gatsby

Thanks very much for the info, didn't realise there were so many rules and sticking points. Should have guessed though of course. I can't see too many going for that unless of course you're finishing hundreds of cattle and have enough Angus thrown in there to meet requirements. Even then though i can't see big finishers booking cattle in that far in advance.

I wonder if you just had a few and they were anxious for the cattle would they pay the premium if you're not in the scheme?

it's funny you saying it's hard to get the Angus to carry the weight, i have often thought that they weighed like lead and was delighted with the weights hit by smallish cattle. However I won't contradict you becuase I would have very small numbers of them over the years and there may have been other breeding involved.

Good to hear about the scheme though, thanks

Farmer Pudsey

jay gatsby wrote: »

Thanks very much for the info, didn't realise there were so many rules and sticking points. Should have guessed though of course. I can't see too many going for that unless of course you're finishing hundreds of cattle and have enough Angus thrown in there to meet requirements. Even then though i can't see big finishers booking cattle in that far in advance.

I wonder if you just had a few and they were anxious for the cattle would they pay the premium if you're not in the scheme?

it's funny you saying it's hard to get the Angus to carry the weight, i have often thought that they weighed like lead and was delighted with the weights hit by smallish cattle. However I won't contradict you becuase I would have very small numbers of them over the years and there may have been other breeding involved.

Good to hear about the scheme though, thanks

Yes they will pay if you have a few I find that they will you can get 5.4cent/kg outside the scheme no deductions provided you are in Bord Bia.

I know that if you can finish completely they as you put it weigh like lead and AA bulls are brillant to weight ( I rate more dangerous than FR and they fight like sh##ein the field) however bullocks we just won't go there.