|
|
Animal records
Lackham Limousins serving up £1500 profit margins!
Easy calving Limousins heifers at Lackham College
Lackham College Limousins go on display
Project students get hands on Limousins at Lackham
College
Since
the last issue of Limousin four more pure-bred bulls have been killed and
sold through Wiltshire College’s Lackham Limousin beef-marketing initiative.
Once again the profit margins returned from the bulls have been a real eye-opener with a top gross of just under £2200. Lackham Spaceage was a 15-month-old bull that killed at 740kgs liveweight and had a deadweight of 460 kgs. Killing out at over 62%, he also had a meat to bone ratio of 68%. The carcase, hung for 14 days, was butchered and cut into roasting joints, brisket, rib, rump, sirloin and fillet steaks, stewing beef, braising steak and mince by local butchers Bartlett and Sons.
As part of the project prices were kept deliberately in line with that of local supermarkets. This bull, the heaviest of the four butchered, grossed an astonishing £2171.59 or £4.72 per kg. Taking all expenditure into account including, feeding, rearing, labour and butchering, the total costs of production to the point of kill was £800 leaving a margin of £1371.59. If you add on £110 for BSP and £50 Slaughter premium, the overall profit margin on this one bull is £1531.59!
Through normal marketing channels a £200 margin would have been anticipated. A remarkable difference. It is interesting to note that this bull was killed at an age and at a weight where penalties would be applied through normal deadweight channels. Farm Manager Philip Steans noted that of the six bulls killed there had been a variation in age from thirteen to fifteen and a half months of age. However the eating quality of the beef remained consistently high with demand outstripping supply.
The six pure-bred bulls killed so far have grossed £10,340 excluding subsidies. The average killing out percentage has been just over 61% with the average meat to bone ratio at 70.5%. It is anticipated that this high quality meat marketing initiative will extend in the New Year to include the sale of 3/4 bred Lim progeny from the Society backed college project.
 |
