Joint venture alternative
For some, adding value to the animals they produce can seem a daunting task, with many reluctant to delve into the world of processing and selling meat themselves.
However, there are other ways of achieving higher prices for the stock farmers produce, particularly through co-operating with other producers and those further up the supply chain.
And for John Giffin, farms director for Leconfield Farms’ 405ha (1000 acres) of in-hand farming at Petworth, West Sussex, just such an opportunity provided the chance to increase returns without becoming too involved in meat marketing.
The South Downs Lamb Initiative, run by the South Downs Marketing Company (SDMC) of which Mr Giffin is a director, began last year as a trial to see whether local butchers would be willing to pay a premium price for locally reared lamb. “As the public is far more aware now of where their food comes from, and is particularly keen on locally-produced food, this seemed an obvious marketing angle,” says Mr Giffin.
“And with the large south coast population on our doorstep the market is vast,” he says.
Lambs for the scheme must be born and reared on farms within the proposed South Downs National Park and be sired by Southdown or Hampshire Down rams. “Outside of these criteria, farms must also be FABBL-approved and follow the scheme’s protocol which is largely based on common sense.”
Last year Leconfield Farms sold about 400 lambs through the scheme to local butchers supplying consumers, pubs and restaurants with lamb. “This year all our lambs will be eligible for the scheme, as all ewes have been put to Southdown or Hampshire Down tups. We”ll be producing more than 1000 of the lambs the scheme hopes to market this year,” explains Mr Giffin.
On a practical level, Mr Giffin says moving to the different sires has meant a return to traditional practices. “We used Hampshires and Southdowns about 40 years ago when I first came to work here, but moved to Suffolks and Texels as market demands changed. But much work has been done in the two downland breeds to improve lamb quality and weights.”
Ewe breeds have also changed at Leconfield in recent years in an attempt to ensure more lambs fell into better carcass classifications. “In the last five or so years we’ve moved away from North Country Mules to Suffolk x and Texel x Scotch Halfbreds. These ewes produce fewer lambs than Mules, but the lambs have more shape and better loins than those from Mules and benefit from higher cull ewe values.”
And lamb quality is a key concern, reckons SDMC board member Chris Clark. “Last year a number of lambs fell outside of the desired specification of E,U,R – 2,3L,3H and had to be sold at the best price available, rather than achieving the scheme”s premium price of £2.70/kg deadweight. This might not be a particularly high price, but it”s the same all through the year and a 20kg carcass is worth £54.”
Lambs which fail to qualify for the premium price will be sold for the best possible price, he explains. “But with 25 butchers wanting lambs throughout the summer, we need to maximise the number of lambs meeting specification.”
In a bid to ensure more lambs meet specification SDMC will be organising training days to reinforce producers’ selection skills. “The key to the scheme is its partnership nature. It is a partnership between farmers, abattoirs and butchers, with everyone trying to earn a bit more for everybody else.”
While no participants are tied to the scheme, farmers and butchers have made commitments at the start of the season to supply or take a certain number of lambs each week. “Up to 6500 lambs will be available to the scheme this year,” he says.
Initially, the scheme will market lambs from June through to December, although hopefully it will expand to cover more of the year in future, says Mr Giffin.
And looking further forward, SDMC intends to expand into the beef sector and hopes to be marketing beef from the same catchment area, sired by a pedigree Sussex bull, says Mr Clark.