Trio strike dairy beef deal
An initiative combining dairy beef production with the South Devon breed could provide a valuable market for dairy farmers in the south west.
Supermarket chain Somerfield, beef producer Blade Farming South West and processor Southern Counties Fresh Foods have come to an agreement to develop and market a West Country brand of dairy beef with forward contracts and agreed farmer returns.
About 600 dairy farmers close to Blade Farming South West”s rearing units in Devon and Somerset have been approached. Farmers will be offered about 5000 semen straws from the Genus South Devon bull Foxhole Menzies, costing about 7.50 a straw.
Dairy farmers would be offered the opportunity to lock into fixed price contracts for their South Devon-cross calves worth £100-£140 a head for bulls and £40 a head for heifers.
Richard Phelps, managing director of Southern Counties Fresh Foods, which supplies Somerfield’s So Good West Country beef, said: “This is the next stage of our partnership with Somerfield to integrate farmers with guaranteed margins. All animals are born, reared, finished, slaughtered and packed in the South West.
“The South Devon was the obvious choice; it”s part of the image of the West Country. It also has good carcase conformation and good production statistics.
“This will suit producers looking for a fixed return. We”re looking for farms with spread calving patterns to produce about 2500 South Devon-cross calves, although it’s likely this will increase.”
Calves would then be put through Blade Farming South West rearing and finishing units and processed for Somerfield by Southern Counties Fresh Foods. The beef should appear in stores early in 2007.
Somerfield buyer Tomas Harvey said: “By working with farmers and suppliers we can ensure we support the local food economy against pressure from overseas imports. We want to build a sustained market for West Country beef and in two years the brand will be exclusively South Devon cattle, a premium product for our customers.”
David Bolt, who milks 100 cows near Tiverton, Devon, said he had been contacted about the offer. “I would consider it, but the semen is fairly expensive, about the same as the Belgian Blue straws we use now. Our Belgian Blue-cross calves can achieve up to £180 a head at Taunton or Exeter markets.
“But if I know I have a market for calves in advance, it could be worth looking at. A lot would depend on when calves were collected from the farm. They”d have to be less than a week old.”