Donegal farmer and long time MED member, Neville Myles from Ballyshannon, wins Ashbourne Meat Processors and The Irish Limousin Cattle Society Limousin carcase cow competition.
Almost 300 cows were slaughtered in last week’s cow carcase competition run by Ashbourne Meat Processors, Roscrea and The Irish Limousin Cattle Society.
The competition, open to pedigree Limousin cull cows and commercial Limousin cross cows, focuses on rewarding breeders for producing high quality cows while also developing a sales outlet between Limousin breeders and Ashbourne Meats that benefits both the producer and the processor. It also provides feedback on required market specifications.
For the competition, Limousin cows meeting the required spec were rewarded with a premium payment scale.
Prices for cows started at €4.05/kg for E grade cows reducing to €3.85/kg for U+ grade cows, €3.75/kg for U=/U- grades, €3.55/kg for R+/R= cows and €3.40/kg for R- cows.
A 10c/kg premium was payable for cows with a pedigree cert. Those with a carcase below 350kgs and fat class 5 were excluded from the competition.
In addition to the price premium for cows, there was a €2,000 prize fund for the top seven cows in each section.
The overall champion was a Limousin cross cow owned by Neville Myles, Ballyshannon, Co. Donegal. Born in March 2010, she graded U+3+ and delivered a 500kg carcase. This topped the Limousin Cross Class.
(Source – Irish Farmers Journal (P29) – Darren Carty – Saturday, 25/01/2014)