Why have pigs got to be slaughtered at exactly 100kg?
What happens if they go late? Or early?
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Ideal size for pigs is apparently fixed due to the requirements of the abattoirs, packing lines & supermarkets.
i.e. 4 pork chops in a pack sell for £4.00 - if the chops are bigger they do not fit in the tray and Tesco would need to charge more than £4.
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But then, surely, Tesco would negotiate a lower price for the meat......
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Probably not worth it or I'm guessing they would.
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>> Ideal size for pigs is apparently fixed due to the requirements of the abattoirs, packing
>> lines & supermarkets.
I'd read somewhere that abattoir kit, possibly the CO2 pre-stun, couldn't deal with pigs beyond a certain size. I'd also guess that the bigger they are the more difficult they can be to handle on and off trucks and in abattoir yards.
There might also be an issue with the taste and tenderness of the meat as the pigs get older.
This story has been presented by the farming industry as one of limited (ie reduced) capacity because of labour shortages. However the Agriculture Minister, George Eustice, was on the radio earlier in the week with a contrary assertion. He said that, for reasons x, y or z, there was a glut of cheap pork in mainland Europe and that processors had reneged on agreements with UK farmers in order to take advantage of that supply.
Now Eustice is not amongst those Ministers in the present government I'd regard as having a high degree of competence (compared with say Gove or the outgoing Lord Chancellor) and he was always a vocal Brexiteer.
Is he telling the truth ?
I think that German or Danish pigs wouldn't be coming here for slaughter, live export being a British thing. While on the face that means abattoir capacity is not a factor I guess they won't be slaughtering pigs they cannot sell on.
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Given that abattoirs also handle cattle, which are much larger than pigs, it seems unlikely that pigs > 100kgs can’t be handled. But 100kgs seems to be the reference, and presumably lots of contracts that are in place will reference this in the specification. This exciting link shows that the prices paid for pork are broadly down over 1, 4 and 52 weeks which indicates that there’s either too much supply or not enough demand, so perhaps the Agriculture Ministers point is valid.
ec.europa.eu/info/sites/default/files/food-farming-fisheries/farming/documents/pig-weekly-prices-eu_en.pdf
If there’s just too much pork around and prices are down why would anyone want to buy stuff that’s ‘out of spec’, when stuff that is to spec is widely available in sufficient quantities. Maybe Morrison’s could pump some through its own factories as ‘wonky pork’ ;)
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Do cattle and pigs have to go to different parts of the abattoirs? Possibly where the handling issue comes from?
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>> Do cattle and pigs have to go to different parts of the abattoirs? Possibly where
>> the handling issue comes from?
Different abattoirs even? I'm sure I read something about pre-stunning which, for pigs is done with CO2 (same for poultry).
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>> pre-stunning which, for pigs is done with CO2 (same for poultry).
I thought chickens were stunned by putting their heads between two electrodes, although that was some time ago, perhaps things have changed.
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Probably, as they use different stunning methods for each. But if the demand and profit was there then I’m sure they’d find a way as they can handle larger animals. I suspect it’s as simple as the fact that there’s enough available supply of pigs to the right spec, so no need to buy anything that’s out of spec.
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Retailers want joints and chops at a standard size.
Farmers will keep livestock only if its value is growing faster than the cost of keeping them.
Farming is a competitive business. Most animals are bred for their capacity to put on meat as fast as possible, and be disease tolerant. Slaughter is largely age related.
Not really any different to fruit and vegetables - where the suermarkets want standard blemish free sizes, long shelf life.
Sadly flavour tends to be secondary - you can see the meat or fruit in the shop - you only taste it when you eat it.
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Oddly, very oddly, we had a friend visit yesterday, after a decent walk with the dogs we were treated to bacon butties. There were too many and two rounds were left in the fridge. Today after a hundred mile plus blast on the bike, they were just what the doctor ordered - the mental debate on the bike was whether to eat them cold or microwave them.....they went down a treat, cold with a mug of Yorkshire Tea. Somethings in life are just perfect.
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Especially if you live in Yorkshire (North)
:-)
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And where, pray, are the tea plantations of Yorkshire - precisely?
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I have visited a tea plantation near Dundee, so anything’s possible. I say plantation - that makes it sound grander than it was. But at least half an acre of tea bushes (is that the right word…?)
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>> I have visited a tea plantation near Dundee, so anything’s possible. I say plantation -
>> that makes it sound grander than it was. But at least half an acre of
>> tea bushes (is that the right word…?)
>
No - its a tea plant. Thats why its called a plantation and not a bushation.
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>> No - its a tea plant. Thats why its called a plantation and not a
>> bushation.
>>
Good point!
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Tried to edit, but too late! However that well known viewspaper The Grauniad did report in 2009 that tea was being grown in Yorkshire. Haven’t found anything to validate it, or anything more recent, so maybe take with a pinch of salt…or sugar ;)
www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/gardening-blog/2009/feb/21/growing-tea
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Saw a programme on telly a couple of weeks back about a tea plantation in a valley in Cornwall, apparently tea plants are part of the Cammelia family and are very difficult to get established. If they are difficult in a Cornwall microclimate it must be nigh on impossible to grow in Yorkshire, never mind Scotland.
Last edited by: helicopter on Mon 11 Oct 21 at 09:41
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Floral camellias grow here easily enough, but the camellia sinsensis (tea) enjoys a walled garden, being mulched with sheeps' wool, and other mollycoddling apparently.
Relatively low light levels, but long summer daylight hours appear to suit the varieties that do grow and it is meant to be a very high quality product (read: pricey AF)
www.fortnumandmason.com/stories/nine-ladies-dancing-tea
£200/100gm from F&M
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>> £200/100gm from F&M
>>
...hence the oft voiced Scots refrain "Ye'll have had yer tea"......
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Scottish Tea?
Damn good ruse but I don't think it's tea. Does it have spikey-shaped leafs?
Last edited by: Kevin on Mon 11 Oct 21 at 15:02
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>> >>
>> >> £200/100gm from F&M
>> >>
>> ...hence the oft voiced Scots refrain "Ye'll have had yer tea"......
>>
Haha yes, that might explain that :)
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>> >> >>
>> >> >> £200/100gm from F&M
>> >> >>
>> >> ...hence the oft voiced Scots refrain "Ye'll have had yer tea"......
>> >>
Is that the same as "get tea fu.."?
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>>Is that the same as "get tea fu.."?
youtu.be/3z-a5hy7QO8
Dunno if you've seen Limmy before but he has an absolute treasure trove of absurdist humour.
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>> >> >>
>> >> >> £200/100gm from F&M
>> >> >>
as it happens I did a big food shop last Saturday at B & M.
Yorkshire Tea, Beans, tomato soup etc etc...I don’t suppose they are related to F & M because the store had quite a few scratters lurking within.
I take lots of Y Tea to Spain for expat friends, including some French, who can’t buy it in that part of the world.
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>> I take lots of Y Tea to Spain for expat friends, including some French, who
>> can’t buy it in that part of the world.
Very occasionally it crops up alongside Marmite and HP Sauce in the Produits Etrangeres aisle.
Otherwise French teabags produce a weak brew in boiling water, never mind the lukewarm cup that is usually proffered.
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>>Saw a programme on telly a couple of weeks back about a tea plantation in a valley in Cornwall
Tregothnan: tregothnan.co.uk/
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It is the one thing I miss when abroad and I have, sadly packed my favourite PG tips or Sainsbury’s Red Label when travelling abroad.
Much to the amusement of clients when being offered a coffee, where I could I would attend the kitchen area with my own supplies and a few brave continental folk did take up the offer of a cup of PG tips rather than a latte.
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My Texas son shops here when he needs "a lift" - you will recognise the brands and labels BT the prices are eye watering
Packet of McVities Digestive $3, Can of White's lemonade $2
goodwoods.com/
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If he lives near Austin tell him to go to MGM Foods in the 9200 block of N Lamar (may have moved to N Burnet according to Yelp). It's an Indian food shop but they stocked quite a few UK favourites when we lived there.
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>> What happens if they go late?
They are too fatty for the English taste. I once bought a large proportion of a pig from a hobby farmer. The bacon was literally vegetarian - there was no meat on it whatsoever.
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>> They are too fatty for the English taste. I once bought a large proportion of
>> a pig from a hobby farmer. The bacon was literally vegetarian - there was no
>> meat on it whatsoever.
Jack Sprat could eat no fat...
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Bacon Sandwiches - Falkirk Bairn
