I recently sent a lorry load of beef cattle to slaughter. They were a mixture of steers and heifers, with both continental and Angus cattle.

As a result, there was a wide range of grades in the 15 cattle.

I was reasonably content in how the cattle performed and the price that I received.

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I have got into the fashion of never asking what price the meat factory is paying. I just get in touch when I feel the cattle are well finished and hope for the best.

In the past I did always look for a quote every time that I sold cattle, but to be honest I have not got a clue how the factories work out the price they pay.

The 15 cattle that I sent were nearly all different prices per kg.

It seems that every conformation grade gets a different price, as does every fat grade.

Then they add in an Angus bonus to the mix, which is not a straightforward bonus as it is related to the animal’s grade.

I used to try to work out what the base price was, but it has become far too complicated.

I just have to hope that the factory knows how to work it out and then trust that they do not make a mistake. I have no way of checking and that is disappointing.

I am old enough to remember when factory agents would offer you a flat price or at least only two or three different prices. It was a simple system for everyone.

Issues

I have two big issues with the current grading and pricing system. Firstly, is there really a need for so many different grades and prices?

And secondly when the meat is being sold in the supermarket is the grade that important?

If it were important then the meat being sold would be priced according to the grade. Instead, meat is sold and priced according to the cut. There is never any mention about what grade it was.

In the supermarket there is usually a little extra for Angus beef but nothing is said about it being an O+ or an R-.

There is certainly no price differential between grades.

I honestly think that this system is not working for anyone. I cannot understand why it is in place.

In my opinion there should be a simpler system for selling cattle. We should have a couple of bands for pricing cattle.

There should be no more than three or four different prices and the Angus bonus should be a flat bonus for all Angus cattle and have nothing to do with grade.

Perhaps one option could be to have a similar system to sheep pricing, where in practice, they have only two or three different price bands.

Variation

I have another 15 cattle to go to the meat factory in the next couple of weeks and once again I am sure that there will be a wide variation in grades and prices.

I am not convinced that factories will change the grading and pricing structure.

But having said that, it would be nice if they could explain how they work out the prices in a manner that farmers could understand.