Meat processing is the reverse of the usual assembly line process where components are put together and built into a finished product. In the case of meat, an animal arrives into the factory and is broken down into its component parts, each sold in the part of the world where it is valued the most.
Listen to "Why has the cattle hide market collapsed?" on Spreaker.
Hides and skins
One of the first parts of the animal removed on the slaughter line is the hide, or, in the case of sheep, skins. These are not part of the food chain and are therefore removed from the food processing area instantly into a collection container outside the factory floor. These are collected either by a dedicated hide processor or, in the case of many Irish and British factories, their own internal byproduct division.
On arrival for finishing, tanned hides are passed through a shaving and splitting machine to achieve a uniform 5mm thickness across the entire hide.
The process of transforming hides and skins into every day leather-based products begins by sorting hides into sizes and quality and preserving them through either salting or chilling. Failure to do so would quickly lead to decomposition of the hide, loss of quality and rapid devaluation.
Salted hides have more market options as they can be transported to anywhere in the world, whereas fresh chilled hides are restricted to the EU. The salting process causes a net loss of yield by 3% but the leather from salted hides has the option of being used in many manufacturing processes whereas fresh hides usually finish up in car seats.
For car seats, it is only the top 1.2mm of the hide that is used. The hide is split, with the reminder having the option of being processed into gelatine, subject to the handler’s premises having food approval. This has to be carried out prior to the tanning process because it removes any possibility of being usable for human consumption.
The second stage of transforming hides and skins to leather is the tanning process, which involves 32 different stages or processes that produce the basic leather product that is ready for finishing depending on what its final use will be.
To achieve leather that is dyed all they way through, tanned hides are tumbled in large drums with a dye solution as part of the finishing process.
The Irish Farmers Journal picked up the process at the finishing stage in Sedgwick’s in Walsall in the English midlands where a team of leather curriers transform the primary leather from the tanned hides into a range of finished leathers.
These are then used for the manufacture of elite products ranging from the ultimate luxury cars to horse tack for Royal families across the world and cricket balls used in Test matches.
While leather for use in high value luxury goods is produced in this way, leather finishing for mainstream products is carried out in a more mechanised way. While that may not achieve the same standard of finish, it nevertheless produces a completely satisfactory product for use in every day goods in much the same way that a Ford will do the same job as a Rolls Royce.
The value of a hide is determined by its size. The bigger the better. The absence of damage, particularly knife marks in removing it from the animal carcase or on-farm marks caused by barbed wire or thorn hedges, is important.
Downward hide pullers, now common in Irish beef factories, has meant an improving standard of presentation and increased value and Irish hides are now commonly used by many car manufacturers and other high-value leather products.
Currently, Irish hides are worth around €30 for prime cattle and €10 for cow hides, while sheepskins are virtually worthless. Prices are currently weak because of fashion trends in footwear being for manmade shoes and a big oversupply in the executive car market. Despite this, the hide on prime cattle is probably the third most valuable part of the animal after the fillet and striploin. When prime cattle hides were worth €70+ two years ago, the hide was the single most valuable part of the animal.
The hide and skins from cattle and sheep are among the most volatile parts of the animal in terms of market value but even with the market at a low point currently they are still a valuable product.
Meat processing is the reverse of the usual assembly line process where components are put together and built into a finished product. In the case of meat, an animal arrives into the factory and is broken down into its component parts, each sold in the part of the world where it is valued the most.
Listen to "Why has the cattle hide market collapsed?" on Spreaker.
Hides and skins
One of the first parts of the animal removed on the slaughter line is the hide, or, in the case of sheep, skins. These are not part of the food chain and are therefore removed from the food processing area instantly into a collection container outside the factory floor. These are collected either by a dedicated hide processor or, in the case of many Irish and British factories, their own internal byproduct division.
On arrival for finishing, tanned hides are passed through a shaving and splitting machine to achieve a uniform 5mm thickness across the entire hide.
The process of transforming hides and skins into every day leather-based products begins by sorting hides into sizes and quality and preserving them through either salting or chilling. Failure to do so would quickly lead to decomposition of the hide, loss of quality and rapid devaluation.
Salted hides have more market options as they can be transported to anywhere in the world, whereas fresh chilled hides are restricted to the EU. The salting process causes a net loss of yield by 3% but the leather from salted hides has the option of being used in many manufacturing processes whereas fresh hides usually finish up in car seats.
For car seats, it is only the top 1.2mm of the hide that is used. The hide is split, with the reminder having the option of being processed into gelatine, subject to the handler’s premises having food approval. This has to be carried out prior to the tanning process because it removes any possibility of being usable for human consumption.
The second stage of transforming hides and skins to leather is the tanning process, which involves 32 different stages or processes that produce the basic leather product that is ready for finishing depending on what its final use will be.
To achieve leather that is dyed all they way through, tanned hides are tumbled in large drums with a dye solution as part of the finishing process.
The Irish Farmers Journal picked up the process at the finishing stage in Sedgwick’s in Walsall in the English midlands where a team of leather curriers transform the primary leather from the tanned hides into a range of finished leathers.
These are then used for the manufacture of elite products ranging from the ultimate luxury cars to horse tack for Royal families across the world and cricket balls used in Test matches.
While leather for use in high value luxury goods is produced in this way, leather finishing for mainstream products is carried out in a more mechanised way. While that may not achieve the same standard of finish, it nevertheless produces a completely satisfactory product for use in every day goods in much the same way that a Ford will do the same job as a Rolls Royce.
The value of a hide is determined by its size. The bigger the better. The absence of damage, particularly knife marks in removing it from the animal carcase or on-farm marks caused by barbed wire or thorn hedges, is important.
Downward hide pullers, now common in Irish beef factories, has meant an improving standard of presentation and increased value and Irish hides are now commonly used by many car manufacturers and other high-value leather products.
Currently, Irish hides are worth around €30 for prime cattle and €10 for cow hides, while sheepskins are virtually worthless. Prices are currently weak because of fashion trends in footwear being for manmade shoes and a big oversupply in the executive car market. Despite this, the hide on prime cattle is probably the third most valuable part of the animal after the fillet and striploin. When prime cattle hides were worth €70+ two years ago, the hide was the single most valuable part of the animal.
The hide and skins from cattle and sheep are among the most volatile parts of the animal in terms of market value but even with the market at a low point currently they are still a valuable product.
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