Carcass Competition Shows EUROP Scale May Have Had it's Day
2011-01-17

A U+3 carcass from Shropshire farmer Peter Gore beat off better grading carcasses, including several E graded entries, to scoop the championship in the inaugural ABP/Asda Beeflink carcass competition in which the championship was decided not on EUROP grading, but on retail meat yield value.

Mr Gore receiving his championship award
from Asda’s Jim Viggars and Amy Austin, also Asda

The, competition, believed to be the first in the UK in which the overall championship was decided on yield and value assessed by boning out the carcasses, saw the championship awarded to a British Blue cross steer grading U+3.

Entered by Shrewsbury-based Mr Gore, the carcass weighed 387.8kg at 23 months and four days old and gave a 0.82% greater return than the first placed young bull, an E2 graded 379.2kg Limousin cross from C I Thomas, Chirbury, Shropshire. It also gave a 1.09% greater return than the first placed heifer carcass, an E3 classified 405.6kg Limousin cross from Paul Andrews, Welshpool, Powys.

Asda senior red meat trader Jim Viggars said boning out the carcasses to determine the champion had shown the value of assessing carcasses based on their yield and value rather than simply on the EUROP grading classification.

“The introduction of video image analysis (VIA) to all ABP abattoirs supplying Asda will allow us to gain this information on the slaughter line when the carcass is whole,” he said.

“Despite receiving a lower grade on the EUROP grading classification, yield and value assessment showed the steer was the more valuable carcass in terms of meat yield and hence value. The information gained from VIA grading will, in time, help us better reward those farmers producing carcasses which are of more value to us.”

ABP is delighted with the excellent show of cattle forward for the the first ASDA BeefLink carcase competition, said Steven Feehan, ABP group cattle buyer. “Unlike other competitions run across the industry the champion carcass in this competition was determined purely on an analysis of meat yield and value rather than an assessment of how the carcase looks when hanging up.

“I am sure this event will go from strength to strength and it will be a regular fixture in the ABP/ASDA BeefLink calendar,” he added.

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