Making a mint with lamb?
.jpg)
03 September 2009
40 Argyll Hill farmers turned out on a very wet day at Glen Feochan estate, near Oban to learn more about adding value to their blackface lambs.
Angus Macfadyen, farmer at Glen Feochan and Chairman of the Argyll and Bute Agricultural Forum, organised the day along with NFUS regional manager Lucy Sumsion - the event was also supported by the SAOS C2 Collaboration project. The event aimed to help producers secure a greater understanding of the supply chain.
Those attending heard about the highs and lows of the 2008 lamb finishing trial - this entailed eight hill lamb producers from across Islay, Mull and North Argyll sending 250 Blackface store lambs to be finished on a farm in Stow in the Borders, under the supervision of Nigel Millar NFUS National vice chairman.
Costs added up but producers saw potential in achieving a premium through selling to local wholesaler/butcher Forteith Food Service. Managing Director, John Forteith, praised the product quality and explained how some of the lamb had been utilised in a local procurement trial into Argyll schools, and how Caledonian MacBrayne had sourced the product from the butchery as an Argyll Lamb Mint Burger.
Other speakers who shared their knowledge included Drew Kennedy form Aberfeldy and Brian Robb from Dollar, who explained the finer points of finishing and grading lambs to achieve a consistent product for the market.
And, local Oban vet, Tristan Carre drew some lambs to explain the importance of putting healthy lambs away to finishing. This is especially critical when drawing lambs from a number of farms.
Fergus Younger, Development Manger with the Forum is currently drawing up a more focussed trial for 2009/10 to see if greater margins can be achieved.
More details from the Argyll and Bute Agricultural forum http://www.argyllagriculturalforum.com/
