Due to the legislation imposed, following the correct procedure for booking-in stock is of vital importance
The Procedure
If you would like to have OTM cattle slaughtered and boned out,
- First you must make contact with Gordon on 01738 561523; The slaughterhouses will not accept cattle destined for Highland Drovers unless they are booked in for slaughter by Highland Drovers using our agreed procedures. It is necessary to batch a group of 6 cattle for slaughter. These can be all from the same producer or we will liaise with a group of producers to try and arrange the most economic way and suitable date for delivery to the slaughterhouse.
- Pay the slaughter charge before dispatching the cattle; Part of the agreement with the slaughterhouses is that HD will pay the slaughter charges on the producers behalf- you are required to make the payment for slaughter at the time of booking. The reason for this is that if the cattle fail to turn up then HD is still liable for payment of the slaughter charge. The cattle must arrive on the agreed day, failure to ensure that the cattle arrive on the agreed day will result in the loss of the slaughterhouse charge. We can not stress too much how important it is that the cattle arrive at the agreed time, the legislation and procedures imposed are very strict, you can not turn up with your cattle a day or two out and without informing us beforehand. You will be turned away!
- After slaughter. Once slaughtered the cattle have their brain stems removed and sent away for BSE testing. Only after negative results have been reported back will the carcases be allowed to move. The carcases will be loaded onto a refrigerated lorry under Meat Hygiene Service (MHS) supervision. The lorry is locked and then has a numbered security seal applied. The lorry then drives directly to HD were the seal is then broken under MHS supervision. After unloading the carcases are either stored in a locked chill with another numbered security seal or are locked on to a hanging rail and again security tags are applied.
- Deciding on the amount of boning and butchering you require; You are then required to discuss with HD how long you wish to hang your carcase and how much further processing is required. We are held responsible to remove the Vertebral Column under MHS supervision before the beef is allowed to be released. During this process we will break the carcase down into vacuum packed Primal cuts. At this point the beef can be collected for further butchering elsewhere or if required we can process it down to catering specification or into the final retail cuts as we do for all Under 30 Month beef. Please discuss with Gordon your requirements at the earliest opportunity.