Welcome to the newly formed Dawn Meats Save Our Sucklers (SOS) Club.  This initiative is designed to help improve returns for the Irish Beef Producer through increased productivity from the Suckler herd.

Dawn Meats hope that this initiative – which has been made possible as a result of Dawn’s successful negotiations with a number of its European customers – will deliver many benefits to the industry including:

• Improved livestock output.
• Improved financial returns from the Suckler herd.
• Earlier cow culls – resulting in improved herd vigour and fitter slaughter cows.
• Proven heifer replacements.
• Swing to higher bonus grades on the QPS.
• Additional value to national beef exports.

In keeping with the current legislation, best practice and current customer requirements the main requirements which the SOS Club Members must abide by are as follows:

• Farm must be certified under the Bord Bia Farm Quality Assurance Scheme.
• Heifer for bulling must be ¾’s bred continental, crossed with easy calving pedigree registered beef bull.
• Minimum age of impregnation is 15 months and a minimum weight of 360 kgs.
• Maximum age of once bred heifer for slaughter is 36 months; Under 30 months will attract BQAS Bonus.
• Deadweight Carcase weight range is to be between 300 and 380 kgs.
• The CMMS will be used to determine validity of animal. This will be final.
• Payment Grid:
o Base price is quoted steer price as quoted on the week.
o BQAS bonus will be paid on those eligible.

Click HERE to download the application form in PDF format*. Just fill it out and return to:

Save Our Sucklers Club, Dawn Meats Group, Grannagh, Waterford.

Alternatively Click HERE fill in our online form.

Contact Names & Region Details: 

Peter Quinn - Meadow Meats  Tel 0505 48500 Mobile 086 261 1816
Anthony Dowd - Dawn Ballyhaunis Tel 094 963 2400 Mobile 087 262 5090
Paul Mullaney - Dawn Charleville Tel 063 30400 Mobile 087 961 4323
Sean Behan - Dawn Waterford  Tel 051 309 200 Mobile 087 256 1836
John Neville - Dawn Cork  Tel 063 30400 Mobile 087 223 2469

* To open this PDF you will need adobe reader. Download for FREE from http://get.adobe.com/reader/

Dawn Meats are proud sponsors of the Waterford Festival of Food, Dungarvan - April 16^th to 18^th

See www.waterfordfestivaloffood.com for more details... 

The conclusion to the Dawn Meats Apprentice Challenge was just like what you would expect from the reality television series.

As a conclusion to the first year of the Dawn Group Graduate Training Programme, the graduates were divided into 3 teams and ‘hired to run the factory shop at Carroll’s Cross, Kilmacthomas, Co. Waterford’.

The task was set to stretch the graduates’ creative and business skills, but the bottom line was could the teams make that important profit?

At the end of the task, the teams were called to the boardroom to face the CEO and his advisors. Each team was grilled on their performance and the figures tallied up. The teams were given the opportunity through their presentations to influence the CEO in his decision as to which team would be the overall winner.  The presentation had to evaluate each group’s strengths and weaknesses and outline what benefits their suggestions would bring in the future operation of the Factory Shop at Carroll’s Cross. For the graduates the presentation was the most daunting part as it gave the CEO and his advisors the opportunity to delve deep into the performance of each team to find the most deserving team.

Unlike the television series, on this occasion the project manager of the losing team did not have to select two fellow team mates that he or she felt were responsible for the downfall of the team to face the CEO to see which of them would get fired.

At the end of each apprentice challenge in the television series, someone is always judged and found wanting and we hear the famous line ‘You’re fired’.  On this occasion the CEO acknowledged the contributions of all 3 teams to the challenge which proved to be a very worthwhile exercise in putting into practise the creative and business skills developed during the first year of the Graduate Training Programme run in conjunction with the IMI.

To listen to a WLR interview with two of the apprentices (Clive Carter and Cathal Fleming) click the green play button below :

 

Anuga is an international food and drinks event held biannually in Cologne.  It is widely regarded as the most important event in the international food and drink calendar and is attended by senior management across the industry.  Over 6,600 suppliers and 163,000 visitors from 175 countries attended Anuga in 2007, with 83% coming from outside Germany. 

Dawn Meats has a very strong presence each year in the beef trade hall and find it invaluable for networking and presenting their product on the world stage.

 

Pictured at Anuga this year, Richard Clinton – European Commercial Director, Trevor Sargent, Minister of State at the Department of Agriculture, Fisheries & Food and Ray Dempsey, Farmer participating in McDonalds Europe Flagship Farm Programme (details below).

McDonalds Europe Flagship Farm

A Dawn Meats supplier Ray Dempsey in Co Offaly was selected as one of only seven flagship farms announced recently by McDonald’s Europe. 
The aim of the Flagship Farm programme is to promote and share the benefits of sustainable agricultural practices by using McDonald’s case studies from its supply chain and to encourage broader adoption of these sustainable farming practices across the agricultural community.  In a recent statement in the Farmers Journal Clare Sheridan, Head of Supply Chain & Quality Assurance, McDonald’s Ireland said “The Dempsey Farm was recognised for the standards of animal welfare environmental management achieved in its beef production.  In addition to a commitment to the highest standards of food safety and quality for the supply of ingredients, at McDonald’s we are also sourcing suppliers who use sustainable agricultural practices which can be replicated by other farmers.  The Dempsey farm for example, helps to preserve the natural habitat by planting one hectare of ‘Linnet’ (Land Invested in Nature, Natural Eco Tillage) leaving it in a completely natural state without chemicals or fertilizers.

 

 

Pictured recently at the National Ploughing Championships Paul Nolan (Group Development Manager – Dawn Meats) presenting Minister for Agriculture Brendan Smith with the company’s Black Angus steaks.