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Are you a progressive farmer? Do you havegood ideas and want to make progress in thebeef and lamb sector? Do you want to embracenew technology and share knowledge with alikeminded group of people?

This isn’t a self-help group, but theopportunity to be part of a progressivegroup of beef and sheep producers fromacross the UK. The group will have access tothe beef and lamb supply chain, an insightinto our project partners, McDonald’s andMarks and Spencer and have the opportunity

to explore new technologies to help improvefarm efficiency and drive forward withsustainable beef and lamb production.

If EID, drone technology, plate meters ornovel feedstuffs interest you, or you have aburning desire to do something different orbetter, then this group is for you. The groupwill have the opportunity to take onindividual projects, receive support fromtechnical experts and visitother farmers to learn anddiscuss best practice.

If you are interested in being part of ourProgressive Farmer Programme please emailyour contact details, a brief description ofyou and your farming system and why youthink you should be part of the group, to theDawn Meats Group Agriculture Manager,Sarah Haire on sarah.haire@dawnmeats.com

Exciting New Programme Announced

Around 22% of cattle liversare identified as beinginfected with liver flukeannually in Englishabattoirs, which representsa major cost to the industry.In conjunction with 3 of ourbeef producers, DawnMeats used funding fromAHDB Beef & Lamb todemonstrate how thesefarms can identify if theyhave liver fluke on theirfarm and then treat cattleto control the problem.

This meeting presented theresults of this project, whichwas reported in the last issue of Dawn Directand discussed testing and control optionsfor liver fluke control on a range of differentbeef cattle systems.

The day started with farmer attendees beinggiven the opportunity to get ‘hands on’ liveliver fluke in fresh livers from the abattoir atDawn Cardington (wearing gloves of course!)

A talk on the actual project findings wasthen given by Eleanor Foster (DawnCarnaby) who was the project coordinator.

Diana Williams, Professor of VeterinaryParasitology at the University of Liverpool

then discussed practical liver fluke control incattle, giving producers an insight into howfluke can be best managed on their farms.Richard Long (Farm Manager) then gave anintroduction to the estate, explaining thebeef production system and challengesfaced on a regular basis.

A farm walk (in the beaters wagon!) anddiscussion also took place looking atRichards finishing heifers indoors, as well assteers and cows with calves at foot at grazing.

A great day was had by all - huge thank youto Richard and the team at Barton AbbeyFarms for hosting us!

Liver Fluke BRP EventOn Thursday 7th September farmers in the Oxfordshire area gatheredat Barton Abbey Farms, Chipping Norton to allow Dawn Meats toshare the findings of the Innovation Grant Project run in collaborationwith AHDB Beef and Lamb (formerly EBLEX).

DawnDirectUK

Welcome tothe latestDawn DirectnewsletterI am delighted to announce the launch ofour refreshed Dawn Meats logo, whichofficially launched in October at the AnugaFood Fair in Cologne Germany, the world’sleading food fair for the retail, foodserviceand catering markets.

Dawn Meats has grown and evolvedsignificantly over the last 35 years, and assuch the time is right to modernize the lookand feel of the Company branding to reflectboth the evolution of the company as wellas our vision for a dynamic future.

The company has a proud history and therefreshed logo demonstrates a clear changewithout losing the heritage or power ofrecognition the original logo has amassedover the years. The new logo retains thedistinctive rising sun along with the blue andgreen colours signifying water and grassreflecting our sustainable ethos.

We are also unveiling the new layout of ourDawn Direct newsletter. As with our logo,the time had come to refresh the newsletterlayout and design.

I hope that you find this newsletterinformative and we welcome any feedbackor comments tomarketing@dawnmeats.com

Niall Browne, CEO

January 2015 saw the start of an excitingnew project for Dawn Meats in partnershipwith Teagasc (the Irish Farm Advisorybody) and supported by McDonald’s. Theproject, known as the Newford SucklerDemonstration Herd, is a 7 year projectfocussed at improving the efficiency ofsuckler beef production. Although theHerd is based in Athenry, Co Galway, it isthe intention that all the technical bestpractice and learnings will be applicable toboth UK and Irish beef producers. The herdis comprised of 100 Angus and Herefordcross Friesian suckler cows, managed byone man, on a 55.8ha farm, split over 3separate land blocks.

Cow fertility and grass management are thetwo key focus areas of the project. Cowshave to calve once every 365 days and weana calf approximately 50% of her body weightto keep her place in the herd. Sires used areselected on the basis of easy calving traitsand carcase growth, not on breed. The IrishEBV system is run by the Irish Cattle BreedingFederation (ICBF), and although slightlydifferent to the UK Estimated Breeding Value(EBV) system, still allows us to pick sires onspecific traits. All progeny is taken through

to beef so maternal traits are not considered.

Grass is measured on a weekly basis andthe total growth to date is just shy of 10tonnes of DM/ha, with our best paddockdoing over 16 tonnes. The poorest paddocks,which you can see from the graph havealready been reseeded.

Weaning is underway but as of the 27th

September the cows average 511kg and theheifer calves, 256kg, having gained 1.17kgsince birth, and the bull calves 266kg, with again of 1.24kg since birth. The weaningpercentage based on this data is 52% for thebull calves and 50% for the heifer calves.

The objective for the project is to show thatsuckler beef production can be profitableand efficient if the basics are done right. Weare using a small, milky cow type, whoshould fulfil all our requirements with verylittle concentrates, at the same timemaximising the natural resource, grass.

The project isn’t about promoting one breedover another, but focussing on the key traitsthat suit the farm, the system and the labourresources available.

Weekly updates will be published on ourfarm website, www.newfordsucklerbeef.ie.

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Newford SucklerDemonstration Herd

For New Livestock SupplyEnquiries Please ContactHighland Meats George Brown 07971 147775

Dawn Cardington Donal Horgan 07876 597968

Dawn Carnaby Shaun Garbutt 07974 184313

Dawn Cumbria David Hewat 07968 104269

Dawn Treburley Kelvin Heard 07595 651700

Dawn West DevonArthur Cleave 07770 474827

Dawn Meats were pleased to sponsor bothcattle judging classes, including the nativeand continental championships and babybeef championships, together with theYoung Stockperson of the Yearcompetition in conjunction with Marks andSpencer. Dawn Meats have beensupporting the East of England SmithfieldFestival since its arrival at the East ofEngland Showground, Peterboroughand enjoyed the new Stocktech feature,which brought technical advice, animalnutrition and livestock equipmentmanufacturers, which included interactivedemonstrations for cattle and sheepproducers at the event.

Dawn Meats and Marks and Spencersupported the Young Stockperson of theYear Competition again this year. For theentrants, it was the culmination of asummers hard work preparing and showingcattle at various shows around the countryto qualify for this event. It brought togethertheir industry knowledge with an interviewsection, as well as the preparation andshowing section. Supporting future farmersis key to both Dawn Meats and Marks andSpencer and we are proud to havesupported this event again.

East of EnglandSmithfield Festival

Dawn Meats has hosted its inaugural HealthWeek. The initiative was just one of thecampaigns that will run in the comingmonths as part of Dawn Meats ‘Work Safe,Think Well’ initiative to increase awareness ofhealth and safety across its sites.

Throughout the week, employees wereprovided with a wide range of informationon different health issues, to equip them tomake informed decisions and choices onhealth and lifestyle, benefitting themselvesand their families.

Commenting on Health Week, Dawn MeatsCEO Niall Browne said, “People today areliving longer lives than ever before, buthealth and longevity depend on having theinformation to make the right choices.During Health Week we’ll work to equipour employees with the knowledge theyneed to make these choices, both throughonsite health clinics and a wide ranginginformation campaign. Through some verysimple steps we believe everyone can takeactions that will make them healthier

and happier.”

The overarching theme of the week washeart health and the associated illnesses thatcan affect the heart, and each day focusedon a specific element; including exercise andhydration; healthy eating and weight loss;diabetes awareness; and the effects ofsmoking and alcohol on heart health.

Each Dawn Meats plant provided free fruitand bottled water plus healthy eatingoptions on canteen menus throughoutthe week along with a range of healthclinics to check BMI, cholesterol andblood pressure. Fact sheets were also

shared throughout the week providing clear,easy to understand information onincreasing physical activity, balanced diet,monitoring blood pressure, cholesterol andunderstanding the causes and symptoms ofevents such as heart attacks and stroke.

Dawn Meats are proud to have received aSilver award at the first ever World SteakChallenge held on October 15th inLondon’s Hyde Park. The global challenge,which recognises Gold and Silver Medalsteak quality, was presented by GlobalMeat News.

The first ever World Steak Challenge receivedentry of 70 steaks representing 10 differentcountries. Breeds entered were Black Angus,Wagyu, Limousin, Charolais, Red RubyDevon, Hereford, Dutch Holstein, WelshBlack, Pure Bred Dexter, Meuse-Rhine-Issel,Simmental, Shorthorn, Longhorn andHighland Wagyu.

Each steak was judged against

internationallyagreed criteria,that covered bothraw and cookedtechnical testing.

A two stage judging process ensured thateach steak was sampled by both a panel ofexpert judges and a panel of consumerjudges.

After a day of intensive scrutiny, the expertinternational judging panel shortlisted17 producers to qualify as Silver standardquality medal winners which includedDawn Meats Aberdeen Angus steak and11 to qualify as Gold standard qualitymedal winners.

Dawn Meats Awarded atWorld Steak Challenge

Dawn MeatsHealth Week12th - 16thOctober 2015

IntegratedCheckerDawn Meats, working in partnershipwith Edinburgh-based tech firmeverysite and food industry solutionsprovider Hellenic Systems, haveimplemented an Integrated Checkerservice for verifying supplier Red Tractorassurance claims for Beef. The newintegration means Dawn Meats candemonstrate it checks the Red Tractor 90day rule for each individual animal bydirectly querying the Red Tractordatabase, securely and in real time,saving time and preventing costly errors.

The system works by scanning theanimal passport at the lairage andensures that all farms listed on thepassport are checked for Red TractorAssurance status in a real time ‘look up’ tothe everysite Integrated Checker service.The Hellenic implementation of theservice also checks the assurance statusof markets each animal has passedthrough, adding further resilience to theverification of assurance claims beingmade by suppliers.

www.dawnmeats.com @dawnmeatsagri

Serves 2-3

Ingredients1 Tomahawk Ribeye SteakSaltGround black pepper1 head of garlic2 tbsp. olive oil25g unsalted butter2 sprigs of fresh thyme

Method• Preheat oven to 180°C.

• Pat the steak dry with paper towels thenseason very liberally with salt and freshlyground pepper. Let the steak come to roomtemperature.

• Use a knife to trim off the top 1/4-inch of

the garlic head. Drizzle with olive oil, thenwrap in a foil tent, and roast the garlic 30minutes, until the cloves are soft. Removefrom the oven and allow to cool.

• Moisten a paper towel and wrap it aroundthe steak’s rib bone, then wrap aluminiumfoil around the moistened paper towel.(This is an optional step to give the bone anice appearance, if the entire steak isserved for one diner.)

• In a heavy skillet or oven-proof pan, heatthe olive oil over high heat until it’s juststarting to smoke. Lay the Tomahawk steakinto the skillet and sear 1 minute.

• Lower the heat to medium-high and cookthe steak 5 minutes, without touching it.

• Turn the steak over by using the bone as ahandle and cook for another 3 minutes.Transfer the steak to a baking tray and placein the oven, roasting for 10 minutes. (Notethe meat will continue to cook while it restsand increase by 5-10 degrees.)

• While the steak is cooking, add the butterto the skillet and melt over medium heat.Squeeze the roasted garlic cloves into thebutter, stirring with a wooden spoon todistribute, then add the thyme sprigs.

• When the steak is ready, take it out of theoven, and transfer it back to the skillet. Usea spoon to baste the butter and garlic overthe steak. Turn the steak, and baste again.Transfer the steak to a cutting board, andlet it rest 10 minutes.

• If you’ve wrapped the bone in the optionalpaper towel and foil, remove it now. Carvethe steak, then drizzle with more of thebutter and garlic.

The 36th Quality FoodAwards were held atLondon’s GrosvenorHouse Hotel Park Lane on5th November 2015 andwere presented by chef,restaurateur and star ofTV’s Sunday BrunchSimon Rimmer, with

patissier and chocolatier Will Torrent.

Winner of the ‘Pork, Lamb and Other Joints’category was awarded to Asda Butchers

Selection Oak Smoked Boneless Beef Ribs assupplied by Dawn Meats. Another product ofDawn Meats recognised on the night wasthe ‘Highly Commended’ Asda ButchersSelection Mexican Fajita Style Beef Brisketwith Jalapeno Cheese Sauce and Salsa.

The Quality Food Awards which celebratesand recognizes excellence in the UK’s foodand drink industry, are recognised as oneof the most respected awards for foodand drink products on sale in the UKgrocery outlets.

With a robust judging process comprising ofa panel of over 150 food and drink expertsfrom many different industry disciplines,every aspect of a product is taken intoconsideration – rewarding great flavours,high quality ingredients, excellent value formoney and outstanding packaging.

Dawn Meats was awarded 3Gold Stars for its WestCountry Choice TomahawkRib Steak, which was alsorecognised by the judgingpanel with a place on theTop 50 Foods of 2015 list.Comments from the judgingpanel included “a beautiful piece of beefwith wonderful fat running through thegrain. Good depth of flavour, but also verydelicate.” “The meat is succulent and juicy,the fat is creamy.”

Other products from Dawn Meats to achieveGold Star status in 2015 included;

• Extra Matured Flat Iron Steak• Salt Marsh Lamb French Rack Cap-On• Salt Marsh Lamb Chump• Salt Marsh Lamb Striploin

The Great Taste Awards received over 10,000entries this year, with only 130 productsawarded 3 Gold Stars.

Commenting on the awards, CEO of DawnMeats, Niall Browne said, “Well done to theDawn teams who through their dedicationand care for our products ensure ourcustomers consistently enjoy great tastingbeef and lamb. We are very proud to be therecipients of 10 Gold Stars again this year andit provides a significant endorsement of DawnMeats as a producer of premium productsthat are exceptional in quality, sustainablyproduced and outstanding in taste.”

Cooking the PerfectTomahawk Steak

Great Taste Awards

Quality Food Awards 2015

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®A W A R D S

QUALITY FOOD

2015 WINNER2015

www.dawnmeats.com @dawnmeatsagri