Well known butcher Fred McCauley of Main Street Rathfriland, recently purchased the champion Blonde animal at Hilltown livestock marts, Christmas Show and Sale which sold for £880. The animal was bred by local farmer Patrick Lively and was sire by a well-known blonde bull, Whitefield leader. The animal weighed in at 660 kilos and realised a kill out percentage of 63%.

Fred McCauleys butchers are known through out the area for the quality and service that they provide to their customers. Fred commented that he has been trading for a number of years now and was experiencing steady growth in the business year on year. He said we provide our customers with a top quality service therefore we require top quality beef that we know will satisfy them, that’s why we ‘Prefer Blondes’.

The Blonde animal continues to prove successful for our butchers shop, the fact that blonde beef is know for its tenderness, means that we don’t need to hang the blonde carcasses as long as those of other major beef breeds. For us this means we have a quicker turn around which saves both time and money allowing us to sell top quality blonde cuts to our customers at the best possible price, and offer the farmer a better price for his animal. The blonde breed is also low in fat and trials conducted with crossbreed’s confirm that, in spite of a lower proportion of intra-muscular fat, the meat of Blonde progeny can be distinguished from that of any other continental crosses by its tenderness as analysed by sensors. Consumers may therefore be assured that although Blonde beef is lean, but at the same time it is very delicious and succulent. In addition to this, Blonde beef has other plus features that satisfy the current increasing interest in healthy lean meat which is also low in cholesterol.

Studies have shown that the Blondes outstanding conformation and ability to produce good quality carcasses, that contain more meat, a higher meat to bone ratio, and extra meat in higher priced cuts compared greatly to other breeds, when crossed with a variety of dams. Blondes have the advantage lower back fat levels, which are lower than those of the other major beef breeds. Testing has shown that blondes achieve better eye muscle area than other breeds, which mean much more meat and less waste. Therefore a Blonde terminal sire will consistently produced progeny which will be amongst the highest carcasses weights, the carcasses will also be fine boned, and will produce exceptionally good conformation resulting in a high kill out of around 60 -70%. The combined effects of carcass weight and the grading resulted in differences of up to £50 gain per animal slaughtered from progeny of the blonde compared to other terminal sires. ‘When today’s markets demand quality and efficiency, choosing a ‘BLONDE ‘will make a significant difference’

‘So for the perfect Christmas, with quality and choice make Fred McCauley’s your number one choice.’