Based near Selby in North Yorkshire, the D&P Custom Feeding enterprise includes 750 acres of mixed arable farmland in addition to a Licensed Finishing Unit. Our geographical location is a key part in the success of cattle finishing business with access to local feed, bedding and abattoirs all of which ensures that transport costs are minimised and clients return upon investment maximised. In excess of 1,500 cattle are finished ‘on-farm’ annually with customers located all over the UK and Northern Ireland.
British Farming Awards 2015 Winner of Beef Innovator of the Year
Farmers Weekly Awards 2016 Beef Farmer of the Year finalist.
Founder member of ther ADHB Progressive Beef Group.
Our intake protocol is designed to minimise risk and ensure that cattle entering our finishing unit are in perfect health. Before arrival, cattle must be vaccinated against IBR and Pasteurella, wormed, fluked and disease free. On arrival, EID and management tags are fitted and every animal is weighed as a benchmark for Daily Live Weight Gain (DLWG) throughout the finishing process.
Cattle are fed ‘to appetite’ to ensure they clear-up, our pens are constantly monitored and cattle re-weighed every 4 weeks so that the Daily Live Weight Gain can be calculated and their feed adjusted accordingly. The cycle for finishing bulls is typically 180 days. Steers and heifers are generally between 60 – 90 days depending on the breed and frame of the cattle.
We enjoy and continue to forge strong relationships with many of the UK’s leading abattoirs, providing our customers with a guaranteed outlet for their cattle. Working closely with our outlets ensures we understand their needs and using our sustainable beef production system guarantees we are able to supply a consistent quality product to them all year round.
Our cattle bed and breakfast facility is designed to offer farmers who perhaps don’t have access to a local outlet or plentiful supply of affordable, local feed and bedding the opportunity to take their cattle to slaughter whilst retaining ownership and enjoying fixed monthly costs. We work to very high animal welfare standards and our finishing unit is inspected on a regular basis.
Free up space on your farm;
Extremely high welfare & health protocol;
Guaranteed outlet for finished beef cattle;
Strong relationships with most UK abattoirs.
Our cattle Daily Live Weight Gain is typically between 1.5kg and 2.0kg per day. Customers are charged a fixed rate per day, per animal which includes straw, water and management. Feed charges are calculated on an ‘as fed’ basis with the daily diet and weight fed recorded and customers charged accordingly. Client reports are provided every 28 days detailing the progress of each pen.
Access to cheaper, local feed & bedding;
Shared & therefore reduced transport costs;
Benchmark performance using latest technologies;
Monthly reports & feedback.
If you can’t find an answer to your question, please feel free to get in touch,
call Doug Dear on 07968 231718.
Pen sizes range from 25 to 150 cattle although we can cater for smaller batches upon request. We accept cattle at any time of the year and our finishing unit operates 365 day per year. We require 21 days notice before accepting cattle to our finishing unit to allow sufficient time for our intake protocol process. If for any reason you are unable to conform to our protocol please ask as this is a service we can offer at cost.
One of the main benefits of owner retained contract finishing is that you are provided with regular performance reports. From a business perspective, many of our customers use this data to help them make informed choices regarding their future breeding program. We use the latest technologies to help monitor feeding and manage the daily running of our finishing unit, all of which ensures that data we provide is accurate and reliable.
Our clients, many of whom are repeat customers, are located throughout the UK and Northern Ireland. Typically they farm in upland areas or in regions that do not enjoy mixed arable farming and a local supply of feed and bedding and which therefore present high transportation costs to bring these to their farm. Some mixed livestock clients also choose to use our services in Spring in order to free-up space for lambing or create more room for breeding animals.
Young bulls typically arrive when they are about 7 months old weighing approximately 350kg, generally native or continental breeds but increasingly most bulls are now Stabalisers which are efficient and easy to manage. We aim to finish with a carcase weight of 320-370kg deadweight within 180 days. Steers and heifers are generally between 18 – 24 months old and have had a Summer at grass and are finished within 60 – 90 days depending upon breed and frame.
To register your interest for D&P Custom Feeding cattle finishing services, please complete the enquiry form and we’ll be in touch.
Alternatively, call Doug and Pam Dear.
Monday to Saturday 9am – 5pm
07968 231718