Services and Commercial Package

Farm Stock’s vision of creating a force in the marketplace capable of representing the interests of producers can only be achieved through a position of strength arising from sufficient volume to negotiate with abattoirs and ultimately retail outlets.

The Farm Stock philosophy of creating strength and adding value through co-operation hinges on support from as many livestock producers as possible but recognises that this can only be achieved by a strong, competitive and attractive commercial package. The producer package that will operate for the 2010 season includes:

• A highly competitive commission rate of 2.125% which compares very favourably with rates of up to 4% charged by other routes to the market.
   
• Farm Stock’s low commission rates are made even more competitive by the application of a commission ‘cap’ for both sheep and cattle which automatically comes into force when 2.125% of the sale value exceeds the capped figure. Currently the ‘cap’ is £1.30 per lamb and £17.50 per cattle beast which at today’s high prices can mean a net commission rate significantly less than 2.125% (see below)
   
• The following commission calculator allows you to see the huge financial benefit of Farm Stock's low commission rates and particularly how the commission cap affects the percentage commission rate. Simply input your expected price per head for sheep or cattle and the calculator will automatically show you both the actual commission per head and also the percentage rate. For example at £80 for a prime lamb the actual commission is £1.30 and the percentage rate is a mere 1.625%

• Payments by BACS direct into a nominated bank account within 7 days of kill. In most cases this will mean cleared funds by Day 7 representing better payment terms than traditional posted cheque payments which can take substantially longer to clear.
   
• 100% guaranteed payment for all marketed stock through credit insurance. A charge of £0.10 per lamb and £1.00 per cattle beast is levied for this guarantee.
   
• Completely transparent abattoir returns and self billing sales invoices showing all weights and grades, abattoir deductions, haulage and marketing charges.
   
• Experienced fieldsman on farm support throughout Central and Southern Scotland and by telephone the length and breadth of the country.
   
• Farm Stock operates its own colour coded Lamb Grid devised to give producers as much feed back about their grades as possible and has consistently achieved over 85% of the ideal specification required by most abattoirs. View Lamb Grid Interpretation
   
• Regular single farm reports summarising all weights, returns, grades and outlets benchmarked against Farm Stock averages, providing a complete and comprehensive record of all stock traded and a useful management tool to compare your farm performance against other producers.