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Newsletter No 3 (1999): Hide Improvement in the Last Ten Years
This issue of the Newsletter gives a summary of the range of hide and skin improvement activities over recent years, in order to help build up an understanding of the current position. The next Newsletter in the series (Number 4) will cover areas of current research. This one provides a summary of the main work carried out in Europe, and also describes in some detail developments from elsewhere in the world - particularly in Australia and New Zealand, both of which have been developing strategies to add value to their raw materials by improving the quality of hides and skins. After a considerable amount of trial work, it is understood that both the systems reported are now moving into commercial scale operation.
A campaign to reduce the incidence of Warble Fly was
launched in 1996 with a total budget of 50M Francs. This budget
was to cover the cost of treatment, its application, technical
and administrative follow-up, monitoring of infested zones and
compensation for accidents to cattle as a result of treatment.
The campaign had the objective of "zero warbles by the year
2000". The programme ended in July 1998 and although warble
fly infestation had been significantly reduced, it is not totally
eradicated.
In addition, a large effort has gone into promoting best practices at markets and, in particular, abattoirs. This relates to the correct take off procedures for the hide from the carcass and has been achieved with visits to abattoirs by technicians to advise in the correct skinning techniques.
An important element of activities has been the promotion of hide awareness through schools and colleges with the use of information leaflets and a video. Additional articles have been produced for publication such as "Practical Vet" and interviews have been conducted on radio shows.
A research project entitled "Cattle Hides" has been completed which contains a commercial evaluation of skin damage to domestic hides and how damage can be avoided. The financial outlay for the farmers in achieving the various hide improvement measures was investigated and compared with the potential for adding value. It demonstrated that there were enormous losses associated with hide damage and concluded that with appropriate effort and incentives hide damage could be reduced. The findings reinforce the thesis that the time is now right for significant development of reward systems in relation to the quality of hides and skins.
Equipment for serial numbering of cattle hides in the raw state has been developed which could allow the feedback of quality information to the farmer.
A study has been conducted on the epidemiology of the warble fly in Rheinland-Pflaz.
An educational package, including a video, has been made an integral part of training at Agricultural Schools and colleges.
In 1997, a small scale hide improvement scheme, based upon the Australian model, was implemented.
Additional work has investigated and promoted fast and effective methods of cooling of hides at the abattoir to maximise grain quality and a pilot project for hide improvement through giving involved parties quality feedback information.
A project with Dr. Hendrikx at the University of Utrecht, has investigated the impact that lice infestation has upon the quality of calfskins and highlighted the difficulties farmers have in recognising lice infestation.
Investigations in Italy have looked specifically at low environmental impact preservation and the cleaning of cattle with detergents at the abattoir.
An ongoing project is looking at the interbreed characterisation and variation of hides and skins to determine the ideal hide and skin model.
A EUREKA funded project entitled " Eradication
of lice on cattle" looked at the impact that lice
infestation has upon cattle hides and the subsequent leather
produced.
A three year project on parasites and their effect on sheep and lambskins commenced in 1997
A Ringworm vaccination programme was made mandatory in 1979 for six years, during which time the incidence of Ringworm fell form 70% to 0% in the Gaudsal region of Norway. As a result of such programmes and increased awareness, the incidence of Ringworm is now very low in Norway.
The launch of the "Flawless Hide Programme" in 1989 saw farmers rewarded for quality based upon the adoption of hide improvement measures, namely, Ringworm vaccination, removal of barbed wire, ectoparasite treatment, dehorning and clean animals. Some 60,000 hides are now produced each year under this programme and are sold at a premium price
The success of Ringworm controls continues and currently 20% of new born calves are vaccinated against Ringworm.
Trials have also investigated lice species/infestation and subsequent damage on calf skins, and the eradication of lice with minimum environmental impact. The protocol for what is now the "Golden Hide Scheme" includes specific requirements on the use of named lice treatments.
A large project conducted by BLC in conjunction with the Meat and Livestock Commission investigated the causes of butcher strain in the abattoir. The project identified a number of causal factors in strain: stripping machines resulted in more damage, some machines proved to be were better than others but the same machine in different abattoirs gave different results, which demonstrates the importance of set up and opening up of carcasses in the reduction of strain. The project led to the development of a light box to identify strain at the abattoir rather than having to wait until the skins have been fellmongered, giving the opportunity to adjust stripping in the abattoir immediately.
A study of the sheepskin market in the UK was conducted into the methods by which skins are traded and the opportunities to implement quality based systems. The project concluded that in any attempt to achieve a sustained improvement in skin quality, the commercial aspects of the market were extremely important factors. The main conclusions were:
A "EUREKA" funded project entitled "Control of light spot in cattle" investigated the impact of lice on cattle throughout their lives and the impact on leather quality. The findings revealed the importance of effective lice control from calving and that, whilst improvements were gained treating lousy animals 12 weeks prior to slaughter, animals kept lice free gave consistently better grades. A survey of UK farmers was also conducted under this project to ascertain farmer attitude to lice and concluded that farmers are poor in identifying lice infestation, and even in cases were lice are identified, farmers are unlikely to treat.
In response to increasing incidence of grain strain
in sheepskin caused during the flaying operations, an
investigation was launched to avoid this type of damage without
reducing slaughterhouse productivity. The project identified
several factors that contribute to grain strain, including
pulling of the wool in the flank area, not opening all four legs
prior to pulling, avoidance of exertion of traction and that any
traction forces are centralised along the backbone line of the
carcass and skin.
Due to the environmental problems of the salinity of tannery effluent, trials were conducted on both hides and sheepskins to investigate using reduced quantities of salt with the addition of antiseptics. In hides the salt concentration was reduced from 50% to 7.5%, both having antiseptic at 300 grams, with no apparent quality reduction. With sheepskins, salt concentration was reduced from 87% to 20% with 3% antiseptic with again no apparent quality differences. These results represent an opportunity to reduce the environmental impact of tannery effluent due to salt.
Investigations revealed that suitable preservation of sheepskins can be achieved in 20 hours by drying at temperatures of 22-28 degrees with a relative humidity of 30-40%. Deviations from these parameters may result in insufficient or excessive drying, causing irreversible damage.
The main focus of attention has been on the hair
follicle mite, demodex, which is the major parasite in cattle
hides, affecting 25-30% of all cattle. Two conferences were held
to discuss the importance of follicle mite and involved Bayer
Pharmaceuticals, vets, tanners, Ministry of Agriculture
officials.
Additional work has been carried out on improving the quality of hides in the slaughterhouse, involving correct opening up, correct pulling and preservation.
Significant improvements have been made in the condition of animals arriving for slaughter and between 1983 and 1990 the numbers of animals that were excessively dungy had been reduced by 85%.
Napier tanning / Progressive Meats Partnership: Sheep production is a major industry in New Zealand so it is no surprise that their endeavours have targeted the sheepskin market. The supply chain is short, production volumes are high and skin ID for sheepskins was pioneered here by MIRINZ.
A successful commercial system, set up by Napier Tanning and Progressive Meats, offers financial incentives for quality throughout the supply chain from farmer to fellmonger and meat retailer. The quality enhancement programme was started in 1992 and enables the suppliers, i.e., farmers, to be paid for quality pelts. This is seen as a successful move away from averaging prices towards one based on quality. Comprehensive feedback on quality is achieved by individually tagging each pelt using the bar coded "Quick Stik" tags. Every pelt can be identified to the mob and farm of origin. Suppliers (farmers and abattoirs) then receive a statement produced by the fellmongery detailing the numbers of skins downgraded and reasons for the downgrading. Through the use of this system, the level of quality has been seen to rise providing an indication that producers will react to clear signals and prefer to be paid for quality rather than average returns.
The quality enhancement programme involves a committed relationship between all participants in the supply chain; farmer, abattoir, meat retailer and fellmonger. The programme is targeted at meeting customer requirements (at a margin) and endeavours to give clear signals providing indications of performance so that the continuous improvement process can be measured.
A forward commitment provides the planning basis essential to supply to customer expectations, which includes the fellmonger. Commitment from the farmers is made by providing schedules indicating how many sheep/lambs they intend to supply for each month of the year. Premiums are then paid to the farmers based on several factors. For example, a performance bonus is paid for delivery of lambs in full and on time. This is paid as a reward for meeting the commitment to deliver stock as specified on the written schedule. The bonus consists of a maximum A$2 per animal if both criteria are met.
Effort from the fellmonger is relatively minimal to achieve the level of quality feedback required. A schedule is set by the fellmonger and given to the abattoir indicating the number and quality pelts required. The fellmonger has four days from the receipt of the raw material to feed back quality gradings for the pickled material.
The skins are graded into several categories taking into account their size and the presence of any faults. A differentiation is made between farm and works faults (primary and secondary faults respectively). If a skin illustrates both types of faults then it is the farmer who is penalised since his fault was the first to be introduced.At this stage the tags are removed and read by a scanner device and the farmers’ numbers within the fault category are logged. The information from this device is then downloaded onto a computer; it is possible to download information from 400 tags in < 1 minute. The data is then processed via purpose built software programme. Read-outs/reports can then be obtained which are then e-mailed to the abattoir.
MRC Sponsored Demonstration Project: Australia has made significant investments in a comprehensive "Hide Improvement Programme" through the Meat Research Corporation (MRC) and Gibson Management Pty Ltd. Joe Gibson, a key worker in this area, has made several advances with regards to hide improvement. His approach has recognised the need for a different marketing system to that currently in place in order to allow people to pay for quality; a system known as "value based marketing" (VBM).
By addressing quality and increasing the value of the hide by at least A$20, it has been calculated that an increase in revenue for the Australian meat industry, and consequently Australian economy, of around A$150-200 million is possible every year. This provides a clear incentive for improvements to be made.
The first step taken in developing the new market structure was to define an infrastructure; the primary requirement being an objective grading system in order to differentiate between good and bad hides. This requires a method of individual hide identification. This was achieved by reading the ear tags at the abattoir and then punch tattooing the hides with a lot number ID. This method is constantly being improved and presently has a retrieval rate of 95%.
The grading system itself is carried out after the hides are tanned (at the wet blue stage of processing). Hides are graded taking into account damage caused via brands, scratches, parasites, disease, and that caused at the abattoir and tannery. Each of these categories are quantified and given a score of one to five (reject and perfect respectively). Both location and size is taken into account when grading. To retain an objective grading system, regular grader training and monitoring is essential. The grade for each hide is entered into a computer system alongside the respective lot number. The software system enables comprehensive and fast feedback to the producers via the abattoir. Premiums of between A$5-20 have been proved possible by incorporating this quality system.
Currently, there are 19 blueing plants and abattoirs involved in the scheme. It has been recognised that the shorter the supply chain the better the communication and hence information feedback. The traditional supply chain can involve up to 6 changes in ownership of the raw material (producer, feedlot, processor, wet blue plant, merchant and finished leather manufacturer) hence discouraging any quality price signals back down the chain! Therefore, variations in the basic system have been looked at. Each variation, however, favours a reduced ownership within the chain, by introducing commission processing, and ultimately encourages communication.
Both the New Zealand and Australian experience indicate what is possible technically, but the main challenge in this area is to establish a system which works technically and also fits into the commercial system of hide and skin trading.
Co-ordinator:
BLC Leather Technology Centre · Leather Trade
House
Kings Park Road · Moulton Park · Northampton · NN3 6JD · UK
Tel: +44 1604 67 99 99 · Fax: +44 (0)1604 67 99 98