Ben Rigby Sussex Collections.

Firefly

Well-Known Member
Anyone else affected by Ben Rigby’s latest decision today? Are you as thoroughly peed off as me.
 
Can you elaborate?
It’s only really relevant if you have a chiller and ‘smaller’ collection from them. They now want all deer transported to a larger collection ‘hub’ whilst I understand business, this is just another nail in the coffin and cutting off the hand that feeds them. Ultimately this will cripple smaller quantity stalkers and they will give up and deer will proliferate even more.
 
Ah, ok if you know one of the bigger local estates that don’t mind you dropping your carcasses off in their chiller before collection, if you don’t leaves you a bit stuffed.
 
So why don't all of the stalkers and Estates in a region, who supply into a particular AGHE, get together and agree a price scale, and then charge Ben Rigby (or whoever) that much for their carcasses?

(eg, Fallow: Head shot, £4 / kg; Chest shot, £3 / kg; Damaged haunch or loin, £1.80 / kg; etc etc).

Sure, there'd be a bit of a stand-off for a month or so, with the AGHE refusing to take carcasses, but ultimately he doesn't want to go out of business and needs the throughput in order to keep his customers.

It's time stalkers stopped using game dealers as a cheap disposal service, and started taking a bit of pride in what they're producing.
 
So why don't all of the stalkers and Estates in a region, who supply into a particular AGHE, get together and agree a price scale, and then charge Ben Rigby (or whoever) that much for their carcasses?

(eg, Fallow: Head shot, £4 / kg; Chest shot, £3 / kg; Damaged haunch or loin, £1.80 / kg; etc etc).

Sure, there'd be a bit of a stand-off for a month or so, with the AGHE refusing to take carcasses, but ultimately he doesn't want to go out of business and needs the throughput in order to keep his customers.

It's time stalkers stopped using game dealers as a cheap disposal service, and started taking a bit of pride in what they're producing.
I wholeheartedly agree VSS. The Problem is I feel actually getting people together to do it ! I myself do have high standards. I pride myself in everything I do , in fact the Ben Rigby collector stated that my chiller was the cleanest and well kept he’s seen in all his days ! BR reward me for this with a price drop and a week later asking me to drive all my carcasses miles to a drop off hub.

I am certainly up for a Sussex carcass supply group, but is everyone else? Please PM me if you are.
 
More night license’s issued in the downs this winter, from a supply and demand point of view, our venison just isn’t worth a lot in the south for the foreseeable. Form a group and you’ll be left with it, I think there could even be some estates paying to have them disposed of by incineration.
But then I’ve seen some smaller places that have done deer counts and found populations over 100 head per hectare.
 
So why don't all of the stalkers and Estates in a region, who supply into a particular AGHE, get together and agree a price scale, and then charge Ben Rigby (or whoever) that much for their carcasses?

(eg, Fallow: Head shot, £4 / kg; Chest shot, £3 / kg; Damaged haunch or loin, £1.80 / kg; etc etc).

Sure, there'd be a bit of a stand-off for a month or so, with the AGHE refusing to take carcasses, but ultimately he doesn't want to go out of business and needs the throughput in order to keep his customers.

It's time stalkers stopped using game dealers as a cheap disposal service, and started taking a bit of pride in what they're producing. Ring him up Tim with your suggestions as he is at work right at this minute.
Ring him up Tim with your suggestion's as he is at work right this minute.

My money is you wont as it does not affect you, however if you get a reply please let us in on the answer... 😭
 
Ring him up Tim with your suggestion's as he is at work right this minute.

My money is you wont as it does not affect you, however if you get a reply please let us in on the answer... 😭
No point ringing him up until after all the affected stalkers have come up with some kind of strategy and have agreed amongst thenselves to present a united front. Which is unlikely to happen, but I hope it does.
 
Well, Ive not had a single PM from anyone wanting to form a Sussex venison partnership.
Tim's advice won't work. look for a local dealer as I work on the basis of you need to look after yourself. Ben stopped taking pigeons so we found a ferret rescue centre who takes them then they don't go to waste.
 
So people are upset because of the cost of driving their small number of deer to a collection point. But can't understand that the game dealer doesn't want to foot the bill for collection. This is mainly deer stalkers fault years of under achieving cull numbers and allowing deer numbers to sky rocket and now there's a oversupply.
 
So people are upset because of the cost of driving their small number of deer to a collection point. But can't understand that the game dealer doesn't want to foot the bill for collection. This is mainly deer stalkers fault years of under achieving cull numbers and allowing deer numbers to sky rocket and now there's a oversupply.
And years of submitting carcasses of inconsistent quality.
Any producer driven pricing structure needs to be based on a quality guarantee.
 
Well, Ive not had a single PM from anyone wanting to form a Sussex venison partnership.
Probably because most stalkers seem to consider game dealers to be providing a disposal service, rather than as customers or as partners in the supply chain. Until that mentality changes you aren't going to make progress.
 
putting it back on a level platform
This month is big number fallow time, numbers to collect will be right up as estates goes full on to get the Does down
if you’ve got 2-3 carcasses look around to a local GD or if your lucky a proper butcher who is cleared for game in fur, I found one right on my doorstep by accident he will take one or two and it’s really handy to have a butcher to do the odd deer
perhaps if you dig a bit deeper locally you may find something to suit
 
The other alternative which I don't think has been mentioned on here it to get set up as a basic food business (just a little paper work and visit from the LA) for skinning to supply to end user / butchers, then all you have to do is find a couple of butchers locally
 
The other alternative which I don't think has been mentioned on here it to get set up as a basic food business (just a little paper work and visit from the LA) for skinning to supply to end user / butchers, then all you have to do is find a couple of butchers locally
yep 100% but if it’s only one or two deer probably not worth doing, my thoughts would be friends and family particularly this time of the year, give em all a nice dinner over the festive season, no waste just good tasting fodder 🤣
 
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