Beef sector approaching crisis point

This was the view of the National Beef Association director Kim Haywood who said that supermarkets who continually price beef low in so-called ‘loss leader’ promotions threaten to completely dismantle UK beef production and that a complete re-evaluation of the country’s supply chain was needed to secure its future.

Cattle farming brings an estimated £350m to the economy in terms of environmental, ecological and economic benefit, all of which is under threat, the NBA said.

However, in the past year beef farmers in Yorkshire and around the UK have had to endure hikes of 37.5 per cent in fuel costs and a doubling of wheat prices, something the NBA says will lead to thousands of suckler calf breeders and finishers to quit the industry.

“We need to think about how we can redistribute these costs in the supply chain to ensure more income in the long-term,” said Ms Haywood.

“All the signposts, on every trading stage, are already saying the world has no spare beef while at the same time it is abundantly clear more people will be demanding to eat it globally.

“So if retailers do not move quickly, and accept there has to be an immediate, and dramatic, lift in ex-farm cattle prices, they will either have to manage their businesses without beef or assist, later, in the re-construction of a domestic production chain that has been unnecessarily dismantled.”

The association said that beef producers too will have to reconsider the way they operate, calling for farmers to begin to market more of the cow’s carcass, such as its tail and offal, as a means of driving up income.

Ms Haywood said: “A critical point has been reached. Breeders are saying they cannot continue unless they earn more from the market and finishers have made it clear unless slaughter cattle prices rise dramatically they will not be able to pay more for suckled calves and store cattle.”

Concern over Euro ruling

The NBA’s comments come in the same week the sector’s confidence was further damaged by the announcement the Europe Commission has agreed to allow the Mercosur group of South American countries preferential access to EU markets, potentially opening the market to cheap beef imports.

The National Farmers Union livestock chairman Alistair Mackintosh said: “Farmers are rightly concerned about the possible impact. The fear is we will export our industry abroad to countries that do not meet our high standards of production.”