June 4, 2009

The English Beef & Lamb Executive (EBLEX) has cautioned that the beef industry is walking towards irretrievable decline, a warning that the National Beef Association (NBA) had also given.

The UK breeding herd has declined 27 percent between 1990 and 2007, and with it, beef production, said an EBLEX report.

Despite current strong cattle prices, robust consumer demand and surging exports, many producers are still incurring losses. Current cattle prices are also lower in real terms than they were in 1990, the report said.

The report also said beef producers and processors, the wider food industry, policymakers and concerned NGOs should take a longer-term strategic view in order the secure the future of the beef industry.

The short-termism of some key players in the beef supply chain, and the lack of awareness of policymakers and the public of the steady deterioration of the beef industry, means that the UK is sleepwalking towards the irretrievable decline of an important part of the farming industry, said EBLEX Chairman John Cross.

But this is not inevitable, Cross said, as EBLEX is tackling the problem through its knowledge transfer work with the aim of improving profitability and competitiveness to secure the future of the domestic beef industry, but others must also play a part.

The report also highlighted that UK's self-sufficiency in beef has dropped from 109 percent in 1995 to 80 percent in 2008, and that beef consumption was 12-percent higher than it was in 1990.

The beef sector accounts for about 12 percent of the value of UK farm output.