August 24, 2007

Scottish farmers demand supermarkets of higher premium prices for beef

The Scottish Beef Cattle Association (SBCA) has urged both supermarkets and the processing industry to pay farmers a fair price or risk the industry losing critical mass.

The announcement came days after the Competition Commission demanded that two leading supermarket chains hand over the details of thousands of e-mails between them and their customers.

Jim Kennedy, the chairman of the SBCA, said beef farmers in Scotland need support across the board from abattoirs to instil confidence into a diminishing sector. The continued importation of beef products may well fill supermarket shelves, but it will not lead to the production of reliable numbers of Scottish cattle in the longer term, he said.

Scottish finishers of quality prime cattle are currently receiving about GBP220 per kilogramme deadweight, a GBP10 ahead of the trade in England and Wales, but Kennedy says it is nowhere near high enough. He might have also pointed out that as far back as 1995 the average for all steers in Britain over the year was GBP227.7. 

Kennedy said meat plant operators and the supermarkets must acknowledge the true costs of production and pay accordingly. He said now is the time for the processors and supermarkets to put stability into the marts and deadweight sector as primary producers are facing difficult trading conditions for their suckled calves.

Following the reforms of the Common Agricultural Policy in 2005 there has been a slow decline in the Scottish suckler herd - the cows that are predominately run on the hills and uplands. The national herd stands at barely 490,000 cows, down by about 5,000 since 2005; and way short of the 512,000 cows in 1995.

The SBCA chief said there is little doubt that if breeders do not receive a decent price for their calves at the autumn sales there is likely to be a major exodus from the breeding sector. Those farmers who regularly buy calves also face a sharp increase in feed costs this winter, with grain prices up at least GBP40 per tonne on last year. They will either have to buy calves cheaper or be guaranteed a much higher price for their prime cattle at point of slaughter, he said.