June 11, 2004

 

 

Brazilian Beef Poses Serious Threat To UK Industry   

 

Farmers and the red meat trade in South America, who view the European beef market as a growth area, are watching the rising beef price in the UK.

 

The South American political organisation MERCASUR is presently negotiating with the European Union on increased tonnages of beef to come into Europe.

 

If the negotiations come off, another 100,000 tonnes of beef will come into the EU annually to add to the 400,000 tonnes that are currently imported.

 

The bad news for the UK cattle industry is that their production costs are nowhere near those in the UK or Europe.

 

"We were told that they could produce beef for as little as 26 pence per kilo," said Drew Adam, Newhouse of Glamis, who returned this week from a visit to Brazil.

 

"Their land costs are low, their labour costs are low and their feed costs are low."

 

Mr Adam, who is recognised as one of the top cattle producers in this country, admitted he was worried when he saw the way the Brazilians were looking at increasing their export markets.

 

Visiting South America is not a new experience for Mr Adam, but this latest journey underlined how they are now gearing up for increased production and are looking abroad for markets.

 

Not only are ranches filling up with cattle but large tracts of land are going under the plough for growing soya as livestock feed.

 

China will be one of their main targets, he said. But the meat going into that massive country would generally be of lower quality coming off water buffalo working in the country.

 

The attraction of Europe is that they are looking for the better quality carcasses, and they are already working towards meeting any standards that could be set by the EU.

 

There is already farm traceability and they were working towards providing a total track-back facility.

 

Farm Assurance may not be to the same standards that operate in Scotland, but they do have a scheme that monitors how stock are produced.

 

Regarding the quality of the cattle themselves, Mr Adam said they were very good and at the top end were really exceptional.

 

Charolais numbers in Brazil have increased to the point where it is the dominant continental breed now being used in this country. The cattle population at 87 million head is some 15 times larger than the United Kingdom national herd.

 

"They are looking for smaller cattle than we have here and they are looking for easy-calving cows, as they operate a ranch style of farming," said Mr Adam.

 

The EU has a ban on imports of any semen or embryos from South American countries as a measure to prevent exotic diseases such as blue tongue coming into the UK.

 

If this ban had not been in place, Mr Adam said he was so convinced of their quality that he would have been prepared to buy stock.

 

Although the end price of beef is only a fraction of that existing in this country, the demand for top-quality stock exists.