Scottish livestock farmers were last night given an upbeat message from the heart of the world’s largest food fair by Quality Meat Scotland (QMS) chairman Jim McLaren.
He said there remained fantastic opportunities for Scotland’s Scotch Beef, Scotch Lamb and Specially Selected Pork brands.
Demand now and in the future would be more level and it was coming from a much wider range of countries, which would help avoid the previous “boom and bust” scenario associated with exports to just a handful of nations.
Mr McLaren, speaking at the Anuga food fair in Cologne, Germany, said his optimism also came from a global meat market where supplies are becoming increasingly tight because of falling livestock numbers.
Tackling that remains one of the biggest challenges facing the sector.
He did not believe it was possible in Scotland to entice those who had left livestock farming back into keeping cattle or sheep. The future instead lies with existing producers upping their numbers or new entrants coming into the industry and opting into livestock.
A key for the latter group deciding whether or not to start beef or lamb production is in the support system and the need for them, at the very least, to start with the same level of subsidy as existing farmers.
Mr McLaren also spoke about the possibility of allowing beef from calves from the dairy herd into the Scotch Beef brand – a move that the Scottish industry has resisted up to now as that meat has in the past been seen as inferior quality.
He acknowledged the potential downside of this move and the perception still surrounding beef from the dairy herd, particularly in a brand that has sold itself internationally on being 100% suckler beef.
But Mr McLaren also said there was a need for radical change in dairying through sexed semen use. It could be used on the better half of the national dairy herd to guarantee heifer calves that turn into better milking cows. A beef bull could then be used on the remainder to produce calves for the meat trade.
But whatever move was made to increase cattle numbers, Mr McLaren was adamant there would be no quick fix.
UK Environment Secretary Owen Paterson, who was at Anuga to launch the UK’s food and drink export action plan, agreed the supply of beef cattle was leaving the market short at a time of expansion. But he rejected a suggestion that farm policies should be changed to ensure more cattle are kept on farms.
“That is up to farmers (to decide how many cattle they keep). We should not interfere. That is how the Cap got into a muddle last time,” he added.
Mr Paterson also said progress was being made on the thorny issue of levy repatriation. QMS is losing £1.4million annually on Scottish cattle, pigs and lambs being slaughtered in England and Wales.
He expects an announcement on the issue soon. UK Farm Minister David Heath has proposed a remedy which would involve all UK levy boards working closely. The other possibility appears Scotland being given a much greater say in which countries the UK Government negotiates the necessary health protocols needed to open up new markets.