Clean beef prices at a low, says National Beef Association
Recent reports from the National Beef Association (NBA) indicate that spring 2016 has been the third spring in a row when Scottish clean beef prices have dropped.
According to the NBA, the pound has weakened over the last four months by 16% from 69p to 80p per euro.
However, the weaker value of sterling has made exporting beef more attractive while making imports less competitive, so the NBA has posed the question: why have clean cattle dropped by over 12%?
The value of cull cows has only dropped by 3% despite larger numbers coming forward, particularly from the dairy sector.
Neil McCorkindale, chairman of the Scottish Beef Association (SBA).
Neil McCorkindale, chairman of the Scottish Beef Association (SBA) said: “I am told that there has been a shift in carcase balance with the higher value cuts being readily sold and chills filling up with the cheaper cuts.
“This would also beg the question, why are clean cattle getting cheaper at a time when currency factors would indicate the opposite?”
McCorkindale went on to say: “In the run up to the Scottish Election I would ask our politicians to consider that over the last seven years, the value of Scotland’s food and drink industry has more than doubled. Farmgate prices on the other hand are almost exclusively lower. Does the farmer not deserve his share?”
The NBA suggests that the farmers need to be given a better share, before they are squeezed out of business – and if they aren’t, perhaps Government legislation may be required to protect the primary producer.
The NBA says that historically, farmer’s share of the retail price of beef has been around 52% at which consumers would see a base price of £3.75 instead of £3.25 per kilo.
Today it is said to be struggling to be 45%.
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