Trade bodies have called on Government to support British farming, with the Scottish Association of Meat Wholesalers (SAMW) highlighting the "ideal" farming conditions for sustainable meat production in the UK.
SAMW released a statement following the end of 2023, reviewing the changes that took place over the year and detailing how Government can contribute more to Scottish meat production in 2024.
Ian Bentley, SAMW president, said: "It’s unnerving how much change has taken place over the past 12 months while, at the same time, how little has been achieved in terms of policy advances or the delivery of solutions to benefit Scotland’s red meat chain either in 2024 or beyond.
“For Scotland’s red meat industry, in particular, 2023 will be noted for a degree of business upheaval, driven by changes of ownership, although it’s encouraging that we have suffered no loss of processing capacity during this process.
“More worrying is the continuing annual decline in livestock numbers, despite relatively strong prices for producers throughout the past year. While the decline in 2023 has been small in percentage terms, the drip, drip, impact on our shrinking breeding herd is approaching a critical point.
“I have said before that this should be a source of concern to Government and a stimulus to move forward with an agriculture policy which recognises the importance of the meat industry to Scotland's economy and incentivises increases in sustainable production. However, we are still to see any detailed proposals along these lines, and I fear that continuing uncertainty will result in a further reduction in numbers in 2024."
Bentley continued: "This trend has several consequences. One is that a reduction in domestic production opens the door to increased imports of meat from across the world, potentially from countries whose standards of quality, welfare, and sustainability are inferior to our own. This surely cannot be right, yet some of the recent trade deals agreed by the UK Government seem expressly designed to open up our country to these sources.
“Given that our climate and terrain is ideally suited to farming for sustainable meat production, we should be promoting and supporting our domestic industry rather than undermining it, as so often seems to be the case. I hope that in 2024 we shall start to see positive signs in this direction."
NFU calls for farming support in New Year message
In her annual New Year's message, president of the National Farmers' Union (NFU) Minette Batters also urged Government to deliver on its priorities and invest in the farming sector.
NFU president Minette Batters said: “As I write my final New Year’s message as president of the NFU, it’s impossible not to reflect upon the unprecedented challenges the farming community has faced over the past 12 months. Soaring production costs, global turmoil from the Ukraine war, extreme weather and significant delays to the future of farm payments have all put the resilience of British farmers at risk.
“A landmark achievement was the first ever Farm to Fork Summit held at Number 10 this summer – a culmination of over a year’s worth of work and campaigning by the NFU. This event secured Government commitments to support British farming and protect our domestic food security and concluded with Prime Minister Rishi Sunak’s recognition that food security should be taken seriously by the Government.
“Two key causes for celebration this year are both the Precision Breeding Bill and Equipment Theft Bill receiving Royal Assent, granting farmers greater access to precision breeding tools for their crops and livestock and the Government greater powers against equipment theft. We campaigned hard on both issues and these bills are important steps forward to help farmers improve their climate-friendly food production and keep their businesses safer from criminals.”
Batters highlighted the importance of the Buy British Button on supermarket websites, which over 27,000 members of the public rallied for following the campaign.
She said: “It is heartening to see the public’s recognition and appreciation for the vital work farmers do 365 days of the year to produce climate friendly food, care for livestock, and protect and enhance the environment we all know and love. The British public clearly value our farmers and growers, with 82% being in favour of the Government setting food security targets, while 84% think food production targets are either as important or more important than the environmental targets we have current legislation for."
Other topics discussed in the message included the announcement of the Industrial Energy Transformation (IETF) Fund to help cut energy bills for horticulture businesses, the necessity of skilled labour and the NFU's urging of Government to "embed" national food security into the Sustainable Farming Initiative (SFI) as a "matter of urgency".
Vet attestation
In the SAMW statement, Bentley also stressed that Government must turn its focus to veterinary experts within the industry as recruitment becomes more difficult across the UK.
He said: "We also hope for sensible moves in relation to the regulation of our industry. All too often, regulatory friction inhibits trade, as we have seen in recent months with the introduction of vet attestation requirements for exports. It is difficult to justify this additional bureaucracy and we hope it will not hinder trade through 2024.
“The processes surrounding vet attestation is a prime example of low policy implementation in both 2022 and 2023. Originally scheduled for launch in December 2022, the policy was first delayed until December 2023 and is now scheduled for practical introduction in April 2024. All that has been achieved so far is uncertainty for those seeking to run commercial meat export businesses.
“In addition, the attestation requirement appears set to add to difficulties already being encountered concerning the availability of sufficient qualified vets to keep our industry running smoothly. Vet recruitment is fast becoming a major issue across the country, indeed across the world, and tying up the vets we already have with ever more form filling is a poor use of their expertise.
Bentley concluded: “We remain positive and upbeat about the quality base on which the Scottish meat industry is founded, nevertheless, from stock breeding through processing to strong trade contacts at home and abroad. These factors have never been in doubt. It would be helpful though if some of the limiting impacts I’ve already mentioned are properly and finally dealt with in 2024. That is certainly our hope for the new year."
This story was originally published on a previous version of the Meat Management website and so there may be some missing images and formatting issues.
