Speaking at a media briefing on Quality Meat Scotland’s (QMS) planned activities for the year ahead, chairman Jim McLaren urged beef producers to focus on the aspects of their business profitability and efficiency which they can control.
“There will always be factors which influence the profitability of livestock farming which are outwith the control of producers such as CAP reform and currency fluctuations.
“The challenge for the industry looking forward is to avoid being distracted or undermined by those areas, and instead focus our energy on the aspects of our businesses where improvements can be made,” said McLaren.
The practical implementation of the Beef 2020 proposals, confirmed by Rural Affairs Secretary Richard Lochhead in recent weeks, offers a major opportunity for Scotland’s beef industry, he added.
Uel Morton, QMS chief executive, said the organisation was in good shape to deliver strongly on behalf of levy-payers.
Morton said he was pleased to note that grant income sourced by the organisation for the year past was £1.25m which he said was a tremendous boost to QMS’s activities for the industry.
He was hopeful the trend of declining levy income has slowed with positive signals including the current redevelopment of the pig processing plant at Brechin and the creation of a new abattoir in Inverurie, though he said the full impact of CAP implementation on overall livestock numbers was as yet unknown.
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