Unions demand support for crisis-hit beef producers
The farming unions in Scotland, England, Wales and Northern Ireland have thrown their combined might behind a plea to gain political recognition of the crisis in the beef sector, which has seen producers’ incomes plunge by more than £170 million on the year.
A joint submission from the unions yesterday demanded urgent action from Theresa Villiers, the UK Secretary of State for the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, to protect farmer income.
In their letter the unions warned that there will be fundamental damage to the viability of the UK beef suckler herd if the Government doesn’t take action to address the current price situation, which they claim is seeing producers losing £200 or more on each animal sold.
They called for the UK Government to recognise the steps taken by the European Commission to support beef farmers in the Republic of Ireland with €100 million and ask it to consider a Uk-wide emergency support package for beef producers in this country.
The unions estimate that, between November 2018 and August 2019, beef farmers lost almost £170 million of income compared with the previous year, with Scottish farmers and crofters losing at least £33 million.
NFU Scotland livestock committee chairman Jimmy Ireland said yesterday that there had been little recognition of the plight of Scottish beef farmers.
“Weneedtoseetheuk Government show the same recognition of our farmers as the European Commission did for farmers in the Republic of Ireland who are receiving an additional €100 million cash injection.
He said that, with the environment at the top of the agenda, the country needed to see the Government support local, grassbased suckler beef production.
“I am calling on the UK Government to take essential steps to support the sector, including emergency support for Scotland’s beef producers,” he said.
Ireland added that the union was joining its counterparts across the UK in calling on the Government to take practical steps which would help the sector, including extending country of origin labeling from fresh beef to all processed beef products and pump-prime more investment in marketing through the red meat levy bodies such as QMS.
“Scottish beef farmers and crofters require an urgent resolution to this situation, and we need to finally see action from the UK Government,” said Ireland.