Jiglu: Farmtalking: Discussion: RE: Whitty: red meat plan should be self-funded

Originally from: David

Here are the official statistics:

http://www.defra.gov.uk/esg/work_htm/Notices/dec_uk.pdf

DEFRA published the results of the December survey of agriculture yesterday. A link to the results of the survey, which shows the dairy herd fell by 5.8% between Dec 2000 and Dec 2001

Cattle
The total number of cattle and calves fell by 7 per cent over the year to December 2001. Both the dairy
herd and the beef herd fell by 6 per cent.

Pigs

The pig breeding herd fell by 5 per cent between December 2000 and December 2001. There was also a
fall of 4 per cent in other pigs for fattening.
Sheep

The sheep breeding flock fell by 13 per cent in the year to December 2001. The number of other sheep
and lambs under one year old fell by 7 per cent.
Crops

The UK wheat area sown by 3 December 2001 is estimated to have been 46 per cent higher than that
sown by December 2000 and the barley area increased by 21 per cent. The oilseed rape area was 1 per
cent lower than at December 2000

-----Original Message-----
From: ...
Originally from: Sue Staunton [...]
Sent: 08 March 2002 06:16
To: ...
Subject: [farmtalking] Whitty: red meat plan should be self-funded
Some interesting statistics at the bottom of the piece:
Whitty: red meat plan should be self-funded
A BOLD new plan to revitalise Britain's ailing £15 billion per year red meat sector was unveiled by industry leaders in London yesterday, to a less than ecstatic welcome by food and farming minister Lord Whitty.
While endorsing the broad thrust of the proposals, he made it clear that government financial backing would be strictly limited, and that much of the impetus would have to come from within the industry.
Lord Whitty, who was speaking at the launch of the Red Meat Industry Forum's 10-point plan to streamline the food chain and boost sales, made it clear that while government might support such projects as the creation of a food chain centre, other elements would require self-financing.
"The future must be sustainable both in environmental and in market terms, including profitability," he said.
"One of the keys to the latter is a rational and efficient product flow from livestock production through abattoirs and processors to the final consumer and an information flow back to producers. Farmers should also speak to other farmers."
He also threw some cold water over sheep sector hopes of a revival of the export market – particularly live exports – as a sustainable means of creating profit, pointing out that half of last year's surplus of one million light lambs were effectively absorbed by the home market.
"Is it really necessary to rely on the export market, almost exclusively, for these animals? Can some of them not be marketed domestically, making a virtue of their local provenance and distinctive characteristics?" he asked.
"What about live exports? In the medium-term we need to question whether we need them. To maximise returns to producers, surely exports should preferably be as carcasses or value-added cuts, not as live animals, both for marketing and animal welfare."
While Whitty accepted that livestock production in the hills and uplands had a value that went beyond pounds and pence, it was important that the market value of the product was maximised.
"Being a custodian of the countryside is not an alternative to raising good quality animals for precise markets – the two activities are inter-dependent and should go hand-in-hand," he said.
His key message of the need for closer co-operation and collaboration – both vertical and horizontal – throughout the food chain and the two-way flow of information was underlined by representatives from the leading supermarket.
Kevin Hawkins of Safeway said that red meat continued to enjoy massive consumer penetration, but the challenge was to drive the frequency of consumption.
This could be improved by developing niche markets based on differing production systems and improving both eating quality and ease of preparation.
Ian Merton of Sainsbury's said there was too much short-termism within the industry, which suffered from a high cost structure and market distortion due to production subsidies, which accounted for about 40 per cent of the final returns on cattle and sheep.
RESULTS from the December 2001 farm census for Scotland show cattle numbers fell 2.8 per cent to 1.9 million, and the total number of sheep fell by 8.3 per cent to 5.7 million. Pig numbers rose by 11 per cent to 573,200, with the breeding herd up 9 per cent to 57,600. The poultry flock increased by 2.3 per cent to more than 14 million with the breeding flock falling 20.8 per cent to 1.3 million.
In the UK, dairy herd numbers fell by 9 per cent and the beef herd by 12 per cent. Total numbers of other cattle and calves decreased by 13 per cent. Sheep and lambs decreased by 17 per cent and the sheep breeding flock dropped 18 per cent. The total number of lambs on farm at 3 December was down on the year by 15 per cent.
Vic Robertson
Friday, 8th March 2002
The Scotsman
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