A poultry farmer from Powys has been honoured at the NFU Conference for her dedication and commitment to the UK farming industry.

This year’s Meurig Raymond Award – named after the NFU’s former President – was presented to mid-Wales broiler producer Sharon Hammond.

Farming in Llanyre near Llandrindod Wells, she is well known for speaking regularly to the media on high-profile issues that impact farmers, offering balance on subjects such as water quality.

A member of NFU Cymru, she also works closely with local schools. Using her educational background, she teaches primary and secondary pupils about Welsh food and farming.

Sharon said: “There’s no I in team, there’s no I in NFU, I’m extremely proud to farm and very proud to be part of Brecon and Radnor NFU and speak up on behalf of our industry.

“The NFU is a family and we are here to support each other in the good times and bad but it also gives us the ability to speak up and fight for what we believe in.”

Farming UK Team

The Agriculture and Horticulture Development Board (AHDB) has announced that Great British Beef Week (GBBW) will launch on Tuesday 23rd April 2024.

The week will commence in order to celebrate the “iconic” flavours and versatility of British beef and the sustainable practices of beef farmers.

Now in its 14th year, the Great British Beef Week was founded by Ladies in Beef (LiB), and looks to “unite all sectors of the beef industry.” AHDB said that it is an opportunity to showcase creativity and delight customers with “unique” beef dishes.

As part of the celebration, AHDB is hosting a ‘British Beef Re-imagined’ on-farm event, demonstrating the field-to-fork journey.

The event will be held on Tuesday 16th April and will include butchery and cookery demonstrations, highlight current trends and share menu development ideas.

Guests will also be taken on a farm walk that will highlight some of the environmentally friendly practices of British beef farmers.

During the Great British Beef Week, AHDB said it is encouraging sectors of the beef industry – farmers, retailers, butchers, farm shops, pubs and restaurants – to get involved by “reimagining” British beef and creating their own unique menus for the week. Recipes can also be shared on social channels using the #GBBW24 and #NaturallyDeliciousBeef.

Meat Management

The Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) has released its quarterly statistics on livestock slaughtered and meat production, highlighting record lamb and sheep production, as well as the highest slaughter of lambs ever at 24,909,600 lambs, up 16.38% year-on-year (YoY).

According to Meat & Livestock Australia (MLA), Australia produced the most lamb on record in the calendar year 2023. In all, 246,003 tonnes of lamb were produced in 2023, putting it 11.6% higher than 2022, which was another record year.

Stephen Bignell, Manager – Market Information, at MLA noted that as predicted last year, lamb production hit yet another record thanks to the significant flock rebuild since 2020.

“The biggest sheep flock for 15 years, including the greatest number of ewes and biggest number of lambs, has resulted in these record slaughter and production rates yet again this year”, Mr Bignell said.

“Despite anxieties into the capacity of processing facilities to cope with the backlog of lambs, these figures indicate that they were able to cope with the numbers supplied.

“This resulted in strong exports as well as plenty of lamb being available domestically, which was enjoyed by many Australians over the summer.

“Lamb carcase weights were down 3.64% to 24.09kg. This is close to the ideal carcase weight for Australian domestically-consumed lamb – which is around 24kg”.

The fourth quarter of 2023 was the largest quarterly lamb slaughter on record at 6,674,500 lambs, which helped to break the yearly record.

It was also a record year for sheep and mutton production, with a 43% increase in mutton production to 2,446,003 tonnes. This is the largest calendar year of mutton production since 2006.

Last year was also a large production year for beef, with production up 18% year-on-year to 2,210,954 tonnes, which was the largest year since 2019.

“This was thanks to a large national herd and processors handling the increase”, Mr Bignell said.

Euromeat

Since 2000, Beijing has imposed a ban on the European Union from exporting beef products due to the emergence of several cases of bovine spongiform encephalopathy, or “mad cow” disease, in several members of the bloc that year.

“It is good news, especially for Spanish farmers”, Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi told a joint news conference with his Spanish counterpart Jose Manuel Albares in Cordoba in southern Spain.

The announcement comes as farmers in Spain have for the past two weeks taken part in EU-wide protests over heavy regulation, high costs and cheaper imports which they say have left them struggling to make ends meet.

“When you take into account the size of the Chinese market, the impact is going to be extraordinarily positive”, Albares said.

“This is a measure which we have long been asking for and which benefits the entire countryside. It is hard to find a market like the Chinese market”.

Wang is scheduled to meet with Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez on Monday before heading to France. This is his first visit to Spain in six years.

“China sees Spain as a good and trustworthy partner in the European Union. We are willing to work together with Spain to develop bilateral relations”, the Chinese minister said.

Euromeat News

The Wagyu Breeders Association (WBA), a promotional body for British Wagyu, has said that the demand for Wagyu beef shows “no sign of slowing”, as figures released by the British Cattle Movement Service (BCMS) for 2023 show that British Wagyu more than doubled its numbers on the year.

The figures for beef cattle born in England, Scotland and Wales revealed over 35,000 Wagyu-sired calves were born in 2023. Of these 35,000, the figures showed that 33,347 were crossbred (sired by a Wagyu bull) and 2,203 were purebred, totalling 35,550 head of Wagyu when compared to 17,083 in 2022.

In 2014, 2,405 Wagyu-sired calves were born – 10 years later, the breed represents 1.8% of the circa 1.9 million beef-sired calves born in Great Britain annually.

WBA director Chris Dickinson said: “Consumer demand for the world’s luxury beef shows no sign of slowing and its great to see British Wagyu numbers continuing to grow year-on-year. The profile of the breed has risen dramatically over the past decade and it is the easy-care nature of the cattle combined with a premium return that has attracted so many new farmers and breeders.

“It also taps into the expansion of beef from the dairy herd backed by integrated beef schemes like Warrendale’s. British Wagyu has become a significant player in the UK beef industry and as both a Wagyu producer and British Wagyu Association Director there is still great potential ahead.”

WBA said that the figures are backed by a British Wagyu quality assured branded beef scheme now entering its third year. It is alongside Meat Image Japan (MIJ) carcase camera technology, which takes digital images from the cut ribeye surface to objectively measure marbling score, marbling fineness and ribeye area – this gives an overall DMS (Digital Marble Score) for each body of beef.

Meat Management

The pig sector has called on all parties to act to deliver fairness in the supply chain and to protect borders from diseases like African swine fever (ASF), ahead of an expected election this year.

The National Pig Association (NPA) has today published its election manifesto, setting out three overriding priorities for the pig sector in an election year.

Under the first heading, it highlights the need for the Defra Contractual Practice Review into the sector to lead to “concrete actions and a mandatory code that better protects primary producers by distributing risk throughout the supply chain more proportionately”.

This code must cover the entire supply chain, including retailers, so costs and pressures are shared more equitably.

The NPA also wants to see more done to promote British pork through clearer country-of-origin labelling, more public procurement of home grown produce and investment in export markets.

The manifesto goes onto highlight how the lack of resource for border checks for high-risk goods moving from the EU to Britain poses ‘a grave threat’ to the UK’s biosecurity and its ability to prevent notifiable diseases, such as ASF.

More than 65 tonnes of illegal meat products have been seized at the port of Dover since September 2022, despite limited funding, and yet Defra is proposing to slash funding for this vital work.

The NPA therefore calls for improved and increased border controls for meat imports and for sufficient resource to be made available at major ports, such as Dover.

This is alongside a ban on all non-commercial pork imports, removing the current 2kg limit, and strict penalties for any individuals caught bringing illegal meat into the UK.

The association also wants a review of APHA resource and expertise to ensure it is capable of responding quickly and effectively to notifiable disease outbreaks.

Farming UK Team | Farming UK

The United States has long forged its place in history as the ‘land of opportunity’, but there really is no better way to describe it for the Irish agri-food firms making top dollar offering a taste of the Emerald Isle stateside.

The United States is Ireland’s largest agri-food export market outside of Europe — and the country’s second biggest market globally.

Southwark’s Borough Market is a testament to the culinary heritage of London. As the city’s oldest fruit and vegetable market it has a longstanding history going back over 1,000 years. It thrived as a wholesale market until the declining trade of the late 20th century opened it up as a retail community.

It exists now as a sprawling and bustling marketplace; a congregation of restaurants and shopfronts celebrating cuisine from all over the globe. 

Throughout the 19th century, the demand for meat soared as urbanisation and population growth in London boomed. To meet the demands of the expanding population, traders started offering various cuts of meat until the market became renowned for its wholesale meat trade, facilitated by the market’s strategic location and nearby railways.

The market is known for its selection of artisanal butchers and specialty meat vendors who provide customers with a diverse range of cuts, including premium cuts of beef, lamb, pork, game meats, and poultry. A focus on quality and diverse culinary traditions mark out this market as a great place to explore the best that London’s meat trade has to offer and is sure to leave a lasting impression.

Borough Market began as a vital trading centre for local farmers, and thanks to the urbanisation of South London and the sparkly new railway in the 19th century, the market has continued to flourish.

Nowadays, organic and specialty produce takes centre stage, a thriving hub of culinary experiences whilst retaining the exciting feel of wandering through historic alleyways, lending itself as not only a place to grab food but as an ever-evolving experience of London’s vast history, which is definitely worth a visit.

By Lucy Vardy

Read More:

https://boroughmarket.org.uk/market-blog/borough-market-began-with-a-bridge/

https://hidden-london.com/gazetteer/borough/

The Chinese market has provided the UK pork sector with a ‘soft landing’ amid the global disruption to trade caused by the COVID-19 pandemic.

But with a complex mix of COVID-19, African swine fever (ASF) and political tensions currently shaping the outlook for the global pork market, the UK should pursue other export opportunities, particularly in Asia, according to Rupert Claxton, meat director at global consultants GIRA.

During an AHDB export webinar, he outlined the impact of the pandemic on economies across the world – GDP is down, for example, by nearly 8% in the EU, 7% in the US, 5% in Brazil, 7% in Thailand, 5% in Japan, with many other countries similarly affected.

The UK pork sector has largely ‘weathered the storm’ thanks to strong domestic demand and continuing high volumes of exports to China. However, the winding down of the furlough scheme in the UK over the coming months is likely to contribute to turning the disease crisis into economic crisis, with a knock-on effect for the meat industry, Mr Claxton said.

US live cattle futures stabilised on 8 June, reversing last week’s falls.

Reuters reports that US beef prices continue to weaken. The market is expected to remain under pressure as beef production continues to recover from COVID-19-related disruptions in April and May.

Meat processors slaughtered an estimated 117,000 cattle on 8 June, up from 110,000 a week earlier and down from 119,000 a year ago, according to the USDA.

Wholesale beef prices have dropped from historic highs as production has improved. The choice boxed beef cutout, an indicator of wholesale prices, fell to $256.33 per cwt on Monday, down $5.15 from Friday, when cutout dropped $10, according to the USDA.

Chicago Mercantile Exchange (CME) June live cattle futures settled up 0.225 cent at 94.125 cents per pound. The benchmark August contract rose 0.150 cents to 96.325 cents, after hitting a one-month low 5 June.