Tyrone countryside. Picture: Cliff Donaldson
Commodity watch by policy officer Kellie Rouse
The Ulster Farmers’ Union hosted the UK nations livestock meeting on Tuesday 13 – Wednesday 14 May. In attendance was policy officers and chairs from the National Farmers’ Union (NFU), National Farmers’ Union Scotland, National Farmers’ Union Cymru and British Agriculture Bureau. Livestock chairs and policy officers regularly meet online to discuss issues effecting individual nations, UK and world livestock farming. Every year a different nation hosts and this year it was Northern Ireland.
Calf rearing
The visit commenced on a sunny morning with a visit to hill farming committee and UFU next generation forum member James Davidson’s calf rearing unit with ABP in Glenarm. James is rearing 2500 calves per year for ABP alongside his wife and family.
Calves arrive on James farm at two – four weeks old. They are weaned off milk around 10 weeks of age. At 16 weeks old the calves are then moved to a finishing unit. The aim of the ABP blade scheme is to finish calves around 20 months old.
All calves are predominantly Aberdeen Angus. However, there is also Hereford and Belgium Blue calves. James highlighted the importance of calf health, welfare and nutrition to ensure calves get the best start. James also has two broiler units and farms easy care ewes.
Prices
Following the farm visit, the UK nation livestock meeting took place. During the meeting the following was discussed: sheep prices across all nations, although back are reasonably stable. All nations commented on the oversupply of large heavy hoggets.
Beef prices remain high with an average around 690p/kg. Supply remains tight across the whole of the UK and the unions agreed there should be no further decline in herds. Similar to Northern Ireland, Scotland’s Suckler Beef Support Scheme has an eligibility requirement of 410 days or less calving interval.
Disease
The unions discussed livestock diseases including bluetongue, restricted zones issues and the cost of vaccines (£3 for sheep and £6 for cattle two doses).
Other diseases discussed included the spread of Foot and Mouth disease in Europe, TB issues in NI, BSE, sheep scab and the issues with dip disposal and BVD, recently Wales have launched a BVD eradication scheme.
The unions discussed bovine EID with Scotland moving ahead with ultra-high frequency tags.
The unions agreed there should be stricter biosecurity and border controls against illegal imports.
Supporting local
The NFU provided an update on their “Backing British Beef: Our visit for 2035” policy. The report sets out key actions to ensure a thriving and profitable future for the beef industry. Some nations raised the issue of the decline in smaller abattoirs.
During the meeting the unions also discussed carbon audits and trade deals. This includes the recent UK and USA, and the EU and UK deal to establish a common sanitary and phytosanitary area by way of European-United Kingdom Sanitary and Phytosanitary agreement.
Balmoral
The following day the UK nations visited the Balmoral Show which was a first for many of them. They visited supermarkets Asda and Marks and Spencer where discussions were had on supporting UK beef and lamb. The nations also met with Red Tractor to discuss the recent UK Farm Assurance Review. Northern Ireland, Scotland and Wales are reasonably happy with their beef and lamb assurance schemes and discussions focused on the issues with the Red Tractor beef and lamb scheme.
