NBA Winter Magazine_2023_

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Chairman’s Welcome Welcome to the Winter edition of Beef magazine Robert Venner I started my autumn chairman’s report referring to the weather. I did not anticipate that it would still be raining almost 3 months later. Gosh we’ve seen some rain! With the weather being rather too warm to house stock, and the land being far too wet to keep them out, it’s a hard situation for many farmers. Consequently, we have seen phenomenal numbers of store cattle through the market. Usually at this time of year trade can be a bit sticky but, as the finished price has recovered, store values have been excellent. The mid October/ November drive for Christmas supply has really lifted the trade back up to near former highs. Fat cattle are back up to 300ppk live, and I just hope the trade lasts until our traditional Christmas fat-stock show in early December. The buying pattern has definitely moved to earlier in the year, and so might the Christmas fat-stock in future years. Politically it was extremely disappointing to learn of Jacob Rees-Mogg’s remarks against British agriculture, in which he called for “cheaper food” such as “hormone injected beef from Australia.” The use of hormones in livestock production was banned over 30 years ago and we definitely don’t want to return to it now. Even George Eustice came out to state that Liz Truss’ trade deal with Australia and New Zealand was not good for the UK. He then went on to say “The UK went into this negotiation holding the strongest hand, the best cards, but at some point in early summer 2021, the then trade secretary (Liz Truss) took a decision to set an arbitrary target to conclude it by G7. From that moment we were on the back foot.” I doubt that Mr Rees-Mogg will listen, but he needs to understand that UK farmers want to farm in a way that cares for our animals, preserves our landscape and leaves our environment in a better state that when we found it. A message, which I hope the newly appointed DEFRA minister, Stephen Barclay, will take on board and act accordingly. There has been much in the press about Red Tractor and the Greener Farming Commitment. We at the NBA instigated a stakeholder meeting at Sedgemoor back in February, with representatives from the NFU, NSA and other leading South-West farmers. At the meeting, we made a decision to invite Red Tractor to a further meeting later in the year. In early October we met with Jim Mosely, Philippa Wiltshire and John Dracup. We had a very open and constructive discussion, which all parties felt was beneficial. Following extra feed-back provided to Red Tractor at a further members’ meeting at Taunton in late October, Christine Tacon, Red Tractor chair, put out a statement apologising for being “slow to understand” members views fully on the Greener Farming Commitment, admitting farmer frustration seemed to run deeper than the controversial module. She further stated Red Tractor would not progress with the implementation of any further new standards or additional modules until the first NFU independent review, focusing on Red Tractor governance, was completed. It is clear that it will be very difficult for Red Tractor to reduce its requirements under basic RT assurance. The challenge is to create a more acceptable mode of implementation. A more supportive, rather than regulatory, style of inspection would be a big step in the right direction. Whether the AHDB regional advisors could attend desiring farms ahead of inspection to help put paperwork in place, or whether Red Tractor could have their own pre-inspection co-ordinators is a matter for discussion. Would AHDB levy payers want to see their monies used to help other farmers to put their paperwork in order? Red Tractor co-ordinators would add cost to system, and how would this be funded? The Greener Farming Commitment module has to be built alongside the Government’s Sustainable Farming Incentive programme. GFC is the right thing to do for the beef industry but has however been launched too soon. If SFI can provide the requirements for GFC, then it is a win-win for all parties involved. Another thing which is clear, is that Red Tractor is a voluntary option. Beef farmers do not have to be Red Tractor assured and can build their business without such assurance. Some have become frustrated due to the constant “cranking up of standards”. Those who need Red Tractor assurance for their business are going to have to persist with it, but we will keep exploring ideas of how Red Tractor’s implementation can be made more palatable. I do know that if we want to defend our home market against imports, we all need to stand behind our standards. Therefore, we have to be mindful that we do not create a circumstance whereby it is “acceptable” to offer non-UK beef in our major retail outlets. Mr Rees-Mogg has to face an election, it may not be so easy to remove Australian hormone produced beef once it has reached our shelves. 04 The National Beef Association Magazine | WINTER 2023
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Page 1 and 2: Winter 2023 | ISSUE 29 Regional Rou
Page 3: Contents Winter 2023 ISSUE 29 16 ED
Page 7 and 8: Unique respiratory coronavirus prot
Page 9 and 10: “With the Vector, every animal ge
Page 11 and 12: Industry News AHDB Beef & Lamb’s
Page 13 and 14: IS NOW Stay fully charged this Wint
Page 15 and 16: Molasses Blends The Essential Ingre
Page 17 and 18: choose for the Hanskamp Spider feed
Page 19 and 20: WAGYU BREEDERS ASSOCIATION APPROVED
Page 21 and 22: Industry News Buying ‘High Health
Page 23 and 24: ® Merry Christmas from all at KW!
Page 25 and 26: Industry News continue to play its
Page 27 and 28: For Feed Industry since 1964 Elensi
Page 29 and 30: Industry News • The team at Brong
Page 31 and 32: Better Breeding Based Upon Your Goa
Page 33 and 34: Highland | Breed Society Focus How
Page 35 and 36: BREEDING SALERS IN THE SCOTTISH BOR
Page 37 and 38: Key Appointment for the British Cha
Page 39 and 40: Breed Society News NATIONAL BEEF EV
Page 41 and 42: MELTON MOWBRAY MULTIBREED SALE - 27
Page 43 and 44: # NBA Membership Join the NBA Today

NBA Winter Magazine_2023_

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