Introduction
More than 10,000 farm and croft holdings in Scotland are involved in beef production and it contributes some £850 million to Scotland’s annual farm output – around 25% of the total.
These farms and crofts supply approximately 450,000 cattle per year to 20 abattoirs in Scotland, producing more than 165,000 tonnes of beef.
Exports outside of the UK are a small but significant part of trade, taking around 7% of ex-abattoir production each year.
However, the biggest market is trade with the UK, excluding Scotland, and this takes around two-thirds of abattoir output.
While beef cattle farming is at the centre of a successful Scottish beef value chain, the wider industry comprises a diverse range of components, ranging from vets, hauliers, auctioneers and feed and supply sector companies, to processors, butchers, logistics and retail outlets.
The future success of the industry is reliant on each and every element of this supply chain working together for the benefit for the industry as a whole.
Scotland has a resilient beef sector. The global Covid pandemic and the war in Ukraine have highlighted the capacity of the whole supply chain, involving many thousands of businesses, to pull together to keep the nation supplied with high-quality beef and beef products.
However, there are some fundamental weaknesses within the industry that could hinder development and growth.
Unless these issues are addressed, instead of focusing on growth on the global stage, the Scottish beef industry could face real challenges that threaten its survival.
The Scottish Government has been a strong advocate of the Scottish food and drink industry since the early adoption and publication of its National Food and Drink Strategy.
This has been followed up with investment, most recently in the Scotland Food and Drink Recovery Plan launched in late 20206.
This plan identifies and targets funding at operations to help the Scottish food and drink sector recover from the Covid pandemic and the UK’s departure from the EU, and places the 'green build back' at the heart of economic recovery.
As we look ahead to 2030, as well as looking to improve the economic viability of the Scottish beef sector, we must place equal importance on decarbonising our sector and laying strong foundations for meeting the Scottish Government’s Net Zero by 2045 legislative commitments, as set out in the 2019 Scottish Climate Change Act7.
The Scottish beef industry, with this country’s natural advantage of abundant grazing and regular rainfall, has the perfect platform to take advantage of the climate change challenge. We can produce a healthy, nutritious food product while minimising emissions and contributing to the management of our land and its world renowned habitats and ecosystems.
This can be achieved by managing animals more efficiently, by tackling the productivity challenge, and by focusing again on changing how we make the most of our breeding and nutrition decision-making.
While most of the heavy lifting will be borne by our primary producers, we cannot forget other supply chain partners when it comes to achieving our goals.
The role our auctioneer, processing and retail partners play as enablers, driving viable routes to market and providing the bridge between production and consumers, is invaluable to fulfilling our ambitions.
Scotland’s natural land assets, from rough grazing in the north and west to more fertile temporary pastures and arable cropping in the south and east, mean we have a diverse range of business types, people and communities.
There is no right or wrong production system that covers the whole of Scotland – no two farms, crofts or farmers are the same.
Therefore, we will not explore, nor make recommendations on, types of production system but will instead focus on the principle that our farmers and crofters should be enabled to make decisions about the best production system that suits their land and their livestock – the right animal, in the right place, farmed with respect for climate, land, people and animal.
This strategy will also not look at areas that come under the scope of Agricultural Support.
Instead, the steering group would like to make an overarching endorsement of the principles outlined in the Farmer-led Group reports from Spring 20218, with recommendations within Beef Sector Strategy 2030 designed to align with these principles and identify industry activity that could enhance their outcomes, and accelerate the just transition to a new support system.
Beef 2030 is an overarching, dynamic strategy for the Scottish beef sector for the next decade, developed through industry consultation and collaboration.
It focuses on achieving greater social, economic and environmental sustainability by seeking to build on current strengths, addressing key weaknesses and threats, and exploring opportunities to attract dynamic new and young people into the industry, while embracing innovative technology and developing new markets.
“We can produce a healthy, nutritious food product while minimising emissions and contributing to the management of our land and the multiple habitats and ecosystems that exist there”