Beef producers both in Yorkshire and across the country are struggling to make ends meet due to the rock bottom farm gate prices, which have fallen by more than 60p per kilo in the last year – leaving some farmers facing a £200 loss on every animal they produce.
At the same time, the retail price has shot up by more than 46p per kilo – giving processors, retailers and the meat trade a significant increase in margin. The gap between the price in the shops and the farm price is now a whopping £1.20 a kilo more than in 2007.
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NFU President Meurig Raymond, who is attending the show in Harrogate, said: “Not only are we seeing large volumes of beef being imported, most notably from Ireland, but retailers are doing very little to help consumers differentiate between British and Irish in the shops.
“What’s more, where we are seeing beef promoted with lower prices, this is almost exclusively on mince – not prime cuts.”
Mr Raymond said that if retailers were serious about working more closely with British beef producers, they would be doing everything possible to secure a long term future for the industry, including promoting British beef wherever possible and clearly using the Red Tractor quality mark to help consumers identify British product on the shelves.
“We are seeing some examples of this, but they are very few and far between,” he said. “Yorkshire’s Dovecote Park is leading the way, setting a guaranteed minimum price for a three month period, but this approach is sorely lacking elsewhere.”