RETURNS from beef cattle, despite a recent dip, are running well above last year's.
However, many farmers say improved prices have been matched by higher costs and that profitability remains marginal.
Feeding lower quantities of expensive grain during the winter months and placing a greater reliance on grass during the summer and
autumn could well provide a route to improved margins, according to the results of two trials at the Scottish Agricultural College funded by Quality Meat Scotland.
Johnny Mackey, technical projects manager at QMS, in a blunt message to farmers, said: "With the price of feed escalating it's critical to fully utilise the cheapest feed on the farm – your grass.
"There is a perceived notion that you have to push cattle hard over the winter, but these studies are suggesting that they will just come out of the sheds overcooked and will not do well on grass.
"It's been shown that an inconsistent growth rate can be detrimental to eating quality and tenderness, which is what after all is what the consumer is looking for from Scotch beef."
Farmers will have the opportunity on 19 August to see the results of one of the trials at Calla Farm, near Carnwath in Lanarkshire, where host farmer David Baillie will explain how he operates his beef system.
Mackey said: "Some people think you have to get animals as big as possible over the winter, but it has been shown that if the diet is managed consistently, it is possible to achieve better growth in spring and summer and save a lot of money."
Red meat production is falling throughout much of the EU, but the latest figures show that consumption of beef is also declining in Britain as the "credit crunch" begins to bite.
In the four weeks ending 13 July household purchases of beef were down 7 per cent on the same period a year earlier. The number of households buying beef during the period declined by 4 per cent.
However, the total expenditure on beef increased by 1 per cent to £115 million as a result of a 9 per cent rise in the year-on-year retail price of beef.
One hotelier in Melrose recently told The Scotsman fillet steak off the menu as customers would have to be charged £27 per portion for the hotelier to make even a modest margin.
But the laws of supply and demand invariably apply and if there is less beef around, ex-farm prices will remain relatively high. This is also likely to come into play soon in relation to bacon and pork from Denmark after a substantial reduction in the pig herd.
The full article contains 450 words and appears in The Scotsman newspaper.
