SCOTLAND'S MEAT wholesalers are worried about Brexit – but they are a whole lot more worried about the country's diminishing supply of livestock.

Speaking at the Scottish Association of Meat Wholesalers annual conference in Glasgow last Saturday, president Frank Clark laid out the many challenges and opportunities ahead of the sector and stressed that, whether serving established markets or conquering new ones, an adequate flow of in-spec animals was essential.

"That is actually the main concern for member companies at present and has been for several years," said Mr Clark. "While we all knew the extent to which supplies are under pressure, it was still shocking to face the reality of last month’s Scottish Government survey report that cattle numbers in Scotland are now at their lowest since 1950.

"Whatever else comes out of Brexit, therefore, government must succeed in delivering a production platform which will encourage farmers to start building numbers again. We can’t afford to let the downward spiral we’re seeing at present gather even more momentum," he warned.

"As numbers fall, so processing plants come under unit cost pressures, businesses merge and abattoirs close. We’ve seen it before and unless the numbers decline is halted, we’ll see it again and, frankly, waiting two more years before seeking a solution is not the answer."

Mr Clark suggested that, at farm level, producers could do their bit to make the whole sector Brexit ready by hitting the correct livestock spec more consistently than they do at present: "Some hit it full on all the time, of course, and many get it right most of the time but there are still too many out-of-spec cattle being presented for processing. That is frustrating for plants and costly for farmers and a waste of Scotland’s output potential.

"On all fronts, in fact, Government, Food Standards Scotland, farmers and ourselves, we need to be fit and ready, post-Brexit, to maximise our trade so that the red meat sector can increase the already formidable contribution that it makes to the UK economy."

But Mr Clark stressed that the current focus on what would happen beyond Brexit should not be allowed to distract or defer efforts to create the right production platform for the here and now, and the real and valuable domestic market for Scottish meat.

"Agonising over Brexit negotiations, the promise of writing a new UK agriculture policy or debating whether or not to follow New Zealand’s no-subsidies move in the 1980s isn’t helping – and it’s not helping big time," he said.

Instead, he said more consideration might be given to Scotland's Beef 2020 programme, which remains open and available for use by farmers, despite their apparent lack of enthusiasm.

"The farm level take-up of Beef 2020, with all its potential as a vehicle for increased production, is so far disappointing, especially given the programme’s original promise and the development work it was given.

"It’s also disappointing that the previous Cabinet Secretary’s intention to assist market-linked developments in relation to our own sector has not so far been given appropriate attention at government level. Progress has been so slow on this that, in truth, it’s barely visible," said Mr Clark.

"We still believe Beef 2020 has value but could not, at this point, say that it’s been at all successful, certainly not in term of delivering end product success."