Uncertain times and drought is hitting our beef trade

In this part of Lanarkshire, we hardly have a clue what drought means. We have never seen anything else but green all around us with enough grass to keep stock happy.

We had two young farm ladies from the Borders last week and they thought they were in a different world, having left parched brown fields only two hours earlier that morning. There is no doubt that by far the majority of West Central Scotland has not suffered nearly as badly as both North and South of the Central Belt.

With the majority of the land in Central Scotland being heavier with a clay subsoil, it has endured the much drier conditions than we have had for some time and we are certainly not so badly affected as we were in 1976.

This farm, for some historic reason, has about 10 acres of very sandy soil right in the middle of it and even it has not burned up the way it did in 1976. Having said all that, there are a few light gravel areas in this part that have suffered.

First cut silage, which was ensiled in the first few days of June, is excellent for quality and quantity and as I write on August 4 – about 10 days later than planned – the second cut looks excellent and we have plenty of it. All we needed was a few dry days to get it ensiled in perfect order.

I heard some surprising comments from several of my arable friends in the east, who have cattle. They had been noting the difference that is being seen in yields from land that has had a covering of court muck (or dung), with the same amount of bag fertiliser. On three occasions, the land with the muck yielded 25% more grain and straw than that which only had the bag fertiliser!

The thought is that the land with muck has held the moisture better than the land that hadn't. Now maybe there is a lesson from the past and maybe all the slurry and muck we put on this farm has something to do with why it is so green!

But we are back into a volatile beef market again with deadweight back 25p per kg from this time last year. For a 380 kg carcase that's £95, or for a decker load of cattle, more than £3000. This means there's a lot of pain being suffered by finishers, caused by a flush of cattle coming on to the market due to the drought, compounded by sluggish consumer demand.

The hot weather is getting the blame. I assume salad crops may have increased and I would expect the ice-cream makers are having a good harvest! My hunch is that once this flush of finished and not so well-finished cattle has cleared, the market will return to better values.

It is the first time, since horse-gate, that store cattle values have followed the prime values, back by between £50-£100. If that continues into the back-end suckled calf sales, the reduction in suckler cows could accelerate – or there needs to be a faster change to cows that are easier kept, ie more native or Stabilisers!

Or maybe it should be Ayrshires, since the steak from a Finnish beast won the World Steak Challenge. I am a BBQ fanatic, with my favourite steaks being Stabiliser, Belted Galloway and Highlander, which I am assuming were not in the competition! Unfortunately, until we get rid of the shape-based system of grading carcases, breeds that have taste, succulence and flavour, will struggle. Now there is a story our industry does not want to hear!

Last weekend my grandson and I went to see Truck Fest at Ingliston, where 2000 trucks were on display.

For lunch I thought I would have a roll – a choice of burger or thin cut slices of beef. I opted for the beef. Well, I am afraid I needed a different set of teeth as it was the toughest product I have attempted to eat for a long time.

There were five people serving and none of them had a clue where the beef came from and the real bad news is that I threw most of it in the waste bin.

Is it good news that Kepak have taken over the 2 Sisters’ beef operation? For those supplying the three abattoirs, it has to be good, with the debt that the previous owner had, there were always reservations about its future.

Kepak has an excellent reputation, so short term it has to be alright, but – and there is always a but – when it kills 60% of the beef in UK and Ireland, that leaves Scotbeef as the next in line in terms of size. One thing seems certain, though, and that is the assumption that all four of the big players in the market see a future in Scotch beef because, by my rough calculations, they are about to invest in excess of £50m in their facilities, which should mean there will be plenty competition for cattle, provided we are not swamped by imports.

We are entering a period of great uncertainty within our industry. The next 18 months to two years could be a period when we need to think carefully about expansion and large capital expenditure.

Scotland’s level of borrowing has doubled in the past 10 years, although I believe that this increase has largely been created by the renewable sector over the past 10 years. It is now into a pay-back period, with some of it taking more than 10 years to repay!

My comments last month regarding slatted sheds prompted several people to ask me why I was not a fan. I am afraid I have a few reservations, especially the safety aspect as we hear of deaths from slurry gases.

Only the other day I heard of 11 cows dying in my county while slurry mixing was taking place. Luckily, there were no human lives lost, as has happened on other occasions. I am not comfortable with cattle lying on slats, although I do accept that those covered with rubber are an improvement as opposed to bare concrete.

It also seems a high cost compared to cubicles which look extremely comfortable for thousands of cattle throughout the world and of all ages. Just a matter of opinion!

In response to Fergus Ewing’s request for a response by mid-August on his proposals for change after we leave the EU next year, may I say, firstly, we do not need a 3-5-year transition. The system we have now is so bad it needs changing quickly.

Currently, we are only 60% self sufficient in the food we need, so we require a policy that rewards farmers for producing food, not buttercups, rashes and dockens. This is a predominately grass growing country, so we need measures back in place similar to what we had after the 1947 Act where farmers had assistance for drainage, ploughing, re-seeding with lime, slag, seed and cultivation, in order that we could grow four blades of grass where one grew before.

The alternative is to rely more and more on imports from wherever in the world it is cheap – we will see how long it is before prices on the super-market shelves stay low, compared to what it costs to produce it!