Beef quality must come first!

SIR, – Post Brexit I pose the question: Scotch Beef....a volume commodity or a quality product?
Many years ago I was asked by a beef professional: why do I rear these things?
I answered because they are tasty. (Think hairy coat and you are on the right lines).
The lady looked shocked! Yes, I like to eat them. I now produce more than I can eat, so I sell the others. Isn’t that what beef cattle are for? How many beef producers have actually taste tested their produce? I can guarantee a whisky distiller has tested theirs!
There have been many informative letters recently in The SF about Scotch Beef which proves how emotive and sensitive we all feel about our beef. 
After all, we are all trying to achieve the same result – make a margin from our efforts and labours while producing a top quality product that people want to buy and, hopefully, buy regularly.
Here lies the problem. Take a walk around any supermarket and look at how much beef is displayed or the shoppers’ trolleys at the checkout. Worryingly, they’re not buying a lot of beef. Fellow producers, we have a problem!
Many of the letters highlight marbling as a key factor in the perfect steak, but the EUROP system doesn’t measure it and the producer certainly isn’t getting paid for it. 
Yet in some supermarkets the steaks are advertised as “special and marbled”. I can only assume that the wholesalers are charging for it. Maybe a wholesaler could clarify this issue?
One breed in particular markets its beef as highly marbled with exceptional eating quality. Wagyu cattle originate from Japan. UK produced Wagyu sirloins retail for £75kg. I have yet to try some, so I can’t comment on the taste!
Interestingly, none of the letters to The SF mentioned stress in the cattle prior to slaughter. High stress levels contribute to poor eating quality. 
Over the years of handling cattle, I’ve had many times to scramble over a fence with a bovine following closely behind me. 
Some breeds seem to feature in this test of nerve more than others! Many of the now closed old abattoirs used to rest the cattle overnight in straw bedded lairages to reduce stress pre-slaughter.
Today, the cattle arrive often after a long journey into a concrete penning system and are dispatched soon afterwards. 
I believe Dovecote Park in Yorkshire is the only abattoir that has a policy of 24 hours’ rest in a straw lairage prior to slaughter. A commendable practice that should be followed by others, both on welfare grounds and for eating quality.
The arbitrary cattle age issue needs to be resolved. Under 30 months and you can get a rib roast, 30 months and a day the carcase needs to be de-boned and you get a rolled roast. 
Same beef, but now different cooking times and eating experience all because of a day. 
Not to mention hanging, maturation and additional de-boning costs. Surely only in the UK do we contend with this nonsense!
A stockman I know with decades of experience went to Canada a few years back on a ‘stock holiday’ visiting relations and some ranches. I asked him what the Canadian cowboys thought was the best beef? 
His immediate reply: a four year old range steer. Is anybody in Scotland producing four year old range steers?
Assuming we Brexit in two years, our Scotch Beef will be under immense competition from other beef producing countries already lining up to take us on. 
These producers rear mostly native breeds and finish their cattle for a marbled carcase. They also produce beef on a lower cost basis per kg than we do.
Here we are at a distinct disadvantage under the current EUROP system that fails to address eating quality. Equally, as an export product our ‘leaner beef’ will come as a shock to many foreign markets used to their own marbled beef. Our Scotch brand and reputation may be in jeopardy.
In two years’ time Scotch Beef must be ready to adapt to the changed market that Brexit will bring; we must deal with it whether we like it or not.
Do we continue under the EUROP system and produce commodity beef where quantity overrides quality, or take a new approach and include a measure of eating quality in our grading system?
Beef production is a cornerstone of Scottish agriculture, surely Scotland’s ‘beef industry leaders’, both QMS and the new cabinet secretary, should be aware of these issues. 
I can only assume they read The SF (or a press officer) – they certainly should be. Some correspondence from them would be welcomed.
Considering the lead time in beef production: a cow served this autumn will calve in 2017, and which will be 30 months old in the autumn of 2019…….six months after we Brexit. Will it meet the market requirements?
The Scottish beef industry needs guidance. The higher margins are there for guaranteed eating quality; retail prices show this. To safeguard our brand and reputation, quality must override quantity. 
In two years we must be ready to defend our beef’s reputation; there are many competitors queuing up to knock “Scotch” off its pedestal.