Larger Herd Unlikely To Affect Beef Market
UK - The size of the English beef breeding herd increased by 3% in the past year while the number of English ewe lambs put to the ram rose by nearly 20% according to the December 2006 Defra annual survey of agriculture, reveals the English Beef and Lamb Executive (Eblex).
7 June 2007
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These indicators, however, do not show a turnaround in the sector's fortunes and are considered unlikely to have a significant effect on either the beef or lamb markets in view of the other changes highlighted in the survey.
Eblex economics and policy manager, Mark Topliff
The increase of some 20,000 head in the English beef herd comes at a time when beef breeding numbers in the rest of the UK are continuing to decline at between 1.5% and 3% per year. As a result, overall UK beef breeding stock numbers for the year were around 0.3% down on 2005. Eblex economics and policy manager, Mark Topliff said: "The reasons behind the recorded increase in the English beef herd are believed to be cows being taken out of milk and put to beef bulls or cull cows remaining on farm in December waiting to enter the food chain or OCDS.
"Whatever the precise cause, it is only likely to give a relatively small and, industry observers suggest, temporary boost to English prime cattle supplies which are still forecast to tighten over the coming few years. Especially so since the survey confirms a further decline of 1.5% in the national dairy herd, with figures for other cattle numbers also down in most categories."
On the sheep side, the survey shows an increase of almost 20% in the number of English ewe lambs put to the ram in 2006.
This is more than cancelled out by the 3.2% annual decline recorded in the number of English breeding ewes, though, resulting in an overall year-on-year reduction of around 2% in the English sheep breeding flock.
