The
year had barely begun when ‘horsegate’ hit the headlines and rarely left them until
the late spring and understandably so, with the EBLEX press office fielding
more than 100 enquiries on the subject alone.
Earlier
this month, the interim
report of the Elliott Review set out the current
weaknesses of supply chain networks in the UK, ahead of the final report to be
published in spring 2014, and suggests measures that can be taken to address
them. We will, of course, continue to support all efforts being made to ensure
that serious incidents such as ‘horsegate’ don’t happen again. The important
thing to remember is this was not a UK problem and all issues were with
imported products with long supply chains. However, there are still lessons to
be learned.
Ultimately,
integrity of the supply chain is crucial for the industry and it must be
prepared to let independent auditing take place to help protect consumer
confidence on provenance and traceability and help it move forwards in 2014 and
beyond.
The
extreme weather also made the first few months of 2013 exceptionally difficult
for English livestock farmers with a bout of heavy snow coinciding with the
peak of the lambing season, causing sheep farmers to suffered serious losses. Consequently,
the start of 2013 undoubtedly proved to be a challenge on many fronts.
‘Horsegate’
and extreme weather aside, there were plenty of positives in 2013, from ongoing
export successes to research and development work to help drive on-farm
efficiencies and help improve returns for producers. Our export team has again
been incredibly busy at international trade shows throughout the year and
helping Defra secure market access for beef and lamb.
Highlights
included the re-opening of the Russian market and the rise in sheep meat
exports to Hong Kong. An EBLEX-organised
round table at Anuga with secretary of State Owen Paterson also
focused on actions the Government could take to secure the opening of key
markets for red meat exports.
On
another note, we continued to work towards helping the industry improve its
environmental credentials, including the launch of the carbon
calculator for sheep farmers in January and the research
and development work behind helping beef
and sheep farmers reduce their water footprint. EBLEX
also contributed to the wider debate in the All Party Parliamentary Group for
beef and Lamb’s inquiry
into the carbon footprint of the beef cattle and sheep sector.
Working
to help farmers become more efficient and deliver better returns
from their enterprises is another cornerstone of EBLEX’s work and 2013 was
again no exception. Work included a series of in-depth workshops such as those
on profitable
lamb production to help optimise flock output and the launch
of Stocktake
benchmarking report which highlighted the gap between average and top third
herds and flocks, where enterprises are performing well and where improvements
can be made.
Looking ahead to 2014, with the conclusion of the consultation on a proposed Halal assurance scheme in mid-January and a Protected Geographical Indicator (PGI) for West Country Beef and Lamb set to be in place following a five-month consultation process, the New Year will start in similar busy fashion. With the AHDB Outlook Conference 2014 also taking place on February 12, it looks very much like we’ll be off to a flying start again in 2014.