Scottish red meat sector worth 37% of farm output

Scotland’s red meat sector is worth almost £1.29bn to the Scottish economy, driven in part by strong farmgate prices.

A report by levy body Quality Meat Scotland (QMS) shows that farm output from cattle, sheep and pig production accounted for 37% of Scotland’s agricultural output in 2020, up from 35% in 2019.

The beef sector accounted for 24.4%, sheep 8.6% and pigs 4%, according to the Red Meat Industry Profile report.

The upsurge in the value of the red meat sector was achieved despite the backdrop of a livestock price slump in the first third of 2020, to well below historic averages.

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Prices then rallied to record-breaking levels when Scottish red meat captured a greater share of the domestic market as more people ate at home during the pandemic, compensating for losses experienced from a slump in high-value exports.

The market gains were achieved even though the pandemic resulted in the temporary closure of processing sites, and despite the UK’s looming exit from the EU single market and its repercussions for trade conditions and product labelling.

The report’s author, QMS senior economics analyst Iain Macdonald, said the industry had made impressive gains.

“Throughout, the red meat sector has worked through these challenges, not only continuing to operate but also creating market gains,’’ he said.

The report shows the reliance of the Scottish red meat sector on exports, with two-thirds of revenue generated through sales to the rest of the UK and beyond.

Scottish consumption of lamb per capita is only around half the UK average, and on-farm production is estimated to be more than five times the volume consumed in Scotland.

As the red meat sector looks ahead, the continued contraction of the national beef herd is a worry for a processing sector which operates on thin margins: there were 21 red meat abattoirs operating in Scotland in 2020.

However, the report suggests that there is some evidence of this decline slowing in the second half of the year.