Time for sheep sector to face changing world
Time for sheep sector to face changing world
Many people had ideas about the sheep industrys future in farmers weeklys competition
for Sheep 2000, sponsored by Intervet. Here we print the thoughts of our first winner,
Irish agricultural adviser Edward Egan, who has won the industry professional category
THE dynamics of change in the sheep industry form two rivers; the dominant one being economic and social change, the more moderate being policies tempering the pace of change, such as environmental considerations.
Here we concentrate on probabilities rather than possibilities. Factors like technology, welfare, public health, re-nationalisation, the environment and 3bn extra mouths to feed will profoundly affect the sheep industry over the next 25 years.
Dependency on economic support resulting in complacency and lack of innovation must be addressed as liberalisation of world trade develops, making the sheep sectors competitiveness of growing importance.
* The environment
Politicians priorities are increasingly dominated by urban groups, sensitive to green issues and demanding activities which conflict with commercial farming.
Fighting these pressures is futile. A more productive approach will be to extract from the rest of society rewards offsetting additional costs which green policies involve. Such schemes will be most appealing to upland/hill farms already using limited amounts of inputs.
Land management payments in these areas will be subject to lower stocking rates and linked more closely to maintaining or improving the amenity or conservation value of these farms, while a reduction in subsidy payments in the lowlands will lead to larger flocks because of economies of scale.
* The market
The sheep industrys main advantage over other meat producers is that in the consumers eyes it has retained a green image. This must be exploited through more imaginative marketing to match modern consumer lifestyles, including smaller families and convenience food.
A greater need exists for smaller joints, quick recipes and kitchen-ready vac pac cuts for the food service and retail sector. Quality assured products will sell better than non-quality assured provided the price difference is not substantial and any successful marketing strategy will need quality assurance as a central component.
This will involve ear tagging, fully declared diet, limits on animal movements and restrictions on medicines
Producers, processors and retailers must establish sheep partnership groups between them. Integrated alliances would be established, determining lamb requirements, offering price transparency, and enabling producers to plan actual level of requirements early in the breeding season.
This will make farmers more aware of consumer demands and put stringent demands on them to supply the required product. Variability of lamb eating quality must be tackled by researching, identifying and controlling the factors involved, leading to fewer breeds and crosses being used, and more objective carcass assessment methods – for instance, computerised tomography.
If the sheep industry is to avoid the same fate as beef due to BSE it must employ the scrapie genotype scoring system which identifies scrapie resistant sires. The use of resistant sires will be necessary as losses from scrapie will become unacceptable to consumers.
Pressures to reduce medication use, particularly antibiotics and anthelmintics while not compromising animal health/welfare will place greater emphasis on accurate records, sampling animals to justify drug use, breeding for parasite resistance, a clean-flock policy and stockmanship.
* Labour
Even where farm incomes compare favourably with other occupations, comparisons of working conditions cast farming as being unfavourable. We need to highlight the positive aspects of farming such as quality of life, absence of traffic jams, and better housing. Diversification of rural labour into off-farm employment will play an important role in sustaining rural development.
Technical developments will have to be exploited to reduce labour and production cost: The application of a maternal index and rigorous culling to reduce lambing difficulties, metabolic disorders, and so on would significantly reduce the rate of these time-consuming problems. More use will have to be made of grass, particularly during late pregnancy and early lactation.
* Technology
Biotechnology could have the greatest impact, however within Europe, political and consumer concerns combined with welfare implications and cost will most likely impede their general application. The UKs ability to compete may be threatened not only by lost production, but also by a reluctance to explore and use these new tools.
Biotechnology could end seasonal anoestrus, encourage multiple litters and improve lamb quality. However, detailed studies on reproduction and longevity will be required before adopting these techniques.
More objective grading methods combined with advances in AI and reproductive techniques based on ET and sexing will have the greatest impact on improvement programmes. While fewer breeds maybe used, a breakdown in breed stratification is unlikely due to its efficient use of complementary breeds, and of both maternal and individual heterosis.
* Industry
Given pressures of EU enlargement, agricultures falling share of GDP and employment, the argument for subsidising agriculture to support rural economies is weakened and Nick Browns view that, eventually, all production subsidies will go is strengthened.
Drives for cost recovery for services by groups like ADAS will increase competition among them. The sheep sector will have to compete for funds like bidding for lottery cash. The decline in money for sheep research will continue. Thus, future research and development will concentrate on closer collaboration with industry, practical application of results, and greater market-place relevance.
The reduction in abattoirs numbers will continue, due to their failure to meet EU meat directives, rationalisation, and economies of scale required in a competitive and enlarged EU. The number of livestock marts will reduce further due to rationalisation, increased use of electronic dead-weight auctions, and concerns over welfare and disease.
* Conclusion
The UK is well placed within the EU, having the best technical performance, breeding schemes, promotion and a strong market position. The sheep industrys future success depends on its ability to collectively assess changing trends so as to be positioned to adapt output in advance, and turn the change into competitive advantage. It must also prepare for the likely switch in support from agri-production to the needs of a wider rural economy without major reduction in rural population. *
Sheep production must maintain its green image.
Prizegiving
Winners of the farmers weekly Sheep 2000 essay competition sections – industry professional, student and farmer – will be presented with their prizes at Sheep 2000. The event will be held at the Three Counties showground, Malvern, Worcs, on Aug 2. More details in this weeks pull-out Sheep 2000 event supplement.