Processors urged to pay more for UK organic beef

The report, 'Where's the beef?' shows that the current farmgate price of organic beef is unfair and sustainable. The average price for organic beef in 2006 was in the region of £2.90 per kilo. Compared with the average cost of production of over £3.30 per kilo over the same period, shows a loss of around 40 pence for every kilo of beef produced. When low farmgate prices are considered, alongside the increase of feed costs and anticipated cuts in the Single Payment Scheme, it is not surprising that farmers lack the confidence needed to boost organic beef production. Some 70% of organic beef in the UK is sold through supermarkets; therefore most organic beef production is affected by these conditions. Phil Stocker, the Soil Association's head of food & farming, commented: "We focused on beef because it is an area where supply could meet demand year round almost immediately, and the public would expect this ironic product to be British. Unless we overhaul market structures, and implement some of the changes suggested in the report, there won't be a UK organic beef sector of any scale." The study also found evidence of rising imports – in 2005 the proportion of organic red meat from UK producers sold through UK supermarkets fell from 85% to 79%. The Soil Association compared the carbon footprint associated with transporting organic beef from Wales and from Argentina to the Tesco supermarket shelf in Hertfordshire. A 1.5-kilo joint of Argentinean beef clocked up 320.6g in emissions from road to sea – more than eight times the 38.5g transport emissions for a similar joint of Welsh beef. This means that a Tesco customer buying a joint of organic beef from Argentina once a week, instead of a Welsh joint, will generate additional emissions in a year equivalent to powering an average fridge 24 hours a day for three months. To avoid this, the report recommends that supermarkets still relying significantly on imports should make pledges to increase the volumes of beef they are prepared to source from the UK in the future. Stocker continued: "There is a clear urgent need to relocalise food production and distribution, given the challenges we face from climate change and peak oil. Countries like the UK should be building their food supplies around their indigenous population, with limited trade to fill the gaps."