Beef sector backs video imaging

The use of video imaging to reduce grading costs on beef carcases has been taken up by the Scottish Beef Cattle Association following a visit to Northern Ireland to see the new technology.

SBCA president John Cameron said he now believed there were considerable opportunities from this technology for both beef farmers and the meat trade.

“Consistency of grading is the immediate benefit to remove the concerns of human error, producing worrying differences between plants, and even regions of the UK,” he said.

“The potential to remove some of the grading costs from the meat chain should also benefit producers in the long run and further into the future there is the prospect of carcases being graded with accurate estimates of individual cuts.

Cameron said that a few problems had been identified with unusual results following damage to carcases during trimming or hide removal – but these appeared to have been quickly identified and resolved manually.