Ladies with nothing to beef about

A TEAM of female farmers yesterday marked St George’s Day by launching the second Great British Beef Week (GBBW).

Ladies in Beef, backed by TV star Lynda Bellingham, are encouraging the public to celebrate GBBW in the traditional way by ensuring beef produced by British farmers is on the menu.

The group was formed to help promote awareness of the quality and versatility of British beef using a countrywide network of dynamic women beef “champions”.

Major supermarkets, including Asda, Tesco, Waitrose and Morrisons, are adding weight to the initiative by carrying special on-pack logos and further support has come from farm machinery manufacturer Massey Ferguson.

It is also hoped to raise funds for the national Help for Heroes charity which aims to provide better facilities for British servicemen and women wounded in action.

UK agriculture minister Jim Paice, who helped launch this year’s GBBW yesterday at Westminster, said: “With the world’s population growing fast, Britain has huge opportunities to export our high quality beef and breeding stock to the world.

“I fully support the valuable work being done by Ladies in Beef to generate growth in the industry, which will go hand-in-hand with all the work the government is doing to rebuild respect for British farming.”

Ladies in Beef co-founder Minette Batters said: “We have very little resources but what we do have is a determined group of women who are passionate about creating a sustainable future for British beef. Great British Beef Week was established last year to raise awareness of the industry and the vital role livestock production plays in the management of our countryside.”

l The long-awaited marriage of the National Beef Association in Scotland and the Scottish Beef Cattle Association to form a single organisation to represent Scottish beef producers seems to have been consummated.

The SBCA was formed in 2006 by a break-away group of members of the NBA following a disagreement about how the NBA was being run in Scotland.

The merger has been brokered by former NFU Scotland president John Ross, chairman of the Moredun Foundation, who will act as interim chairman of a new organisation, the Scottish Beef Association, to be launched at the Royal Highland Show in June.

NBA Scotland chairman Jim Stewart and SBCA chairman Scott Henderson will serve as joint vice-chairmen and a new board will be elected at a meeting in July.