Premium beef breed scheme set to expand

A BEEF premium scheme which has put new life into one of the oldest beef breeds in the country has received a further boost, with supermarket giant Morrisons seeking to increase its weekly kill of Beef Shorthorn sired cattle by 15 per cent.

Since Morrisons and Woodheads – the company that processes the beef for the supermarket giant – officially launched the scheme 12 months ago, it has achieved its initial target and sourced over 18,000 British native breeds and their crosses.

Finishers involved in the scheme have been rewarded with a 20p per kg premium over base price, the equivalent of up to £75 a head. Initially, approximately 25 per cent of the total volume was Beef Shorthorn sired, a figure that has increased to one third in recent months, according to Morrisons’ farm operations manager, Andrew Loftus.

“These Beef Shorthorn sired cattle are being finished on a new feeding regime specifically designed to enhance the breed’s inherent eating quality and produce a premium product,” he said. “In view of the Beef Shorthorn sired cattle’s commendable performance, for the scheme’s second year we are forecasting their growth to be around 15 per cent, equivalent to an additional 3,000 head.”

Beef Shorthorn Society secretary Frank Milnes said the premium scheme had really lifted the breed. One consequence is that both membership of the breed society and cattle registrations were well up. “One of the breed’s major attractions has been the ability to produce a functional suckler cow,” he said. “Now that we have a premium scheme for Beef Shorthorn beef we are aware from registration trends that even more farmers are being encouraged to use the Beef Shorthorn bull in their commercial suckler herds. We continue to have a win-win situation.”

ANDREW ARBUCKLE