Beef price crisis focus of positive Twitter debate

The beef sector’s ongoing price crisis was the subject of a busy Twitter debate this week.

AgrichatUK focused its Thursday night discussion on how the industry can recover from its current problems, with contributions coming from farmers, consultants, accountants, analysts and members of the public.

One big talking point was whether forward pricing or cost-of-production contracts could be developed.

Armstrong Watson accountant Andrew Robinson (@AW_ARobinson) suggested such options could give certainty and confidence to producers.

But Eblex senior analyst Paul Heyhoe (@sheeponomics) thought forward contracts could be a risk for buyers if the market switched or something went wrong on farm.

Rob Hitch, from Dodd & Co, asked whether it was any different from an arable farmer selling his crops forward.

When it came to improving on-farm performance, Martin Lloyd (@Mertin_Lloyd) suggested one aim should be getting maximum profit from feed, as waste did not leave money in the pocket.

Andrew Bevan (@beefyfarmer) said keeping costs down, producing good-quality silage and buying stores as cheap as possible was the best recipe.

Farmer Stephen Parkinson (@farmerparky) argued that producers could never measure too much, though many people were not natural statisticians.

Olivia Edson (@oliviaedson) said that disease control needed looking at, with infertility a huge cost on many beef farms.

As the conversation swung around to future prospects, the outlook was mixed.

Most said it was proving difficult at the moment, with lots of beef farms converting to dairy production.

Rory (@rory_rwagri) said the industry needed sustainability for long-term investment so farmers could invest in facilities and genetics.

See some of the highlights from Thursday’s debate below: