Priority should be driving Red Tractor forward, says Minette Batters
Last week an autumn-born calf got trampled in horrendous weather. It needed stomach tubing for a week – plus endless lessons in learning how to drink from its mother.
No sooner had the calf decided to live, that we lost two cows – both in their prime with young calves at foot. It was a devastating loss. As yet we don’t have final post-mortem results, but magnesium and calcium levels were normal.
Plans for the Ladies in Beef 2013 Great British Beef Week are well under way and I’m really delighted that our chosen charity is RABI. They have a fantastic county and regional structure, which adds enormous value as to how we engage with consumers. We are meeting with all the retailers and really look forward to working with them and getting more consumers eating and appreciating all that’s great about British Beef. We will also be hoping to raise money and awareness for the charity, which has in its own words received an unprecedented number of calls this year.
I read the Red Tractor debate with interest. The one crucial point that doesn’t seem to get mentioned is the export market. The Red Tractor and its standards have been fundamental in opening up export for British beef and that has duly kept supply tight and has been key to a better price. Sadly, with demand for exports increasing, British agriculture appears to be arguing among itself, when the priority should be driving the business plan for the Tractor forwards.
Minette Batters farms 120ha (300 acres) on a tenant farm on the Longford Estate in south Wiltshire. The farm carries 100 continental-bred suckler cows, with males finished as bull beef, some sold as stores and the others finished and sold to local butchers. The enterprise also includes a catering business and horse livery. She is NFU county chairwoman for Wiltshire and founder of Ladies in Beef
Read more articles from Minette Batters