UK cattle exports to break 100,000 barrier
UK - British cattle export numbers are expected to pass 100,000 by the end of the year with the trade exceeding all expectations since being reopened in May.
6 October 2006
1 minute read
Industry analysts already credit the lifting of the beef export ban with rising prices for the beef sector as a whole in 2006.
Although a breakdown of figures between calves and mature cattle is not yet available, the main UK calf exporter, Anglo-European Ferry (AEF), said it had exported more than 16,000 calves since the export ban was lifted.
AEF chief executive David Owens said the figures were ‘excellent’ news for the British agriculture.
“British beef is top quality and in demand again. It’s building confidence throughout the marketplace and among farmers,” he said.
Despite recent well-publicised support for the British veal industry there remains little demand from within the UK for the estimated 315,000 purebred male calves the UK’s dairy herds produces every year.
Holstein bull calves aged from 15 to 21 days old are currently fetching between £50 and £80 in the export trade.
Source: farmersguardian.com
