Progress Report on a Busy Six Months for LMC

UK - The appointment of a new Chairman and Board members, the ongoing activities of the Red Meat Task Force, a week-long PR campaign dedicated exclusively to the promotion of Northern Ireland beef and the re-launch of the Livestock and Meat Commission website are just some of the activities which LMC has undertaken in the first half of 2009.

20 July 2009

3 minute read

Europe

Board Appointments

Mr Pat O’Rourke was appointed Chairman of LMC by Minister Michelle Gildernew MP MLA in May 2009 for a three-year term. As a former Board member of An Bord Bia and the Irish Diary Board, Mr O’Rourke is well experienced in contributing to the strategic direction of an organisation and engaging with stakeholders, government and political representatives. In announcing the appointment, Minister Gildernew recognised that “LMC has an important role to fulfil as it develops a strategy to ensure the future sustainability of the livestock industry, including that of many beef and sheep farmers.”

Three new appointments to the board were made in January 2009, when Phelim O’Neill, Mary McCormack and Kenneth Sharkey joined John McGaughey, Jim Noble and Campbell Tweedie, the latter of whom was reappointed for a second term.

Technical Appointments

Two new appointments in the Technical Department have been made to ensure that LMC remains at the forefront of the provision of technical support and information to the industry. As Industry Development Manager, Ian Stevenson will develop and implement LMC’s technical strategy with particular focus on the progress of the production sector, including producer efficiency, scale, profitability and farm assurance.

Working closely with Ian is newly appointed Economist, Conall Donnelly who examines all economic aspects of the NI red meat industry and provides valuable analysis including the impact of global economic and market supply-demand trends. Conall has already established himself within the meat and livestock industries as a regular contributor to the BBC’s Farmgate programme and the main author of the LMC Bulletin which is widely read and respected by farmers, stakeholders and government.

Red Meat Task Force

The work of the Red Meat Task Force is continuing with David Rutledge, Dr Mike Tempest and Naomi Waite representing LMC. Ongoing updates are published on the Red Meat Task Force website at www.niredmeattaskforce.co.uk. Key priorities for the future are to follow up on the recommendations from the Best Practice Mission to New Zealand, to investigate three priority areas for cost savings under legislative cost projects, to continue to explore the viability of the suckler beef industry, to continue to develop the grass/clover initiative and to further develop the dairy-origin beef initiative.

NIFQA Beef

Since January 2009, LMC has instigated a major drive towards the promotion of NIFQA beef through a number of initiatives including a dedicated Love Beef Week which was held in March and which was endorsed by the Minister for Agriculture, Michelle Gildernew MP MLA who stated: “Our Farm Quality Assured beef is a first class product which offers consumers peace of mind that the beef they eat is fully traceable and has been produced to the highest standards of food safety, animal welfare and environmental management. Our cattle traceability system has proven itself to be an extremely valuable tool within the food chain and has helped build consumer confidence and secure sales of our quality produce throughout Europe.” In addition, LMC has re-run the TV ads promoting NI mince beef achieving approximately a 90% recognition factor of the NIFQA logo. In light of the current economic climate, the ads emphasised not only the versatility and quality of NI mince beef but also the excellent value for money it offers.

LMC works closely with both the education sector and retailers to promote Northern Ireland beef and lamb by organising demonstrations and samplings to as wide an audience as possible. During the 2008/09 school year, demonstrations were held in 198 schools reaching approximately 5,000 pupils. Retail samplings were held in 33 stores throughout March with approximately 10,000 customers tasting. Sampling was also held at Balmoral Show with around 750 visitors to the stand tasting the produce.

Website refreshed

As an independent authority on red meat and livestock issues, LMC is committed to communicating with stakeholders though a range of mechanisms. The website www.lmcni.com has undergone a major revamp making it much easier to navigate and ultimately more user friendly.