14th September 2016: Issue 40. NBA NEWS: Grazing AFUs 2 New Vaccine Against Cattle Diseases Could Help Reduce Antibiotics Use

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1 National Beef Association Newsletter THE INFORMATION AND OPINION IN THIS NEWSLETTER IS DISTRIBUTED FOR THE USE OF NBA MEMBERS. THE NEWSLETTER IS PUBLISHED BY NATIONAL BEEF SERVICES LIMITED. The Mart Centre, Tyne Green, Hexham, Northumberland, NE46 3SG Tel: th September 2016: Issue 40 NBA NEWS: Grazing AFUs 2 New Vaccine Against Cattle Diseases Could Help Reduce Antibiotics Use 9 NBA Chairman, David Thomlinson, Appointed as Honorary President of the British Limousin Cattle Society SBA NEWS: Borders Venue For SCOTLAND S BEEF EVENT Latest AHDB analysis: What Brexit might mean for UK trade in agricultural products 3 Welfare of Animals during Transport NBA DIARY 5 Morrisons launch the premium brand in store NBA MARKET REPORT 6 Red meat exporters seek sales at international event AHDB (Meat Services) and LMC market prices 8 Brazilian Beef Exports Climbing NZ Study Confirms Benefits of Dairy-Beef Integration BEEF INDUSTRY NEWS: Mini Beef Roast Dinner Campaign Running for Third Year 9 Advertisements 13 On 1

2 NEWS AND NBA DIRECTORS WEEKLY REPORT Grazing AFUs At a meeting with Defra this week the NBA and other industry colleagues including Meadow Quality, NFU and Blade Farming put forward arguments against the removal of grazing AFUs. We highlighted the low incidence of reactors on these units and the high biosecurity standards required. The knock on problems for dairy calves and the possibility of many calves having to be culled was of particular concern. With so many retailer schemes and the West Country PGI itself requiring a grazing period the trade desperately needs to maintain the ability to have grazing AFUs. NBA CHAIRMAN, DAVID THOMLINSON, APPOINTED AS HONORARY PRESIDENT OF THE BRITISH LIMOUSIN CATTLE SOCIETY David Thomlinson of Park View, Scaleby, Carlisle, Cumbria has been appointed as the British Limousin Cattle Society s (BLCS) Honorary President. Serving a two-year term of office, and becoming the Society s thirteenth Hon President in all, he takes over the reins from John Temple of Chase Farm, Roughley, Sutton Coldfield, West Midlands who stepped down at the Society s AGM in September. In a long association with the Limousin breed, David Thomlinson has been senior auctioneer at Borderway, Carlisle market where the BLCS hold Premier Society Sales along with numerous other production, reduction and dispersal sales. Starting as an office clerk, he quickly progressed through the ranks and has been with the company Harrison & Hetherington for some 54 years. At a young age and with limited funds, David quickly saw that there was huge potential for the Limousin breed after seeing some of the cattle from the first importations in the 1970 s. Managing to get the money together he bought his first old cow and registered his first pedigree calf in 1979 under the Beeches prefix, naming her Beeches Philomena. Working and breeding away with his wife Sheila, the herd is still very much active with 50 breeding females run on the 200 acre farm at Scaleby, Carlisle. David Thomlinson has previously been an elected member of the BLCS Council of Management, a position he held for some nine years. He has also been heavily involved at various industry levels and is presently the Chairman of the NBA (National Beef Association). Previously David has also served as Chairman of the Livestock Auctioneers Association and in 2011 he was awarded the prestigious Blamire medal of honour in recognition of his services to 2

3 agriculture in the Cumbria region. With his pedigree auctioneer s hat on David Thomlinson has presided over many high flying Limousin sales, both pedigree and commercial, and in 2006 he became the first UK auctioneer to sell a bull at six figures when Haltcliffe Vermount sold for the then world record of 105,000. Speaking of his appointment David Thomlinson said: I am both delighted and honoured to take on the role of BLCS President. As soon as the breed came into the country I saw huge potential in Limousin both as a terminal sire and as a breeding female. It has been a privilege since then to see at first hand and be involved with the breed s progression both as a breeder and as an auctioneer. When asked about the breeds current position and the challenges ahead for the breed, David replied by saying. "The breed has become firmly established as the UK s number one due to a combination of its ease of calving, ease of management, and ability to produce high quality consistent carcases with top killing out percentages and high meat yield. If the breed can maintain those characteristics along with feed efficiency, gestation length, and milk production of the females then I have no doubt it will grow its position as the benchmark beef breed." In his new position as BLCS Hon President David Thomlinson is looking forward to meeting up with BLCS breeders and buyers at the upcoming autumn sales at Carlisle and Stirling, followed by the Borderway Agri Expo in November, and the various leading UK Winter Primestock events thereafter. SBA News BORDERS VENUE FOR SCOTLAND S BEEF EVENT 2017 Scotland s Beef Event 2017 is to be held on a farm in the Borders next year. 3

4 The biennial event, organised by the Scottish Beef Association, will focus on the efficient production of beef on a mixed farm and will be hosted by the Stewart family at Fans, Earlston, Berwickshire, on Thursday, June 8. Commenting on the announcement Neil McCorkindale, SBA Chairman, said We are delighted that Scotland s Beef Event 2017 will be held at such a first class venue and we thank the Stewart family for allowing us the opportunity to hold the event at their farm. A local organising committee, under the chairmanship of Sion Williams, farm manager at Bowhill Estate, with representatives from the farming, trade and research/advisory sectors, has been established to run the event. Fans will be an excellent venue for Scotland s national beef event, said Mr Williams. It is a fantastic set-up to see in operation and a shining example of a commercially run beef cattle enterprise from start to finish. It will provide an opportunity to see how an efficient suckler cow enterprise adds value to an arable/potato enterprise as part of a mixed farming unit. Mr Williams said he looked forward to seeing advancements available to make the industry more sustainable, especially with the economic pressures currently on the industry due to changes under the Common Agricultural Policy and Brexit. We are grateful to the Stewart family for accepting the association s invitation to host this important event for the beef industry in Scotland which is sure to attract a huge attendance of beef farmers and industry professionals from throughout Scotland and the north of England, he said. The farm is run by Douglas Stewart and his wife, Kelda, father, Graham, and children, Holly and Archie. Stocking comprises a commercial suckler herd of 400 Aberdeen-Angus cross cows, which are put to the Aberdeen-Angus bull, with all progeny finished on the farm. The beef enterprise is integral to our mixed farming enterprise and is profitable in its own right as well as utilising grass, home-grown barley and straw and providing farmyard manure for our arable operation, said Mr Stewart. It is an honour to be asked to host this event and we look forward to working with the SBA and the organising committee to provide an interesting and worthwhile day for visitors. Fans is a tenanted farm on the Mellerstain Estate and base for an extensive farming enterprise which takes in the farms of Caldside and Gordon East Mains. The suckler cows are all home-bred and the herd has been built up over the last 25 years from the original suckler herd of beef x dairy cows. There are 14 Aberdeen-Angus bulls and one Charolais bull on the farm and the herd has been closed for many years, with only stock bulls purchased. We now have a more consistent type of cow as we have more control and fertility and general health has been improved significantly, says Mr Stewart. Cows are calved in April and May and wintered inside on straw, silage and barley. All calves are wintered on silage and barley and males left entire. Bulls are finished on an intensive cereal diet at around months of age. Cropping comprises 101 acres winter oats, 403 acres winter wheat, 244 acres winter barley and 135 acres spring barley and the other main enterprise is 350 acres of seed potatoes, mostly grown on rented land. Potatoes are grown on contract for the co-operative, Saltire Seed Ltd, of which the Stewart s are members, and stored, graded and dispatched from Fans to customers in England, Europe and further afield. Full details of sponsorship and trade stand opportunities are available from the event organiser, Ms Natalie Cormack, Dairy Cottage, Tower Road, Ayton, Berwickshire. TD14 5QX. Tel: Mob: natalie.cormack@btconnect.com 4

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6 2016 NBA DIARY Monday 17th October Beef Expo Meeting, Stoneleigh Monday 17th October SE TB Advisory Group Tuesday 18th October BVD Free Meeting Thursday 20th October BVD Free Implementation Group Monday 24th October Tuesday 8th November NBA Pedigree Breeders Committee Meeting, Stoneleigh at 11.30am Beef Expo Meeting, Hexham Monday 14th November Policy Meeting, Cullumpton Tuesday 6th December Board Meeting, Hexham Entries in Red are open to all NBA Members Entries in Green indicate Meetings attended by NBA representatives Entries in Blue indicate NBA Committee Meetings BRP Beef L2D Event on Thursday 27 th October At 2 Sisters Merthyr Tydfil, Pengarnddu Industrial Estate, Dowlais Top, Merthyr Tydfil, CF48 2TA Full details and booking: You Must Register to Attend these Events by calling the AHDB KE Events Hub on or ing: ke.events@adhb.org.uk BRP Post Mortem Event on Wednesday 2nd November 2016, from 10am 1pm At Mount Vets, Colliton Barton, Broadhembury, Honiton, Devon, EX14 3LJ. Full details available at: To register your FREE place ring the AHDB KE Events Hub on or KE.events@ahdb.org.uk 6

7 NBA MARKET REPORT (written today at 4pm) Cattle numbers are starting to become level with demand and as such the trade has cooled off slightly for commercial types whilst demand for scheme type cattle is remaining strong. Processors are beginning to prepare for the Christmas season and will be saving their buying for this competitive period of procurement. As a few processors have taken back their bid prices we have seen that for the week ended 8 th October, the deadweight GB all-prime average price came back almost 4p on the week to 351.1p/kg. Despite the drop in price and coupled with the continued performance of the premium Angus market, the trade in England remains as keen as it has been in recent weeks. Average R4L steer and heifer values both came back on last week. In the case of steers meeting this specification, they were back 4p at 367.0p/kg while heifers, which faired a little better, lost just a penny to 365.6p/kg. Young bulls across the board felt some pressure, R3s eased 5p on last week to average 340.2p/kg. The continued woes of sterling means imports from other EU countries are becoming even more expensive and our exports more competitively priced. The cow trade will make most benefit of the currency situation leaving cow beef exporters are in a healthy position. Despite the currency situation more cows are available and so the cow price came back this week, -O4L cows came back 2p on the week earlier to 234.0p/kg. According to the latest figures released from HMRC, and continuing the trend observed during July, the weak pound has bolstered the beef and veal export trade in August by improving the competitive position of British beef on the global market. Export volumes in the month increased by 12 per cent on the corresponding month last year, to 8,560 tonnes. Given higher volumes and prices, the value of trade surged by almost 20 per cent year on year to be worth 31 million. Although some increase was seen in fresh/chilled boneless cuts going to Ireland and France, the bulk of the uplift in trade was driven by higher shipments of domestically low value frozen cuts. Shipments to Hong Kong in particular fared very well, up five-fold on last August, when the trade was experiencing some logistical difficulties. Imports in August were back nine per cent year on year at 21,100 tonnes. This is likely due to the continuing low value of sterling in relation to the euro, making the price of imported meat less competitive. Imported beef has seen a nine per cent rise in average unit prices relative to last year. Irish imports were only back two per cent on August last year, in comparison to the 20 per cent fall in volumes the month previous. From Ireland there was a significant increase in shipments of less expensive frozen products, offsetting the fall off in shipments of fresh/chilled cuts. Supplies from outside the EU were varied, with increased volumes from Namibia and Uruguay being offset by lower shipments from Australia, Botswana and Brazil. With the stronger cattle prices continuing through September and retail prices coming back in September, the producer share of the final retail price was calculated to be almost 52 per cent, two points up on the month earlier and now seven points more than in the low point of the year so far in April, when farmgate prices were at breaking point. Given that the producer s share of average retail prices has been consistently moving up throughout the summer, it may seem like some positive news, especially as it has established its position as being above year-earlier levels for another month. However, it is worth remembering that the producer s share of the final retail price still remains some way behind the previous five-year average ( ), which is around 53 per cent. Also, it is important to point out that the increase over the past five months does come on the back of the producer share in April being at its lowest point in around 10 years. 7

8 Looking to the not so far distant future, the finished cattle market should remain steady as we have lower imports and much improved export opportunities. The latest data from Kantar Worldpanel reveals real value pressure for the red meat market, as falling retail prices reflect the impact of Aldi and Lidl and the market s competitive response. Indeed, the last time red meat registered any expenditure growth was in the three months to October The challenge for the market and especially categories such as beef is that lower prices are not stimulating enough extra demand to drive value higher. The market will need to focus more on areas such as new product development to meet the ever growing demand in areas such as convenient meal options and in developing new cuts that better meet the needs of today s consumer. The average R4L steer price in GB has come back 4.3p/kg to average 367.0p/kg, Scotland is now at 383.7p/kg back 2.3p/kg, the South has seen averages back 2.8/kg at 356.3p/kg, the North is back 9.2p/kg for the week at 364.2p/kg, the Midlands is up 3.8p/kg at 358.8p/kg for the week. Northern Ireland Steers are steady at 340.7p/kg whilst in the ROI, steers are up 5.2p/kg mainly due to currency fluctuations at 320.7p/kg. The average R4L heifer price in GB is back 1.1p/kg at 365.6p/kg. The R4L heifer price in Scotland is steady at 382.1p/kg, Midlands are up 1.5p/kg to average 361.0p/kg, the North is back 2.6p/kg on the week at 359.7p/kg, whilst Southern England heifers are back 4.2p/kg at 356.2p/kg. Northern Ireland heifers are stand on for the week at 341.6p/kg whilst in ROI, heifers are back up 6.4p/kg mainly due to the currency fluctuations at 331.2p/kg. The impact of currency can be seen in the number of prime cattle imports from ROI for direct slaughter in NI plants, last week they totalled 49 head, a decline of 54 head from the previous week and accounting for less than one per cent of the total NI prime cattle kill. In the corresponding week in 2015 a total of 483prime cattle were imported from ROI accounting for eight per cent of the total NI prime cattle kill. Cow imports from ROI for direct slaughter in NI plants last week totalled 40 head compared to 191 head in the same week in Meanwhile 183 cows were exported from NI for direct slaughter in ROI plants last week, an increase from the 68 cows exported during the previous week. A further 178 prime cattle and 45 cows were exported from NI to GB for direct slaughter last week, very similar to the 177 prime cattle and 43 cows exported during the same week last year For the coming week: In the South of England, we are seeing cattle being quoted from around 349p. The North, is seeing base prices quoted for next week in the region of 360p/kg. Scotland is seeing cattle being quoted from a base of around 373p/kg. In Northern Ireland processor, prices quoted are in the region of 333p/kg based on R4L for the coming week. Angus, Shorthorn and Hereford native bred cattle continue to attract premiums of depending on the scheme, with Angus at around 410p/kg and organic cattle are over 425p/kg. Cows are in the region of 240p, with more for better fleshed cows with good conformation, though as more come on the market this could affect the trade. 8

9 AHDB (Meat Services) and LMC market prices: Auction Averages Week Ending 12/10/2016 Price p/kg lw p/kg change on wk STEERS HEIFERS YOUNG BULLS COWS DeadWeight Cattle Prices (p/kg) Week ending 08/10/2016 GB SOUTHERN CENTRAL NORTH SCOTLAND N. IRELAND ROI R4L Steer p/kg change on wk R4L Heifer p/kg change on wk R3 Bull p/kg change on wk O+3 Cow p/kg Change on wk All GB data in the above tables is reproduced from tables created by AHDB/LAA/IAAS For more detailed information please visit or * The above tables are unique because they are the only ones in existence that are published on a cross-uk basis that carry information on all UK regions plus the Republic of Ireland. The information, which is delivered free to NBA members by , can only otherwise be obtained through AHD/LAA/IAAS (see above) and the Livestock and Meat Commission s (LMC)Bulletin for Northern Ireland. The tables should be a useful source of information to committed beef finishers across the UK. 9

10 BEEF INDUSTRY NEWS Mini Beef Roast Dinner Campaign Running for Third Year Britons tucked into more roast dinners last year but fewer of them were on a Sunday, according to analysis from the Agriculture and Horticulture Development Board (AHDB) and Kantar Worldpanel. Families consumed 1.4 billion roast dinners, an increase of 0.6 per cent on the previous year, but Sunday s share slipped below half, accounting for 49 per cent of all roast meals, reflecting how much society has changed over the last thirty years. AHDB Beef & Lamb is launching its Why wait til Sunday? TV advertising campaign this month, showcasing the versatility of beef and lamb mini roasts. The TV advert launches on 24 October and aims to target smaller households, positioning the mini roast as the perfect mid-week meal which is easy to prepare and cook, contemporary, versatile, and, above all, really tasty. The campaign, which last year, was seen by 22 million households, has encouraged supermarkets to introduce over 20 new lines to the mini roast category. It had a positive halo effect on the wider beef and lamb roasting category of 11 million, indicating people also purchased other lamb and beef joints. For 2016, the focus is on young couples, aged 25 to 34, through online activity, press advertising and PR, which will run alongside the television adverts. They will be encouraged to try the mini roast as the perfect date-night meal, enabling them to make quality time for each other in the week. Nick White, Head of Beef & Lamb Domestic Marketing, said: The mini roast campaign aims to grow awareness of the category, influence consumers purchasing habits and build on the success of last year s activity by focusing on a more defined target audience. By targeting smaller households that are often busy and don t necessarily have time for the traditional Sunday roast, we can really encourage them to see that enjoying a tasty roasting joint of beef or lamb doesn t have to be time-consuming, inconvenient or a hassle. New Vaccine Against Cattle Diseases Could Help Reduce Antibiotics Use A newly patented vaccine by Kansas State University researchers could be good news for meat consumers, as well as for cattle and those who care for them. The researchers developed a solution that could provide effective, antibiotic-free prevention of Fusobacterium necrophorum infection. The bacterium afflicts sheep and cattle with liver abscesses, calf diphtheria and foot rot or abscesses. Currently, antibiotics are used to control these infections, but the vaccine takes a different approach to keep animals healthy and consumers happy. "The Food and Drug Administration has issued guidance to minimize the use of many antibiotics in cattle, especially those similar to ones with human applications, so this vaccine is an alternative," said lead researcher Sanjeev K. Narayanan, professor of diagnostic medicine and pathobiology in the university's College of Veterinary Medicine. "This way, we don't expose people's food to bacteria that have acquired resistance to many antibiotics, so the vaccine protects both animals and humans." Their vaccine uses a two-pronged approach. It first immunises the animal against certain toxins produced by Fusobacterium. The second element of the vaccine is when antibodies generated in the animal against a key protein prevent bacterial attachment to the rumen and liver of the animals. "If you can prevent attachment, you can prevent infection," said T.G. Nagaraja, distinguished professor of diagnostic medicine and pathobiology and another member of the vaccine patent team. "That's why this patented vaccine uses a two-pronged approach." The vaccine is currently in testing for cattle, and may eventually be available also for sheep and for people. The researchers plan to continue working on further developing the vaccine and prevent disease in livestock and people. 10

11 Latest AHDB analysis: What Brexit might mean for UK trade in agricultural products Please find AHDB s latest Brexit analysis paper - What Brexit might mean for UK trade in agricultural products? It explores how trade deals with the EU and the rest of the world following Brexit may impact UK agriculture and horticulture on a sector-by-sector basis. It profiles each sector s current trading position in the global arena and highlights the opportunities and threats associated with various potential terms of trade. It covers AHDB s levy-paying sectors dairy, beef, lamb, pork, cereals and oilseeds, potatoes and horticulture. It also looks at poultry meat in the context of its relationship with the red meat market. It joins the growing suite of Horizon publications focussing on key issues for UK agriculture and horticulture, produced by AHDB in the wake of the EU referendum. Welfare of Animals during Transport Current transport legislation states that an animal must be fit for an intended journey before the journey starts and must remain sufficiently fit throughout the journey. This means the animal should be healthy enough to tolerate the entire journey (including loading, unloading and any journey breaks) with no or very little adverse effect on it; the journey should not cause the animal any suffering or injury. Guidelines for the Welfare of Animals During Transport are detailed in the FQAS Standard pages and all FQAS participants would be advised to read these. Essential Points to Remember 1. If you transport animals it is your responsibility to ensure that they are fit for transport, even though other competent and responsible people (e.g. the animal s owner) may be involved in assessing the fitness of an animal for transport. 2. Assessment of fitness is an ongoing procedure that should be repeated throughout a journey, and not something that should only be undertaken before the start of it. The condition of an animal can change rapidly during a journey, and an animal that was initially fit at the outset, may for several reasons become unfit later in the journey. Transporters/herd or flock keepers should take the opportunities presented by rest, toilet and other breaks in the journey to re-check their animals. 3. Whenever the fitness of an animal or group of animals is in doubt, or disputed, transporters/ herd or flock keepers are advised strongly before undertaking transport to obtain the professional opinion of a veterinary surgeon and consider and follow any advice given. The transporter/herd or flock keeper may wish to obtain a written opinion from the veterinarian. 4. Where animals that are slightly ill or injured are judged to be sufficiently fit for transport, it will often be necessary to provide better transport conditions during the journey. Morrisons launch the premium brand in store Shorthorn Beef, a premium brand offering superb eating quality and full traceability from farm to fork accompanied by immense provenance, will officially launched in its Beverly store today 28 September, along with over 100 other stores through Britain. Morrisons and the Beef Shorthorn Society have been working together since 2010 towards launching Shorthorn Beef. Together, they have generated a sustainable partnership and developed a robust supply chain, explained the supermarket s Jodie Bolland. To achieve a consistent supply of high end quality product, Morrisons is sourcing Beef Shorthorn animals from farm assured holdings with excellent standards of animal welfare, traceability, and nutrition to produce beef of consistent eating quality. We pay a premium on all cattle sired by a registered Beef Shorthorn and supplied to the supermarket s own meat processing company, Woodheads from its approved farm assured finishers. She continued: Beef Shorthorn is globally renowned for its eating quality, characterised by marbling which influences its consistent great taste tenderness followed by flavour. We have carried out rigorous testing in Morrisons state of the art facilities and both our tenderness testing and trained taste panels confirmed Beef Shorthorn is a quality product. 11

12 That superb eating quality was confirmed last week when Beef Shorthorn won two of the six gold medals in the World Steak Challenge staged in London and attracting 83 steak entries from 13 breeds and from 17 countries. Beef Shorthorn Society s Milly Fyfe commented: This breed has a long and distinguished history having evolved over the last two centuries from Teeswater and Durham cattle originally found in the North East of England. In 1822, the first pedigree herd book in the world was published for Beef Shorthorn cattle. Since then, Beef Shorthorn genetics have been used globally in the development of over 40 different breeds. Native breeds came under increasing pressure in Britain following the invasion of Continental breeds throughout the 1960s and 1970s, however after three decades, they found themselves back in vogue, and Beef Shorthorn has witnessed a major turn-around. Breeders have carefully selected for specific maternal performance traits and at the same time retained the Beef Shorthorn s native characteristics; consequently Beef Shorthorn is enjoying resurgence and meeting market demand primarily as a functional suckler cow. In fact, Beef Shorthorn s unique traits have positioned it to be numerically Britain s fastest growing native breed, its population has expanded by 1,400% since 2002, and there is every indication that that trend will continue to gain momentum. Red meat exporters seek sales at international event Paris will play host to a sales mission and showcase of PGI Welsh Lamb and PGI Welsh Beef at the world s largest food innovation exhibition and major trading market next week. The SIAL trade show will stage 7,000 companies from more than 100 countries over five days and will attract retail and foodservice professionals from across the globe. At the event, Hybu Cig Cymru Meat Promotion Wales (HCC) will provide a platform for Wales red meat exporters to build on existing business relationships and make connections with new customers in markets worldwide. A constant supply of succulent samples will tempt the traders to HCC s stand where a specialist team of European export agents will be present to link Welsh exporters with influential importers. Welsh Government Cabinet Secretary for Environment and Rural Affairs, Lesley Griffiths AM will join HCC on Monday 17 October for a reception to celebrate the quality of red meat from Wales. HCC Chair, Dai Davies said: We look forward to welcoming the Cabinet Secretary to the HCC stand at SIAL and to facilitating a number of discussions with influential buyers who have a keen interest in the fantastic meat we produce here in Wales. Our aim will be to assist Welsh processors to turn their interest into hard sales in the future. Export markets are crucial to the Welsh red meat sector; approximately 35% of sheep meat and 13% of beef produced in Wales is exported overseas. SIAL is a perfect opportunity to engage with existing and potential customers and plays a central role in influencing export activity following the initial contacts that are set up at the event where we will have a strong PGI-branded presence. 12

13 Brazilian Beef Exports Climbing Brazil's fresh beef exports are performing well in Egypt, as the country purchased almost 19,000 tons from Brazil in September and ranked ahead of China. Egypt was the main destination for Brazilian exports of fresh beef in September. The Arab country imported almost 19,000 tons in the month and placed ahead of China, Hong Kong, Russia and Iran, according to data from the Association of Brazilian Beef Exporters (Abiec). In terms of revenues, however, China ranked first with purchases worth USD 68.5 million, with Egypt coming in second with USD 63.2 million. According to Abiec, Brazil exported overall 93,000 tons of fresh beef last month, an increase of 13 per cent over August. Shipments generated USD 388 million, up 11 per cent in the same comparison. NZ Study Confirms Benefits of Dairy-Beef Integration The final report of a five year study into the use of quality beef genetics in a dairy beef supply chain has been released, confirming the potential for dairy farmers to produce high value calves with minimal calving problems using proven beef genetics. The aim of the Beef + Lamb New Zealand Dairy-Beef Integration Programme was to analyse and demonstrate the benefits and risks involved throughout the supply chain in order to increase the supply of quality calves to the finishing industry. The AgResearch-led project, led by Dr Vicki Burggraaf, AgResearch Farm Systems Scientist, was funded by Beef + Lamb NZ Mid-Northern Farmer Council with in-kind support from LIC and Ezicalve (proven Hereford sires). Dr Burggraaf said the beef industry is becoming increasingly reliant on calves sourced from dairy farms, but the sires of these calves have traditionally been of poor or unknown genetic potential for beef production. The study demonstrated that using proven sires with high Estimated Breeding Values (EBVs) for calving ease limited calving problems and those with high EBVs for liveweight produced cattle with higher growth rates. The use of proven beef sires with high EBVs for calving ease and liveweight over dairy cows has benefits for dairy and beef farmers, Dr Burggraaf said. The Manager of the Dairy Beef Integration Programme, Doug Lineham, said the findings confirm what we re seeing in the market where dairy farmers are receiving up to three or four times the value of a bobby calf for a quality dairy/beef animal. There is a wide range of quality proven beef genetics on offer to farmers from AI through to leasing or purchasing proven bulls. Grazing bulls is time consuming and resource hungry so it pays to ensure they are proven and will deliver a good result. 13

14 ADVERTISEMENTS National Beef Association Magazine The Winter issue s deadline is the 9th December, if you have a story, picture or news that you think might be of interest please sent it through to beeffarmer@nationalbeefassociation.com and we will do our best to accommodate you. There are also a number of advertising opportunities that can be taken advantage of, not least a 2017 NBA Wall Planner which will go out in the next issue. This is a unique chance to have your company s advert on beef industry professional s walls for 12 months! For more information about this and all other advertising opportunities within the NBA magazine follow this link or please call Head Office on and speak to Helen or Sharon. 14

15 Hexham & Northern Marts hold a weekly sale of 350 plus top quality store cattle every Friday. Contact our team of Auctioneers for further details or to receive copies of our catalogues. Tel: Web: info@hexhammart.co.uk Facebook: Hexham and Northern Marts 15

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