Could Traditional Cattle Be the Future?

Selection of a cattle breeding policy is like navigating a large super-tanker. It takes long time to build up momentum and the response to steering is a very slow change of direction. Beef cattle are under attack from the fashionistas as a major cause of global warming. A cynic might think this is to distract attention from the pollution caused by cars, aeroplane travel and heating oil which politicians hesitate to suggest might be cut back.

Even dedicated vegans cannot digest a plate of grass which is all that the majority of UK farmland is suited to grow. Grass fed cattle and sheep meet this need and meat from grass has underpinned beef cattle breeding policies for centuries. Beef from cereal feeding is a relatively modern policy which only became possible with the advent of artificial fertilisers and sprays which have enabled cereal cropping to be massively expanded with a resulting drop in real price. The price of wheat and barley is much the same as it was in the 1970’s but inflation has massively reduced the real value. This development led to the introduction of continental breeds in the 1970’s producing beef fattened with a predominantly cereal ration. However, the feed conversion ratio of cereal-based diets even for continental breeds is still a fraction of that achieved by pigs and poultry. Traditional British beef breeds were developed on a predominantly grass-fed policy. In order to compete with the continental breeds many but not all producers of traditional breeds moved towards breeding policies based on a cereal ration, so that whilst the colour of the animals is the same they are otherwise difficult to distinguish from the continental interlopers in appearance.

This relatively short term trend looks set to soon become redundant with breeding policies reverting back to much closer to the traditional grass-fed approach. The carbon capture climate change agenda coupled with impending changes to subsidies following Brexit are altering the fundamentals of which breeding policies must take into account. Meat processors are also requiring a smaller traditional sized carcase and penalising large carcases produced by the continental type of cattle. Some commentators are now saying that the carbon locked up by grassland grazed by cattle is greater than by planting trees. Another concern is the long term degradation of soils by continuous cropping and a new appreciation of the role grass plays in a sustainable rotation. Subsidies based on public money for public goods seem likely to follow these trends. Commentators also stress the growing appreciation for eating quality by consumers. Perhaps the future is for less meat but of better quality to be consumed.

It seems likely that the new concerns will necessitate a return to a more traditional breeding policy with moderate-sized, easy fleshing, predominantly grass-fed, economically kept cattle.