Montgomeryshire Assembly Member, Russell George, will use a meeting next week (4 June) with Meat Promotion Wales to raise local farmers concerns following the recent dramatic fall in the farmgate price of beef.
Mr George, who is also the Shadow Minister for Agriculture and Natural Resources, will be meeting the Chair and Chief Executive of Hybu Cig Cymru (Meat Promotion Wales) to talk about the organisations work, as well as the future health of the red meat industry in Wales.
However, the backdrop to the meeting has been one of declining confidence in the beef sector as a gap between farm gate price and the retail price appears to have widened over recent months. There have been reports in Montgomeryshire and other parts of Wales that some farmers are receiving hundreds of pounds less per animal than they were just 6 months ago.
Commenting, Mr George said:
“I requested the meeting with the senior management team of Hybu Cig Cymru a number of weeks ago when I took over the agricultural portfolio, so that we could discuss the on-going promotional work of the organisation, as well as examine some of the future issues for the sector.
“However over recent weeks, a number of farmers both locally and in other parts of Wales have raised their concerns with me about price volatility in the beef market, as the relationship between the producer, retailer and the consumer seems to have faltered.
“I want to get to the bottom of why confidence in the supply chain relationship has stalled, given that just 15 months ago in the wake of the horsemeat scandal, retailers were asking for Welsh farmers support to rebuild their relationship with consumers.
“There’s no doubt that Welsh red meat is a premium product that this country produces very well indeed and there has always been a high market value placed on such carefully produced commodity; that price stability needs to be re-established as a matter of urgency and that will require commitment from the whole supply chain.
“So I will be using the meeting as an opportunity to discuss solutions on how increased sales can be achieved through positive promotional activities over the coming weeks and months ahead, so that a sustainable beef price can be quickly restored.”
