UK: Report calls out devastating suckler beef calving interval proposals

Proposed changes to Scotland's suckler beef scheme could have a 'damaging ripple effect' along the whole red meat supply chain, sector leaders say. The warning is included in a new report critiquing the Scottish government's post-Brexit amendment to the Scottish Suckler Beef Scheme (SSBSS). The government has proposed to add a 410-day calving interval addition as part of a measure seeking to cut greenhouse gas emissions stemming from the beef sector. But the new report [PDF] warns that Scotland’s smallest herds - with fewer than 30 cows - could see funding falls of over £240,000. These herds make up almost half of all beef holdings and 10% of total breeding dams in Scotland. Authored by Neil Wilson, executive director of the Institute of Auctioneers and Appraisers in Scotland (IAAS), the report warns that the consequence of these changes will have 'far-reaching, and seemingly politically unconsidered implications'. “Calving interval conditionality is a metric driven criterium that ...