The beef industry has until this Friday (8 September) to submit responses as part of a review led by the Agriculture and Horticulture Development Board (AHDB) in England on possible changes to the EUROP grading system for cattle at slaughter.

The review has been prompted by the impending UK exit from the EU, which brings the possibility that the UK could eventually move away from the current system of payments using grades, to something that would reflect yield or eating quality of the carcase.

While some in the processing sector have undertaken work looking at a payment system based on yield of various cuts, there seems to be little appetite at present in NI, for change.

Despite that, there is a popular belief among some beef producers that Brexit will bring a new dawn for the industry, opening up the possibility of ditching the antiquated EU system of EUROP grades, for a new approach based on meat eating quality.

However, it should be noted that processors can currently pay farmers on meat yield or meat eating quality if they want. The beef classification rules put a legal requirement on processors to report prices to the European Commission against certain grades (as a means of monitoring prices across member states). The rules do not require processors to pay farmers on the basis of this grade. That is for the local industry to decide.

Breed

The other issue worth highlighting is that the effect of breed on meat eating quality is often grossly over-estimated. The main factors influencing eating quality are management immediately pre-slaughter, post-slaughter and the skills of the subsequent cook. Differences due to breeds, sex, etc, are small.

While there is no doubt that the current EUROP grading system isn’t perfect (there is a range in meat yield within grades, and there is no link between grade and eating quality), it facilitates transparency in beef pricing across Europe. It is not something that farmers should give up lightly.