I am back to bang the same drum: the same one because I will get paid for it. More importantly in the marketing arena, you have to push the same message again and again for your sector to take heed but, above all, to have a degree of resonance with the public.

It is problematic in itself to have one unified voice in a sector, but in farming – and the red-meat sector, in particular – all participants have a considerable mountain to climb if they want to drive value into the sector, and even scratch the surface in illustrating how and with what effort and cost their meat meets the two veg on the plates of the masses …

How much are we currently communicating with the UK population, the rhetoric is very much focused on support and Brexit, and not the positives economically, socially and environmentally, and not on why meat is good for us.

Why might this be of concern? Well, a Scottish beef farmer shared the rant of US farmer “The Meat Lady” with me, which resonated.

The irony is that the same systemic outlook is prevalent in Scotland.

Shifting consumer views

There is a real need to take stock of the story we are projecting, as there is a gentle tidal change in the market, where it is no longer trendy to have a 28-day-aged Himalayan salt steak. However it is trendy – and seen as socially responsible and healthy – to bin the steak and instead work with the veg. This might be a mild ripple against the tide, as meat sales have been holding up, but I thought I would just bring home what else is creeping onto the shelves, and the topics that are breeding caution in the supermarket boardrooms.

Labelling on how meat is raised and slaughtered is shaping up to become one of the grocery sector’s hottest potatoes (if you’ll excuse me keeping the vegetarian theme live!). This has been seen in recent weeks, when big sausage brands Richmond’s and Heck came under fire for their depiction of the supply of their pigs.

This is not a new debate, but campaigners are circling, and consensus is building with a very vocal percentage of the population, who know how to express themselves through the media. These initiatives could bring pressure and scrutiny to bear on how food is produced and marketed, which could have many unintended consequences for the sector, in terms of demand and cost. Paradoxically, however, this trend could bring an end to the much-maligned “farm brands” that farmers were never happy with – but for the wrong reasons.

Campaigners want meat and dairy labelling to carry wording on methods of production similar to what is found on packs of eggs, such as “intensive indoors”, to give shoppers a clearer picture of where their bacon comes from.

The outcome for the Scottish meat sector could be twofold: positive from a grassland perspective, but negative for the indoor pig sector and animals that are housed inside, as there is little understanding by the population of the welfare benefits of this, or the impact of our unpredictable weather.

Another trend that has not quite hit our shores, but undoubtedly will is: “What is meat?”

Does it, by definition, have to come from an animal that was born, raised and slaughtered? Or can it be cultured and grown in a lab, in a process that produces a substance that has all the qualities of meat, right down to the cellular structure, except for one key difference: its origin?

In a word: what is the essence of “meatiness”? Sounds mad, but it is a question being debated vigorously in the US right now, after beef producers filed a petition with regulators asking them to come up with a clear definition for the terms “meat” and “beef”. The US Cattlemen’s Association is arguing “meat” and “beef” should be limited to products derived from animals that have been born, raised and harvested in what the association describes as “the traditional manner”.

The meat alternative agenda is growing rapidly and plant-based burgers from the likes of Beyond Meat and Impossible Foods are gaining increasing traction with consumers. So on this one the US producers have sensed it is time to try and put their foot down now, if they are to stem the tide.

This legal wrangle strays into terms such as “beefy”, “burger” and “meat”, which seems pedantic, but highlights how vulnerable the sector may be feeling. Vulnerable or defensive, how much are they pushing their own positive credentials? That is another discussion The Meat Lady has put up for debate.