Buy British beef plea from farming bosses
Farmers are calling on customers to buy British beef after a "dramatic" fall in the price they are receiving from retailers.
The price has dropped from an average of £4.02 per kg in July 2013 to £3.55 per kg last month.
The fall has been blamed on foreign imports flooding the market from as far away as South America.
Protest organisation Farmers for Action has called for more to be done to help British famers.
Helen Cork, NFU County Adviser for Shropshire, said she is urging people buy British beef.
Ms Cork said: "The farm gate price at the moment is really bad and something does need to be done.
"The market is being flooded with imports, we are getting beef shipped in from Ireland and elsewhere and it is saturating the market for our own farmers.
"They are producing beef and bigger animals than ever, but not getting paid a good enough price for it. We haven't had great weather for barbecues so far this year, and the last Bank Holiday, which beef farmers were pinning hopes on being a good one, turned out to be a washout.
"The only way they are going to get paid a better price is if more people are buying the product."
NFU chief livestock adviser Peter Garbutt added: "There is little evidence that we are aware of that the overall retail price has fallen despite prices to our farmers being at their lowest for over two years. At a time when demand is said to be lacklustre, the margin being taken after the farm gate has risen by more than 20 per cent. Our farmers wish to see this difference being used to promote British beef on shelves and to stimulate consumption."
Chris Mallon, chief executive of the National Beef Association, added: "You are going to lose cattle numbers, which is terrible, but you can always bring cattle back. You are also going to lose the farmers and it is far harder to bring those farmers back."
Montgomeryshire AM Russell George said he will meeting this week with bosses from Hybu Cig Cymru (Meat Promotion Wales) to discuss the problem.
Mr George, who is also shadow minister for agriculture and natural resources in the Welsh Assembly, said there is "declining confidence" in the beef sector in Wales as the retail price and farm gate price gap widens.
He said he had heard from farmers across Wales who are receiving hundreds of pounds less per animal now than they were just six months ago. He added: "Over recent weeks farmers in Wales have raised concerns with me about the price volatility in the beef market as the relationship between the producer, retailer and the consumer seems to have faltered."
Star comment: Back our farms and buy British
