Sheep sector in the spotlight

Sheep farmers from across the country have met to voice their concerns on key issues facing the sector.

Among the main talking points at a meeting of the NFU sheep group were market transparency, sheep movements and EID. Members voiced concerns around the dressing specifications used at plants and the continued practice of rounding down of weights to the nearest half kilo. The NFU has discussed these issues with processor organisations and is also advising farmers who are unsure as to how their lambs are dressed or weighed to examine more closely their terms and conditions

Gloucestershire farmer John Hore, who chaired the meeting, said: Simple changes could be made to the information which is supplied by the processors to farmers which would make the whole process of selling deadweight more understandable and we will continue to raise these issues with the trade.

We would also encourage farmers to make full use of the Eblex Better Returns Programme, which includes Live to Dead days to better understand how their product is dressed and valued.

Members at the meeting were also updated on the latest developments to EID as well as looking at recommendations on livestock movements from the Red Tape Review by the Farming Regulation Taskforce.

• The NFU Sheep Group is an ad-hoc sub group of the NFU national livestock board and consists of over 20 NFU members drawn from England and Wales. It is chaired by John Hore, who is also the vice-chairman of the NFU national livestock board.
• Full notes from the meeting will soon be available for members to view on NFU Online.