Aberdeen-Angus breeders are looking at “very positive” marketing opportunities in 2006 as beef consumption continues to grow and export markets re-open.

photo courtesy www.livestock-sales.co.uk

And a return to live cattle exports to the rest of Europe is envisaged as annual registrations of Aberdeen-Angus cattle in the UK and Ireland exceed 11,000 for the first time, the annual report of the Aberdeen-Angus Cattle Society to the year to October 31, 2005, reveals.

“Confidence in investing in Aberdeen-Angus breeding stock remains at an all-time high and we remain focussed on being the number one beef breed in the UK,” the report states.

“The continued growth in beef consumption both at home and around the world, set against tightening supplies, is sending a clear message to producers.

With the prospect of exports once again becoming reality, Aberdeen-Angus pedigree breeders are for the first time in over a decade looking at a very positive market opportunity.”

A record number of European breeders visited the UK and Ireland during 2005 to assess what Aberdeen-Angus breeders have to offer.

“We have laid the foundations for what will be a growing trade in live exports in the year ahead,” the report adds. “A decade bereft of opportunity has the prospect of delivering tangible economic benefit to those willing to explore the boundaries of this developing frontier.”

The beef sector had weathered the negative impact of the high volume of cattle slaughtered off grass last year and the prospects for a “substantial and profitable” sector looked more positive.

But the report warns of increased volatility in the beef market following the decoupling of support from production and the introduction of the Single Farm Payment.

“Decoupling and the move to world market prices will see more volatility in the market with much greater movement in prices than we have been used to historically,” the report suggests.

“This transition has seen forward thinking breeders start to restructure their businesses to accommodate the inevitability of reducing single farm payments whilst others have yet to decide where their future opportunities lie. Time is not on the side of the undecided.”

The Society achieved a surplus of income over expenditure of £59,048 in 2005 compared with £60,966 the previous year. Reserves have increased from £926,368 to a record £1,029,256.

Registrations reached a record level of 11,096 in Volume 129 of the Herd Book and membership of the Society is now 2235, with 220 new members joining during the year.

The report says the Society is well positioned to deliver an expanded range of services to members following significant investment in IT which had streamlined the registration system and improved cash flow and delivery times.

More members were now conducting their business on-line and the Society's trading arm, Pedigree Cattle Services Ltd, was now handling data for a number of other beef breed societies which had created a new income stream.

The Society's annual general meeting will be held at Perth on Sunday, February 5, on the eve of the Perth bull sales.

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