A beef-filled future: Beef Sector Strategy 2030 outlines growth plans for next eight years

A new strategy has been launched today (24 June) at the Royal Highland Show, setting the direction for the growth of the beef value chain within Scotland.

The 2030 Beef Sector Strategy has been developed by a steering group comprising stakeholders from across the supply chain, with invaluable industry input through consultation and collaboration. It emphasises that sector growth must be responsible on economic, environmental, and social fronts.

The vision of the strategy is that, by 2030, the Scottish beef supply chain will comprise profitable, sustainable and resilient businesses built on a skilled workforce. It will continue to deliver high-value, quality beef and beef products to domestic and international customers, produced to world-leading animal health and welfare standards in a way that has reduced the sector’s carbon emissions by 75% from 1990 levels.

To achieve its purpose, the strategy has been based on four pillars, focused on: environmental sustainability, profitability within the supply chain, people and skills, and animal health and welfare. It builds upon the previous Beef 2020 Strategy but has accounted for the dramatically different operating landscape a decade on.

With the impact of Brexit, the Covid-19 pandemic and, most recently, the Russian invasion of Ukraine on the Scottish beef industry taken into consideration, the strategy aims to support the sector as it navigates its way through the disruptions.

Chair of QMS, Kate Rowell, says: “Scotch beef contributes hugely to our economy, and as the organisation responsible for promoting, supporting, developing, and protecting the Scottish red meat sector more broadly, we are doing all that we can to ensure that we deliver.

“This crucial strategy sets out key objectives for the Scottish beef sector to achieve by 2030, building on current strengths, addressing key weaknesses and threats, and identifying innovative opportunities to safeguard a strong future for the industry.”

Following the launch, the strategy will enter the crucial implementation phase and QMS will work to optimise opportunity. A Beef Industry Leadership group will be appointed led by Neil Wilson, who commands considerable industry experience from his career in agri banking, in his current role as executive director of the Institute of Auctioneers and Appraisers in Scotland, and as a farmer from Dumfries and Galloway.

To read the 2030 Beef Sector Strategy and to find out more about Scotch Beef, visit www.qmscotland.co.uk.

Link here to the summary document - https://www.qmscotland.co.uk/sites/default/files/beef_sector_strategy_2030_-_summary_final.pdf