EU farming unions 'must stand together' on lamb price

The impact of the fall in lamb prices is being felt by farmers across Europe and EU organisations must 'act as one to tackle it', the NFU has urged.

A summit with livestock representatives which met last month said sheep farmers were being hit by poor weather, longer finishing periods, rising costs, disease challenges and a marked drop in lamb prices over the past year.

Farmers are losing £29 on average for every lamb they sell at market after new figures revealed farm gate prices have dropped by a fifth in the past year.

"This challenge is not just a UK issue, it is putting sheep farmers all over Europe under pressure and we are committed to standing with our European counterparts to address it" said NFU livestock board chairman Charles Sercombe.

Sercombe told delegates that sheep prices and margins on sheep farms have been put under severe pressure due to the disrupted marketing season brought on by the weather and the challenge of cheap imports.

He also outlined that following a UK farming unions summit last week, the organisations have called for European wide meetings in early March.

"We must promote lamb around the EU. But we must also look at the New Zealand lamb quota situation."

"The last real change to the quota was back in 1994 and the processing industry has made significant changes since then. It's important the Commission looks at the value of imports coming into the EU and not just the tonnage."

"We're calling on the European Commission to help promote lamb across the EU and address our concerns regarding the outdated quota regime."

NSA Chief Executive Phil Stocker said lambs were growing at a far slower rate due to last years' poor weather.

"The weather last summer and autumn resulted in lambs growing far slower than normal and this has delayed the normal seasonal peak of production by six to eight weeks" he said.

And the issue isn't confined to UK lamb.

French, Spanish and Irish farming unions have outlined many of the same concerns.

A joint industry statement said: "Confidence in the sheep sector is at rock bottom. Factors such as the weather, rising costs and disease are contributing to make the ‘perfect storm’ and farmers are being left to produce lamb at less than the cost of production."

"All four UK unions have committed to pull together to address the challenge farmers in countries across the EU are facing from cheap New Zealand imports and pressure on farm margins."

"We believe there is scope to review Specified Risk Material (SRM) controls which devalue older lambs and we would also urge the UK processing sector to take more of a lead to improve transparency for producers in the deadweight lamb market."

"Despite the troubling times, we believe there are grounds for optimism in the long term. We know our lamb is in demand both at home and abroad but the industry must regain its confidence to invest in the future if we are to exploit these opportunities."

Impacts from the new lamb-deforming disease Schmallenberg are also being felt in the sector.

The disease, which leads to lambs and calves being stillborn or deformed, led to widespread worry in the early lambing season with figures indicating up to a 60% loss being suffered by early flocks. Farmers began to complain over the lack of information released by Defra but the Animal Health and Veterinary Laboratories Agency newly reported over 1,531 infected farms, a 26% increase from January figures.