A 5-year industry programme designed to improve efficiency in the Welsh red meat supply chain will be sharing its results next week.
Hybu Cig Cymru – Meat Promotion Wales’ (HCC) Red Meat Development Programme will be highlighted at the NSA Welsh Sheep event on 16 May.
Funded through the Welsh government and the EU Rural Development Programme, the programme has consisted of three projects, each focusing on a different aspect of the red meat supply chain.
The Hill Ram Scheme has supported the use of genetic recording technology to empower hill farmers and breeders to collect and interpret genetic information about their flocks.
Combining traditional hill farming with the latest agri-technologies, the scheme demonstrates how traditional farming methods can be complemented with highly scientific technology to support sustainable sheep farming.
Stoc+ is a flock and herd health planning project which has engaged with beef and sheep farmers and vets to improve proactive health planning on farms.
Concurrently, research work has also been undertaken into diseases and issues which effect farmers efficiency and sustainability such as beef fertility and sheep lameness.
The final strand is the Welsh Lamb Meat Quality Project, which has taken a whole supply chain approach to ensuring that Welsh Lamb delivers a premium eating quality experience.
On farm and processing factors have been investigated and the feedback of 2000 consumers from across the UK has been analysed to understand consumer preference.
Research has also been undertaken into consumers’ buying and cooking habits to gain a full farm to fork analysis.
The project aims to arm the industry with the information and results to ensure that Welsh Lamb continues to be world-leading in terms of eating quality, offering added value to the industry and supply chain.
Results from all three projects will be highlighted at the NSA Welsh Sheep event through the seminar sessions and on HCC’s stand.
HCC’s producer and processor lead, John Richards, said: "We are proud to be sponsoring the NSA Welsh Sheep event this year and sharing results from the Red Meat Development Programme with farmers and industry.
"The NSA event is a key event for the Welsh sheep industry and we are looking forward to attending and meeting up with levy-payers and project farmers on the day."
