An open letter has been sent to the government calling for 'sensible and adequate' investment for the country's beef farmers 'before it's too late'.
The letter proposes the recently revealed Defra underspend of £358m should be used to support 'struggling' beef producers in England.
Sent to farming minister Daniel Zeichner, the National Beef Association (NBA) also points to the 'alarming' decline in beef cattle numbers, which have fallen by 5% this year alone.
"We are well on the way to creating a critical mass problem from which the industry may never recover," warns Neil Shand, NBA's CEO.
"Our self-sufficiency continues to decline at pace; immediate and positive action to halt the decline in numbers and redress the balance is imperative if we are to stabilise our food security."
In the letter, the industry body urges the new Labour government to focus the underspent agriculture budget on two key areas of support.
The first is to match the system currently in place in Scotland paying livestock farmers a headage payment of £100 per year on mainland farms and £160 on the islands.
The NBA proposes that for England, £100 is paid for lowland farms and £160 for upland farms.
The second is to fund a 'more dramatic' approach to the eradication of TB in the national herd by increasing the use of the latest testing technology to give earlier and more accurate warning of the disease's presence.
In the letter, Mr Shand also stresses the wider benefits of British livestock production to the environment, the rural economy and the national food supply.
"The benefits of livestock production are often ignored or understated. They manage the countryside in areas which are unfit for anything else, " he notes.
"They ensure our soils remain fertile; without their input, the land would become unproductive and unmanaged.
"They maintain an ancient traditional skill base, and nurture the communities – and many varied and related jobs - which rely on their presence."
Mr Shand goes on to say that the beef sector 'wholeheartedly supports' Labour's plans to boost the economy through rural growth.
But he warns: "Time is running out to retain that rural economy – the dramatic decline can only be halted through sensible and adequate investment before it’s too late.”
