WITH Brexit looming and a strong push from consumers to shop local and buy genuine British products, The Aberdeen- Angus Cattle Society has embarked on a major project in collaboration with IdentiGEN to assure the authenticity of British Aberdeen-Angus beef.

British Aberdeen-Angus beef is a premium offer and a value driver for retailers and food service organisations, but not all Aberdeen-Angus is the same. As a new standard, in collaboration with DNA TRACEBACK ® from IdentiGEN, the Sire Verified Aberdeen-Angus Scheme is an initiative promoting the verification of genuine British Aberdeen-Angus products for food suppliers.

“ The technology can be used to verify the provenance of not only fresh beef cuts, but also further processed products such as hamburgers, meatballs and lasagnes,” explains Barrie Turner, CEO of The Aberdeen-Angus Cattle Society.

In working towards this solution, The Society has been collecting tissue samples at farm level since January 2015 and analysing all registered bulls since January 2018, to have DNA profiles

available for each bull that is in use on farm, whether it is a commercial or a pedigree-use bull.

“ We’ ll be working with our partners, IdentiGEN, to continue to further develop this database over the coming months and once fully validated, it can be used in the marketplace to differentiate the product and instil trust in the authenticity of the provenance of British Aberdeen- Angus beef,” he notes.

“ Our relationship with IdentiGEN is paramount to the success of this scheme and the future protection of the breed and the brand. We’ ll continue with our close working relationship, benefitting from IdentiGEN’ s expertise to further protect and conserve the marketplace and premium that we enjoy as Aberdeen- Angus breeders and finishers.”

The new sire verified standard, backed by science, will be made available to processors, retailers, food service organisations and trading standards as an opportunity to monitor their supply chains and deliver truly authentic product, thereby avoiding past issues of paper trails claiming to be such.

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Rob Howe

BOTH Claire and Rob are based at LLM Farm Vets in Cheshire and Lancashire, which is part of the VetPartners group. While they have already been working with their farm clients to explore how sustainable farming methods relate to livestock health, for example as part of a fully integrated parasite control strategy, the scholarship opportunities will increase the vets’ ability to provide further qualitative guidance to pass on farmers.

Claire’ s research will ask whether regenerative agriculture principles improve the health and welfare of livestock, and if so, to what extent.

“ I’ m thrilled to be awarded the scholarship, as it gives scope to build on the

work we’ re already doing at LLM to join the dots between improving soil health and biodiversity, and the impacts on farm animal health,” she says.

Rob will be exploring and defining the role of the farm vet within regenerative agriculture.

“ It’ s a really exciting time to have been awarded this opportunity, as globally there’ s growing interest in how farming can have a positive impact on the health of people, livestock, wildlife, biodiversity and climate change.”

The scholarship will enable and extend a specific area of his research which has been focussed on vets making use of the humble dung beetle to open the door to mindset shifts on how to approach parasite control and

harness the power of on-farm ecology. Dung beetles generate a £ 367m of value each year to UK cattle farms, which is often unrecognised.

“ The role of farm vets has been very dynamic over the past couple of decades, shifting steadily to prevention,” he says.

“ We’ re now entering into an era where sustainability and environmental considerations, which directly influence animal health, must become central to our day to day. With ELMs approaching, this will only become more important for us and our clients. I’ m very much looking forward to exploring this field further and using the findings to develop the services offered in our practices and the wider industry.”