A single certification standard would help reduce costs of beef production says the British Charolais Cattle Society.

Chris Curry, a suckler beef producer and chairman of the British Charolais Cattle Society, says Brexit is bringing plenty of challenges when the whole subsidy system will ultimately be changed completely.

He said: “At the moment we are fishing around in the dark and that’s quite scary. We need to become a more integrated industry and be aware that we have some of the highest costs of production in the world. So, to succeed, we must work together and use one certification standard, for example, that everyone follows. At the moment, we’ve far too many different hoops to jump through, and each adds cost along the way.”

Mr Curry says new markets outside the EU must be found and that the industry must guard against lower priced supplies from overseas.

"Eating quality will be key. The Charolais, of all the continental breeds, is the most marbled. It’s more succulent, more tender and has more taste. A lot of this has been based on hearsay, but now, with the advent of genomics, we’ve the ability to measure for these key traits.”

The Charolais breed has evolved since it took the market by storm when introduced in the 1960s. It went on to develop a reputation for being a difficult calver resulting in dairy farmers moving more towards Aberdeen Angus and Limousin as their preferred cross.

Mr Curry said: “Over the years we’ve addressed this, and now have bulls with smaller shoulders and lighter bone – but ones that still retain a good meat to bone ratio and great growth rates. Now we need to win back those that still have that calving difficulty reputation in the back of their heads.”

Autumn 2017 beef farmers moving back into the Charolais. Mr Curry said: “As the premium comes off some breeds, farmers will find the cattle job gets more difficult, particularly for those rearing heifer calves. For store and fat stock weight for age is still key. We were over the moon with both demand and prices across the autumn, and look forward to a good start in 2018 with the spring sales that will get underway soon.”

He urges all producers to pay much more attention to their costs of production. Since the Charolais puts on more weight than any breed from every kg of grass consumed, it provides producers to be at the forefront of cost efficiency of beef production.

He concluded: "With our climate, we’re competing against farmers with the ability to keep animals out year-round and those with a far greater economy of scale. So, we have to make up for this in terms of quality and consistency. And the Charolais certainly has the ability to offer this.”