National Beef Week has Yorkshire focus

Rosey with students Charlotte Dring and Jess Milner

The fifth national Great British Beef Week centred on St George’s Day on April 23 will have Yorkshire beef production at its heart.

Not only is York producer and Ladies in Beef founder member Rosey Dunn the chosen ‘face’ of the fifth annual celebration of farm assured beef, but students from East Yorkshire’s Bishop Burton College are also firmly in the spotlight.

Celebrating the launch of their new breeding programme for prime Hereford beef cattle, the students were invited to help launch the week and highlight the skill and care that goes into producing one the nation’s favourite meats.

“Great British Beef Week is all about the quality of the food our livestock farmers produce,” said Rosey Dunn.

“But behind that success story is an army of dedicated people who take pride in everything they do from farm to fork. Our county has a fantastic reputation for beef so it is very reassuring to see so many young women committed to taking on the challenge for the future.

“We head into this year’s Great British Beef Week with good and bad news hitting the headlines. It’s worrying to hear that we’ve lost more than 200,000 beef breeding cows in the last 10 years - 100,000 in the last three years alone.

“But it good to see the industry responding with initiatives such as the new herd at Bishop Burton and a recent survey of meat-eaters revealed how people are harnessing the versatility of beef to keep it at the top of nation’s menu.”

A YouGov poll commissioned by Ladies in Beef established steak as the nation’s favourite beef dish (29%), but roast beef came a close second with 23% of the vote. Spaghetti Bolognaise was the third most popular dish with 14% of people naming it their favourite.

“The research suggests that Yorkshire’s farming students would be most likely to vote for steak or Spaghetti Bolognaise, given their pick,” added Mrs Dunn.

“Three times more respondents aged 18-24 picked steak over a roast – 35% versus 11% - and a high proportion of youngsters (23%) also opted for Spaghetti Bolognese. In contrast more than a third of people aged 55 and older said they would opt for a roast. I suspect most farmers like myself would be in the roast ‘camp’ but it is great to see people using beef to create a variety of different dishes.

“Getting such positive feedback from consumers is fantastic for the local beef industry. As a Red Tractor farmer I was delighted to be chosen as the ‘face’ of this year’s Beef Week – all the more so as it’s allowed me to put a spotlight firmly on Yorkshire production.

“On my home farm just outside York, I have been producing Red Tractor farm assured beef for more than 15 years with my husband and son and I’m always keen to get out and talk to the public about what that involves.

“I hope this year we’ve been able to show that the future of our industry in Yorkshire looks secure – and I would urge anyone out there that enjoys a tasty bit of beef during Great British Beef Week to take advantage of Open Farm Sunday in June and visit a farm to meet our farmers in person and see for themselves the work that goes on behind the scenes.”