BRITAIN’S beef industry must tackle a string of issues if it is to safeguard its long-term future, according to the English Beef and Lamb Executive (Eblex).

It is warning that producers are in danger of “sleepwalking towards irretrievable decline” if they do not take action now to deal with problems across the sector.

Eblex’s newly-published special report, In The Balance? The future of the English beef industry, says that the breeding herd has declined by 27% between 1990 and 2007, which has had a knock-on effect on beef production.

Even though beef consumption in the UK is 12% higher now than it was in 1990, the UK’s self sufficiency in beef has fallen from 109% in 1995 to 80% last year.

And despite the current strong cattle prices, good consumer demand and soaring exports, many producers are still making negative margins because although prices appear strong, they are actually lower in real terms than they were in 1990.

Eblex says beef producers and processors, the wider food industry and policy-makers must take a longer- term strategic view if they are to secure the industry’s future.

Eblex chairman John Cross said: “The short-termism of some key players in the beef supply chain, combined with the apparent lack of awareness on the part of policy-makers and the public of the steady attrition of the beef industry, means that we are sleep-walking towards the irretrievable decline of a critical part of our farming industry.