RECIPES

• Welsh beef
• Welsh beef in crisis
• The aftermath
• Beef and its many uses

WELSH BEEF IN CRISIS

• In 1996 an announcement made by the British Conservative government shook the Welsh beef industry to its very foundations. A crisis subsequently followed the statement that BSE (Bovine Spongiform Encephalopathy) - more commonly referred to as ‘mad cow disease’ - could be transferred to humans if meat from infected cattle was consumed. The human form of the disease is a very rare and fatal neurological disease called vCJD (Variant Creutzeldt Jakobs Disease).



• This revelation resulted in the subsequent near-collapse of the beef industry with the mass-slaughter of cattle and an outright ban on beef exports. Scores of farmers faced financial ruin as a direct consequence and it seemed that the beef market would never recover sufficiently to save them.



• A ban on beef-on-the-bone ensued in 1997 together with a cull of selected cattle in an effort to have the export embargo lifted by the European Union whilst, in the June of that year, a computerised cattle tracing system was introduced to monitor all beef livestock. In 1998, an inquiry commenced into the BSE crisis resulting in the compulsory culling of all cows born on or after 1 August 1996 up to the point where any BSE cases had been confirmed prior to 25 November 1998.



• From 1996 and up until the cessation of the crisis, approximately 4.5 million cattle were slaughtered and the cost of compensating the farmers for their loss was over £1.4 billion, whilst 77 people identified with vCJD tragically lost their lives. Beef exports remained at a very low level for a time and in stark contrast to what they were before the crisis erupted. Furthermore, although the EU ruled that British beef no longer posed a risk of BSE in 2000, it is only now, three years later, that France has considered lifting their ban.



• With the passing of one crisis, the beef industry was hit by another with the realisation that a foot-and-mouth ‘epidemic’ was apparent in the British livestock industry. More cattle were slaughtered and yet another exportation ban was administered bringing yet more heartbreak to the door of Welsh farmers. Following many months of culling, tests revealed that cattle were free of foot-and-mouth and bans were lifted but, unfortunately, yet more damage had been done to the industry.