WITH 32% MARKET SHARE
The British Limousin breed has maintained its number one ranking in market share of the UK beef industry according to the end of 2010 year figures from the British Cattle Movement Service (BCMS). This is the fifteenth consecutive year that the breed has led the rankings and since the figures first became available through BCMS in 1996.
Figures released for 2010 by the British Cattle Movement Service, Workington, show that 1,780,844 beef sired calves were registered in the year with 586,376 being sired by Limousin bulls. This is representative of a 32% market share for the Limousin breed which is exactly in line with the previous year’s figures.
Commenting on the figures, British Limousin Cattle Society Chief Executive Iain Kerr said:“In a challenging economic environment, where all beef producers are closely watching their bottom line, Limousin breeders remain dedicated to providing easy-calving, easy-care cattle, efficient in food conversion and producing profitable carcases. This breeding philosophy has spearheaded the breed’s success in meeting the needs of producers in all regions of the British market over a sustained period,” he said.
Following the Limousin breed, Charolais bulls sired 258,967 calves in the year with this being representative of a 15% market share. Aberdeen Angus remains the leading native beef breed with 243,179 registrations resulting in an increase of 1% on the year to a 13% total market share. Encouragingly, the total number of beef sired calves in the year remained solid at 1,780,844, a marginal drop of just over 14,000 on the year.
The dominance of continental sires in the figures is apparent with Aberdeen Angus, in third place, being the sole native breed within the top five ranked breeds of Limousin, Charolais, Aberdeen Angus, Simmental and British Blue respectively. Of the individual home country totals, England shows the biggest variation to the national rankings with Limousin being followed by Aberdeen Angus in second, British Blue third, Charolais fourth and with Simmental in fifth position.
Wales is again the home country where Limousin enjoys the largest market share with 40% of the 95,508 calves registered being Limousin sired. Limousin also has the largest market share in both England and Scotland respectively with 31% in each country. Since the British Cattle Movement Service was established in 1996 just under 9.75 million (9,736,228) Limousin-sired birth registrations have been recorded.
In 2011 British Limousin is marking the 40th Anniversary of Limousin cattle first being imported into the United Kingdom and the British Limousin Cattle Society being established.
For any further information please contact BLCS Chief Executive, Iain Kerr,
on 2476 696500
