The Benefits of More Traditional Farming Methods

We're at a time once the political animal in Britain has woken around the fact the growth in population, both here and worldwide, means that we cannot as a nation continue steadily to rely on cheap imports and must do something to reverse the decline in farming suffered throughout the last decade and beyond. As populations grow and governments around the globe are pressurised to feed their particular peoples rather than export to earn pounds and dollars, so we ought to make use of our resources and not squander them by allowing so many farmers to leave the Grazing platter melbourne land in order to earn a basic living wage. Eating what's produced locally also answers lots of the questions raised about Food Miles and the consequences on CO2 emissions.

This scenario has triggered much discussion about advanced agriculture such as GM crops and the further intensification of industrialised farming. But there are huge tracts of land in the UK not suitable to such exploitation and yet they too have their place in feeding the nation. Indeed, recent research even indicates that a mix of traditional breeds and low-input grazing might be the solution to re-discovering the delicious beef of Olde England!

Extensive work has been undertaken in recent years by a group of scientists at Bristol University led by Professor Jeff Wood. They've been studying the differences between breeds of beef cattle raised on grass and silage, without cereal-based compound feeds, and how they perform. The work specifically studied comparisons of different breeds of cattle grazing marginal grasslands; typically SSSIs - sites of special scientific interest - which are herb-rich and totally natural weighed against improved grasslands where varieties of herbage are limited and rely of nitrogen-based fertilizers to cultivate in abundance - the normal improved grasslands used for grazing by most farmers in the UK. Analysis of the pastures showed that on the three unimproved sites, the number of plant species was between 51 and 65 whereas the improved pasture supported just 33 species.

Many modern agriculturalists would scoff at the thought of to be able to produce quality beef in a restricted timeframe purely on grass and silage or hay - which are preserved types of grass for winter feed. The limitation on times comes from the 30-month rule imposed in the wake of BSE meaning that almost all beef cattle are slaughtered now by that age. Yet not only did traditional British breeds such as Longhorn, Belted Galloway, Beef Shorthorn and Traditional Hereford, ('Traditional'indicates that the animals have purely British genes), produce high-quality beef from this type of regime, these were also prone to produce'finished'carcasses (with enough fat once and for all eating quality) than commercial Charolais cross animals raised the exact same way.

Professor Wood was delighted with the outcomes: "There was anecdotal evidence that some of the older breeds which went of fashion had special characteristics worth preserving but nobody had ever measured the outcomes scientifically and we were all surprised at how well the traditional breeds performed inside our tests. Not merely did the older breeds grow along with the present day hybrids on unimproved pastures but the grade of the carcases was comparable and the eating quality was markedly better."

The traditional breeds selected were all in danger of becoming extinct just 30 or 40 years ago until the establishment of the charity, the Rare Breeds Survival Trust (RBST), one of the partners in the experiment. Farming is a manner industry and the dominance of the supermarkets has generated a concentration on cross-breds using mostly continental breeds within their make-up such as Charolais, Simmental, Belgian Blue etc. These animals grow rapidly when fed on high-performance diets and produce large, lean carcases favoured by the mass market.

That's fine where cultivated grassland is readily available and there are cheap cereals to form the foundation of compound feeds but such practices are not possible on marginal land which forms a very good proportion of the land available for farming in the UK. This research therefore shows that there are animals available that will produce high quality beef with relatively little if any input which can be altogether a good thing when it comes to reducing the carbon footprint. Further, such marginal land benefits hugely from being grazed this way as these native breeds help prevent the pasture being overtaken by scrubland plants such as birch, brambles, gorse etc. This sort of'natural'management of such environments is recognized as'Conservation Grazing'and is now recognized being an important element in managing our countryside and preserving our'green and pleasant land '.

It should not surprise anyone that these old breeds are better adapted to such conditions. Their long pedigrees concur that these were developed over centuries and were ideally suited to the surroundings, climate and topography of their native islands.

Another clear advantage to meat raised on grass as opposed to compound feeds is so it features a significantly higher degree of the beneficial omega-3 fatty acids in its make-up. Here is the same polyunsaturated ingredient that produces oily fish inside our diet this type of health benefit. Yet fish resources are becoming ever more scarce as over-fishing around the globe threatens viable stocks so perhaps a more careful shopping habit when it comes to buying meat might help overcome the pressure on scarce resources from the oceans.

Professor Wood was stoked up about the eating quality of the conclusion product using this four-year long trial. "We make use of a carefully selected and trained taste panel at Bristol University and the outcomes showed a marked difference in perceptions of tenderness, juiciness and beef flavour with the traditional breeds being ahead consistently. Furthermore, we did experiments on hanging the beef both when it comes to the period of time the meat was hung and the strategy used.

"Beef hung for 28 days was more tender than that hung for 10 days and the beef flavour changed subtly, with longer hanging producing an increase in what the panellists described as'abnormal flavour '. This is certainly the flavour prized by many in seeking well-hung meat.

"But an important difference was noted from the taste trials comparing the various kinds of hanging or conditioning. The old-fashioned method still used by some traditional butchers is to hold the carcase cut into four quarters on the bone which we call'dry-ageing '. The technique utilized in most of the mass market - supermarkets and the major caterers - is'wet-ageing'where in actuality the meat is cut from the bone and matured in vacuum-packed bags where all oxygen is excluded. Previous work showed no real difference in the eating quality between the two but this experiment showed clear preferences for the dry-aged beef especially when it comes to texture, beef flavour and the entire liking of the product."

So, a four-year scientific analysis has shown up several very important results. For farmers, particularly those working marginal land, you are able to produce high quality beef using our traditional native breeds on a low-input system. Further, as more discerning shoppers discover the extra eating quality of such meat, so specialist shops are willing to pay reduced for genuine with a provable provenance that ticks most of the boxes. Furthermore, you are able to produce such beef naturally using grass only and never having to use expensive fertilizers or compound feeds.

That too will work for the environment. This really is farming with minimal increases to the carbon footprint. Cattle can usefully help to store the surroundings through Conservation Grazing producing a superior quality product by the end of the process.

And for the buyer too there are considerable advantages. Selective shopping will give you beef from our traditional breeds which includes significant advantages in eating quality. Head to traditional butchers, farmers markets, farm shops etc where there's provenance regarding where in actuality the beef came from and how and where it absolutely was farmed. But beware some supermarkets who claim breed benefits - scrutiny of the small print reveals that these are often cross-bred cattle! You can find health advantages too from selecting grass-fed beef with raised degrees of omega-3 fatty acids. Eating quality may be improved further by seeking out retailers who hang their beef in the traditional way on the bone. When it doesn't specify on the label how this has been hung, the odds are it used the wet-ageing method.

This research was funded by Defra with support from RBST, Natural England and the Traditional Breeds Meat Marketing Co Ltd.