Key findings: Economic output and value added at the farm level and beyond

Here we look at the headline figures from the economic impact assessment of the English red meat supply chain.

The analysis uses 2023 data. For data sources, refer to the full report. Numbers have been rounded.

Figure 1. Headline economic data for the English red meat sector

In 2023 the English red meat sector was estimated to have:

• An output value of £20.5bn
• A Gross Value Added (GVA) of £5.5bn
• Supported employment of 120,000 full-time roles generating £2.5bn of labour income (which will recirculate through the economy to generate further activity and employment)

This is broken down into on-farm production and upstream and downstream sources (Figure 2):

On-farm production of beef cattle, pigs and sheep was estimated to have:

• An output value of £5.0bn, representing 19% of total agricultural output in England
• A total GVA of £1.8bn
• Provided employment of 60,000 full-time roles

The supply chain was estimated to generate:

• An output value of £15.7bn
  • A downstream output value of £12.6bn
  • An upstream output value of £3.1bn
• An estimated GVA of £3.7bn
  • An upstream GVA of £1.1bn
  • A downstream GVA of £2.6bn

Gross Value Added (GVA): The difference between the value paid to a producer for selling their goods and the costs of producing them. For example, GVA for the red meat processing sector refers to the sale price of the meat minus the cost of inputs (such as the animal, labour, overheads including energy).

Economic output value: The monetary value of all goods and services produced. For example, on farm, this refers to the value of livestock produced; for the processing sector, it refers to the value of the meat cuts and other products sold from the carcase.

Figure 2. Indicative GVA (£m) for red meat sector by English region and share (%) of regional GVA, 2023

Source: derived from Regional gross value added (balanced) by industry: all ITL regions - Office for National Statistics

The contribution of red meat production to the economy is not just about measurable output, GVA and employment. The sector delivers numerous, often less tangible, public goods.

While these are not the primary output from red meat production, they are a by-product (externality) that will be altered if the size of the red meat sector changes or adjusts its production processes.

These public goods include:

Livestock grazing exerts a significant influence on landscapes’ appearance and their habitat suitability for biodiversity. While neither of these can be readily traded in markets, they contribute to social wellbeing and wildlife conservation as well as supporting ancillary activities such as tourism.

Red meat production generates greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, largely because of enteric methane from ruminant digestion. The sector holds enormous opportunity to provide solutions to climate change, one of these being carbon sequestration.

Technical options to mitigate such emissions include continued incremental productivity improvements and new technologies, such as methane inhibitor feed additives.

Achieving emission reduction targets would be less challenging if agricultural sequestration was accounted for alongside emissions rather than being treated separately within national GHG emissions accounting.

Continuity of land use patterns and traditional management practices provide cultural connections to earlier generations, while lived experiences and knowledge are part of what defines a sense of place.

The latter contributes to local community identity and cohesion, and extends to meeting the expectations of visitors – whether tourists or returning former residents – for how rural areas should look and feel.

Dietary preferences are intrinsically linked to notions of national and regional identity. This relates to sensitivities around freedom of culinary choice as well as to maintenance of traditions and inter-generational connections, plus notions of food sovereignty and food security.

The estimated values in this analysis should be treated as indicative of patterns and relative magnitudes rather than definitive estimates.

When interpreting the findings, the following caveats should be kept in mind:

• Published data sources are sometimes inconsistent and lack sufficient detail to fully represent all the nuances of supply chains
• The totals are lower-bound estimates since they do not include elements of the supply chain that are further downstream, such as wider food retailing and catering
• Data are only available at an aggregate level: activities attributable to red meat must be disentangled from other on-farm enterprises (e.g. dairy, poultry, arable) and from other supply chains (e.g. pets, aquaculture)
• Imports and exports to and from England alone are difficult to measure, given movements of livestock and products within the UK as well as to and from the UK