British beef production increasing

Production of prime beef in Britain is continuing to increase, but the return of over-30 month beef to the food chain is unlikely before 2005.

Latest predictions for the production of prime beef in Britain indicate that a marginal increase is likely for the first half of the year, with further recovery in production expected in the second half.

Slaughters for the first two months of 2004 have been down by 1% on the same period last year, reflecting the stable numbers of cattle over two years of age in the December census.