U.K. lamb sales victim of Chernobyl fall-out

Press, 3 July 1986, Page 20

U.K. lamb sales victim of Chernobyl fall-out

From

“The Economist,”

London

Britain’s consumers are in no danger from the Scottish and Welsh lambs which, grazing on grass soaked by rain after the Chernobyl disaster, have been found to contain higher than normal levels of radiation. But the consumers think they are, and that makes British farmers the real casualties of radioactivity. On June 20, a ban on sheep movements was slapped on most of Cumbria and north Wales, followed a few days later by parts of Scotland. Events since then suggest that there is no way in which a Government can handle nuclear news and get it right. Lamb prices at markets all over Britain crashed by a quarter to a third. Supermarkets, reckoning their customers would avoid lamb whether it posed a risk or not, did not buy it; that way, they avoided the risk to themselves of unsold chops and accusations of peddling death. To understand Whitehall’s problem, look at the three different ways in which the radioactivity found in the lambs could be describeci. At 1000 becquerels of radiation per kilo — the limit that set alarm bells ringing in Whitehall — you could say: (a) That the unlucky lambs were three times as radioactive as fish caught offshore from Sellafield; or (b) That you would have to eat 350 g of the meat 365 days a year to reach the limit of exposure now internationally regarded as acceptable; or (c) that you would have to eat several kilos of this affected meat a day before you faced the same risk as you face

from everyday background radiation in Cornwall. The public was told (b). What it felt, with aid from the green lobby and the Labour Party, was (a). What about the farmers? The scare hit them just as British and New Zealand lamb was flooding on to the market. Even before the scare began, prices were down 18 per cent to around 205 p a kilo deadweight. Normally, that would not worry farmers: an E.E.C. premium makes up their prices to a target figure, which this week was 227 p. The guarantee will take care of the Chernobyl factor, too.

But farmers in the areas where movement is banned are not so lucky. Their troubles are

threefold. First, no sale means neither cash nor E.E.C. premium — and this is the time of year when upland sheep farmers usually need to make money. Second, the E.E.C. price falls slowly, reaching a low of 207 p in August. So the eventual returns for beasts that now have to be held off the market will be lower. If the market price is low, as it will be with all those extra lambs to sell and demand probably still down, a larger share will come in belated premium, rather than cash on the nail.

Third, and potentially worst, the guarantee applies only to lambs that meet E.E.C. standards of quality, which encourage lean meat. British lambs always tend to be fat; sold three weeks late, they could be fatter still, and bring no premium at all.

Farmers have turned to the British Government for aid. They have received hesitant encouragement. The Scottish Office, said its boss, Mr Malcolm Rifkind, is “considering” aid for individual farmers facing “severe” losses.

Who would pay? The Government has “some” responsibility, said the British Secretary of State. Anybody else, then? The Welsh farmers have invited the Russian Ambassador to visit them.

Copyright — The Economist.