Overview of the supply chain and herd demographics

Learn about the English red meat supply chain and the distribution of livestock.

Red meat is a key element of England’s agri-food sector, encompassing:

• On-farm production (mostly, but not exclusively, on specialist farms)
• Upstream suppliers (e.g. animal feed, fertiliser, veterinary services)
• Downstream processing (e.g. slaughtering, food manufacturing, butchers)

Figure 1 highlights the upstream and downstream elements of red meat supply chains, which are often overlooked.

Beyond the farm level, labour is deployed on a range of activities throughout the wider red meat supply chain. Upstream examples include manufacture of inputs (animal feed, pharmaceuticals and chemicals); advisory, haulage and veterinary services; and government administration and academic research.

Downstream examples include use of farm outputs such as meat processing and butchery.

Figure 1. Core components of the English red meat supply chain

The dark blue boxes represent on-farm production of cattle, pigs and sheep. 

The green boxes are the upstream provision of farming inputs while the blue boxes are the downstream processing of farm outputs.

Orange boxes and arrows represent livestock movements across the supply chain.

The white boxes show imports and exports, wholesaling and other retail/food service and 'fifth quarter' uses.

Red meat production occurs on around half of all farm holdings across England. In 2023, over 33,000 holdings had cattle, more than 36,000 had sheep and nearly 7,000 had pigs (Defra).

Numbers of breeding animals are currently at or close to their lowest levels since accession to the Common Market in 1973 (which later became the European Union) – see Figure 2. This decline reflects a combination of factors, including evolving agricultural policies (landmark events are marked in Figure 2), changing patterns of international trade, and challenging market conditions.

Figure 2. Breeding livestock numbers in England relative to current position, with selected events

Key
EU: European Union
HLCA: Hill Livestock Compensatory Allowances
SFP: Single Farm Payment

There is a degree of regional and farm type specialisation in livestock populations across the country.

Beef and sheep production is concentrated in the west, on livestock grazing farms plus dairy farms. Pork production is mainly in the east, on specialist pig farms and mixed farms. The South West has the highest share of beef animals (both breeding and other), while the East of England has the lowest share.

Similarly, the North West and South West have the highest shares of sheep (both breeding and other), while the East of England has the lowest share.

Conversely, the East of England plus Yorkshire and Humberside have the highest shares of pigs (both breeding and other), while the West Midlands has the smallest shares.

Figure 3. Regional distribution of breeding and non-breeding animals across England in 2023

Herd and flock sizes vary too. The majority of herds and flocks are small, but they collectively only account for a low proportion of total animals in contrast to the relatively few larger herds (particularly for pigs) and flocks which account for the majority of animals.

For example, around 62% of beef breeding herds collectively account for only 20% of beef cows, 67% of sheep flocks account for around 20% of ewes and around 90% of pig herds account for 20% of sows.

The geographical distribution of English livestock largely reflects underlying biophysical conditions, such as prevailing weather and land type. However, increasing on-farm specialisation has also shaped local supply chains, which can then self-reinforce regional differences.

For example, ruminant production in the east of England typically has less ready access to veterinary services and abattoirs compared to the west. This makes the east of the country less favourable for beef and sheep production. Equally, arable production in the west may have less ready access to agronomy services and grain mills than in the east. 

If we are to recover local critical mass, current policy and market signals to encourage more mixed regional farming systems (such as restrictions on nitrogen and phosphorus applications) are probably not enough: they need to be accompanied by a reconfiguration of regional supply chains.

Data sources (Figures 1 to 3)

More detail on sources is available in the full report.

Figure 1: Evolved by authors from Thankappan & Flynn (2006) Exploring the UK Red Meat Supply Chain. Working Paper from Cardiff University Centre for Business Relationships, Accountability, Sustainability & Society.

Figure 2: Derived from 1973 to 1983 values taken from UK Government's Annual Review of Agriculture (various years), accessed via the national Library of Scotland plus 1984 onwards values taken from successive issues of ‘Agriculture in the UK’ data, available under ‘Chapter 2 Structure of Industry’.

Figure 3: Derived from English geographical breakdowns by region in annual statistics on the structure of the agricultural industry at 1 June in England and the UK on GOV.UK (Excel).