THE fifth national Great British Beef Week, which centred on St George’s Day last week, had Yorkshire beef production at its heart.

Not only was York producer and Ladies in Beef founder member Rosey Dunn the chosen “face” of the fifth annual celebration of farm assured beef, but students from East Yorkshire’s Bishop Burton College were also firmly in the spotlight.

Celebrating the launch of the new breeding programme for prime Hereford beef cattle, the students were invited to help launch the week and highlight the skill and care that goes into producing one the nation’s favourite meats.

“Great British Beef Week is all about the quality of the food our livestock farmers produce,” said Mrs Dunn.

“But behind that success story is an army of dedicated people who take pride in everything they do from farm to fork. Our county has a fantastic reputation for beef so it is very reassuring to see so many young women committed to taking on the challenge for the future.

“We headed into this year’s Great British Beef Week with good and bad news hitting the headlines. It’s worrying to hear that we’ve lost more than 200,000 beef breeding cows in the last 10 years – 100,000 in the last three years alone.

“But it is good to see the industry responding with initiatives such as the new herd at Bishop Burton and a recent survey of meat-eaters revealed how people are harnessing the versatility of beef to keep it at the top of nation’s menu.”

A YouGov poll commissioned by Ladies in Beef established steak as the nation’s favourite beef dish (29 per cent), but roast beef came a close second with 23 per cent of the vote. Spaghetti bolognaise was the third most popular dish with 14 per cent of people naming it their favourite.

“The research suggests that Yorkshire’s farming students would be most likely to vote for steak or spaghetti bolognaise, given their pick,” said Mrs Dunn.

“Three times more respondents aged 18 to 24 picked steak over a roast – 35 per cent versus 11 per cent – and a high proportion of youngsters (23 per cent) also opted for spaghetti bolognese. In contrast, more than a third of people aged 55 and older said they would opt for a roast. I suspect most farmers like myself would be in the roast camp but it is great to see people using beef to create a variety of different dishes.

“As a Red Tractor farmer I was delighted to be chosen as the ‘face’ of this year’s Beef Week – all the more so as it’s allowed me to put a spotlight firmly on Yorkshire production.

“On my home farm just outside York, I have been producing Red Tractor farm assured beef with my husband and son for more than 15 years, and I’m always keen to get out and talk to the public about what that involves.

“I would urge anyone out there who enjoys a tasty bit of beef during Great British Beef Week to take advantage of Open Farm Sunday in June and visit a farm to meet our farmers in person and see for themselves the work that goes on behind the scenes.”

A full listing of farms opening as part of Open Farm Sunday can be found at farmsunday.org