Review of the market for Welsh organic meat, 2007

The supply situation for Welsh organic meat Organic production in Wales has been developing steadily in the last five years, with particular emphasis on organic cattle and sheep production. This was despite over-supply conditions in some sectors, notably dairy, following the very rapid growth in 1999/2000. Between the end of 2002 and end of 2005, the number of holdings increased by 12% to 688, and the certified land area increased by 29% to 71,000 hectares, of which more than 90% is grassland. Growth in Wales has exceeded other parts of the UK, reaching 5% of agricultural land by end 2005. More rapid growth is projected for 2006 and possibly 2007. Organic cattle and sheep numbers have also increased steadily between 2003 and 2005, with total cattle numbers increasing by 114% to 37,000, and total sheep numbers increasing 105% to 248,000, representing 17 and 36% of the end 2005 UK organic population respectively (compared with 16% of UK holdings and 12% of UK land area). Actual output of Welsh organic lamb and beef is more difficult to quantifying reflecting a continuing need for improved statistical data to support market development and the delivery of public policy. Best estimates are 4000-5000 cattle slaughtered as organic, but potentially available production (some in conversion and/or marketed as conventional) may be as high as 8000 head. For lambs, possible estimates based on availables source range from 25,000 to 57,000, but potentially available production may be as high as 100,000. Better data is available within the industry, but is regarded as highly commercially sensitive and was not made available to the review team. Organic farm gate prices for lamb and beef have remained relatively steady over the period, although the gap with conventional prices has closed as the conventional sector has recovered. Recent increases in demand for organic meat, and the temporary suspension of beef imports from Argentina (now restarted) have resulted in some strengthening of organic prices in 2006. Organic premium prices do not, however, fully compensate for the increased costs of production per kg of meat, so that organic producers, like their conventional counterparts, are being paid less than the real costs of production, and are relying on Tir Mynydd, agri-environmental and Single Farm Payments to subsidise continued production. This leaves the industry vulnerable to any decline in market conditions and will mean continuing pressure on smaller producers to leave the sector. The Welsh organic red meat sector currently relies on two main marketing approaches. The majority of lamb and beef (> 80%) is marketed through multiple retailers, supplied by two producer groups. The need for producer collaboration to ensure a strong price negotiating position with the multiple retailers is recognised and has been yielding benefits. The remainder of Welsh production is marketed on a smaller scale through specialist and local retailers and directly to consumers, through farmers markets, farm shops and via internet sales. There is currently virtually no exploitation of the potential export market (outside the UK) and still some difficulties with marketing light and store lambs as well as dairy bred calves and cull cattle, although various initiatives are in progress to address this. The demand situation for Welsh organic meat From a consumer demand perspective, the overall organic food market is in a healthy state: according to TNS data, it has just passed the £1 billion mark and has put on an extra £200 million in the last two years. Growth in the latest year was 10% and 17% in the previous year. There is still huge opportunity for growth by continuing to convert non-users and simply getting existing users to purchase more often. Household penetration of any organic product is very high at 84%. However, many organic products are purchased by default, and are not planned, as consumers were either satisfying other needs or simply because they liked the product. The positive aspect is that organic is a benefit to products that fall in this category and gives something extra. Current organic users are also interested in most of the ethical issues affecting society today. They regard themselves as connoisseurs of food and wine and as such purchase quality and premium food. As the main contributor to the sales within each of these sectors, this may dilute the expenditure they could make on organic food specifically. Heavy users in total organic represent 20% of buyers and they are responsible for 80% of organic expenditure. You would expect these heavy users to be committed organic purchasers but they only spend 5% of their grocery shopping spend on organic products. None of them are exclusive organic users and they cross-shop across the retail quality tiers (Organic/Premium/Healthy/Standard and Value) extensively. In organic meat the situation is the same. There are 0.3% of meat shoppers who buy only organic and a further 0.1% who buy only organic and premium. The rest shop across all the tiers. This does however identify some of the scope for expansion and these heavy users must be prime targets for increased organic usage. The red meat heavy organic shopper will buy over six times a year but medium users just under twice and light users just over once. This level of frequency is low and would suggest little commitment from the light and medium buyers and a very mixed cross-tier purchasing strategy for the heavy organic buyer. There are 3.2 million households in GB who buy organic meat but there are only 68,000 who only buy organic meat. This figure is lower than that for any of the individual species, indicating that someone who is a loyal organic user of one species is not loyal to organic, when purchasing the other species. (Households who only purchase organic: Beef 108,000, Lamb 269,000, Pork 112,000, Red meat 68,000). Heavy organic meat buyers will have one or two children and be in social class ABC1; they may be younger and older family groups. They are over represented in London, South, Scotland, East England and the South West. Whilst beef is the biggest organic red meat sector, it is only 1.5% of total beef sales; Lamb is the strongest at 2.2% of sales. Pork is a clear third with organic being 1% of sales. Organic meat in Wales is currently worth £2.4 million and is growing at 3% a year. This growth is coming from new entrants into the market. Total GB is growing 10% ahead of Wales but the household penetration in Wales is higher at 13.1% compared to 12.9% for GB. Growth in Wales is coming from all age groups and social classes, with the under 28’s and the C2 groups being particularly strong. This report also looks at the retail market in Great Britain for organic produce; there are additional opportunities within the foodservice sector where a number of specialist organic restaurants are appearing and interest shown by some of the large operators in including an organic alternative on their menus. There are also opportunities for export of organic Welsh lamb; currently some exports to Italy are carried out and there is further potential to exploit and develop this market. The potential for export of light organic lamb is restricted to southern European markets due to the small size and high seasonality of the product. Hybu Cig Cymru is have ongoing discussions with potential buyers in countries such as Portugal, Spain and Greece; however to date, the small volumes required have precluded meaningful developments due to logistical difficulties. Recommendations Despite the generally positive outlook from a demand perspective, there is a need to address some of the factors that might discourage producers from converting, including disruption to the Organic Farming Scheme, price levels that are below costs of production, and lack of markets for some livestock categories, in particular light lamb. To address this, there is a need for: • better statistical data on current and future production levels and market shares; • continued efforts to support producer groups in developing markets for organic meat and in seeking to achieve realistic prices; • continued development of alternative marketing channels, building on Welsh PGI and organic status, including local multiple and smaller retailers, public procurement, distribution hubs and exports; • consumer promotion initiatives and increased Welsh organic meat presence at trade fairs; • improved production systems, supported by effective research and development and knowledge transfer; • improved integration of effort between organic sector businesses and the agencies that support the development of the Welsh meat and organic sectors; • better linkage with the dairy, arable and horticulture sectors to benefit from complementarity relationships between the sectors at production, market development and promotional levels

Milch und Fleisch regenerativ erzeugen

Die Schweiz importierte 2015 1,16 Millionen und Österreich 650 000 Tonnen an Kraftfutter (EZV, 2017; Statistik Austria, 2017). Zudem nahm der Einsatz von Silomais und Ackerkulturen in der Rinderhaltung deutlich zu. Einhergehend mit dieser „Entkoppelung“ von Kreisläufen kommt es zu hohen Bilanzüberschüssen bei Stickstoff (N) in der Schweiz von 88,7 und in Österreich von 47,1 Kilogramm N pro Hektar Landwirtschaftsfläche exklusive Sömmerungsflächen (Stolze et al., 2019). Dies geht einher mit Nitrateinträgen ins Grundwasser und mit der Überschreitung von kritischen Belastungen für N-Einträge in empfindliche Ökosysteme mit entsprechenden negativen Umweltwirkungen (z. B. Rihm und Achermann, 2016; Dirnböck und Peterseil, 2014). Die Reduktion des N-Eintrags, sowohl über Futter- wie über Düngemittel, ist daher der Schlüssel zu einer ökologisch nachhaltigen Landwirtschaft

Geometric confinement is required for recovery and maintenance of chondrocyte phenotype in alginate

Human articular chondrocytes lose their native phenotype when expanded in traditional monolayer cultures. As a consequence, hydrogel encapsulation has been investigated as a means to maintain the natural phenotype. Alginate has been widely used for cartilage engineering as it has been shown to enable the recovery of a native collagen type II expressing chondrocyte phenotype. This study has evaluated whether the capacity of the materials to maintain/revert the phenotype is due to the composition of the material or the physical entrapment provided by the gel. To achieve this, an alginate “fluid gel” (a shear-thinning structured gel system) was produced of identical chemistry to a traditionally gelled alginate structure. Both were seeded with passaged primary human articular chondrocytes. Chondrocytes in quiescent alginate showed the recovery of the native phenotype and a spherical morphology. Chondrocytes in alginate fluid gel were unable to maintain the recovered phenotype despite having a spherical morphology and were shown to have a lower level of entrapment than those in quiescent alginate. These findings indicate that geometric entrapment is essential for the maintenance of a recovered chondrocyte phenotype in alginate

Opportunities for farming in alpine countries – pathways to truly grassland-based beef and milk production in Austria and Switzerland

Farming in the alpine countries of Austria and Switzerland fulfils important economic, socio-cultural and ecological functions for society. At the same time, it is responsible for important environmental impacts, whereas nitrogen balance surpluses and related impacts play a central role. It is crucial to reduce nitrogen inputs and site-adapted production and closing material cycles are core elements of ecologically sustainable land use. The study analysed the effects of adapted beef and dairy systems on the environmental impact and the food production with the help of the SOL mass-flow model. This includes higher reliance on grassland-based feed by abandoning the use of concentrate feed and forage maize, locally adapted reduction of livestock numbers, increased use of nitrogen-fixing legumes, reduction in mineral nitrogen fertilization, site-specific plant production and increase in nitrogen efficiency in both animal husbandry and crop production. The implementation of such a grassland-based beef and milk production results in lower ammonia emissions, reduction of nitrogen balance surpluses and lower total greenhouse gas emissions from agriculture. These environmental improvements exceed the effects of the agricultural policy since the 1990s, even though the latter has increasingly focussed on environmental impacts. Moreover, the reduction in concentrate feed and forage maize releases arable land for alternative use. This allows for increased plant-based food production and therefore minimizes the competition between food and feed production. Other options for the use of the released land are less intensive farm operations, ecological compensation areas and/or nature conservation. Finally, the reduction in animal-based food production could be offset by changed dietary patterns and the increase of plant-based food production. The suggested transformation from a production focussed to an ecologically-oriented land use and food system requires a political framework and market conditions which cannot be implemented quickly but need awareness raising and fundamental societal change

Study protocol for a Randomised controlled trial of EArly transjugular intrahepatiC porTosystemic stent–shunt in Acute Variceal Bleeding (REACT-AVB trial)

Introduction: In liver cirrhosis, acute variceal bleeding (AVB) is associated with a 1-year mortality rate of up to 40%. Data on early or pre-emptive transjugular intrahepatic portosystemic stent–shunt (TIPSS) in AVB is inconclusive and may not reflect current management strategies. Randomised controlled trial of EArly transjugular intrahepatiC porTosystemic stent–shunt in AVB (REACT-AVB) aims to investigate the clinical and cost-effectiveness of early TIPSS in patients with cirrhosis and AVB after initial bleeding control.Methods and analysis: REACT-AVB is a multicentre, randomised controlled, open-label, superiority, two-arm, parallel-group trial with an internal pilot. The two interventions allocated randomly 1:1 are early TIPSS within 4 days of diagnostic endoscopy or secondary prophylaxis with endoscopic therapy in combination with non-selective beta blockers. Patients aged ≥18 years with cirrhosis and Child-Pugh Score 7–13 presenting with AVB with endoscopic haemostasis are eligible for inclusion. The primary outcome is transplant-free survival at 1 year post randomisation. Secondary endpoints include transplant-free survival at 6 weeks, rebleeding, serious adverse events, other complications of cirrhosis, Child-Pugh and Model For End-Stage Liver Disease (MELD) scores at 6 and 12 months, health-related quality of life, use of healthcare resources, cost-effectiveness and use of cross-over therapies. The sample size is 294 patients over a 4-year recruitment period, across 30 hospitals in the UK.Ethics and dissemination: Research ethics committee of National Health Service has approved REACT-AVB (reference number: 23/WM/0085). The results will be submitted for publication in a peer-reviewed journal. A lay summary will also be emailed or posted to participants before publication.Trial registration number: ISRCTN85274829; protocol version 3.0, 1 July 2023

Effect of angiotensin-converting enzyme inhibitor and angiotensin receptor blocker initiation on organ support-free days in patients hospitalized with COVID-19

IMPORTANCE Overactivation of the renin-angiotensin system (RAS) may contribute to poor clinical outcomes in patients with COVID-19. Objective To determine whether angiotensin-converting enzyme (ACE) inhibitor or angiotensin receptor blocker (ARB) initiation improves outcomes in patients hospitalized for COVID-19. DESIGN, SETTING, AND PARTICIPANTS In an ongoing, adaptive platform randomized clinical trial, 721 critically ill and 58 non–critically ill hospitalized adults were randomized to receive an RAS inhibitor or control between March 16, 2021, and February 25, 2022, at 69 sites in 7 countries (final follow-up on June 1, 2022). INTERVENTIONS Patients were randomized to receive open-label initiation of an ACE inhibitor (n = 257), ARB (n = 248), ARB in combination with DMX-200 (a chemokine receptor-2 inhibitor; n = 10), or no RAS inhibitor (control; n = 264) for up to 10 days. MAIN OUTCOMES AND MEASURES The primary outcome was organ support–free days, a composite of hospital survival and days alive without cardiovascular or respiratory organ support through 21 days. The primary analysis was a bayesian cumulative logistic model. Odds ratios (ORs) greater than 1 represent improved outcomes. RESULTS On February 25, 2022, enrollment was discontinued due to safety concerns. Among 679 critically ill patients with available primary outcome data, the median age was 56 years and 239 participants (35.2%) were women. Median (IQR) organ support–free days among critically ill patients was 10 (–1 to 16) in the ACE inhibitor group (n = 231), 8 (–1 to 17) in the ARB group (n = 217), and 12 (0 to 17) in the control group (n = 231) (median adjusted odds ratios of 0.77 [95% bayesian credible interval, 0.58-1.06] for improvement for ACE inhibitor and 0.76 [95% credible interval, 0.56-1.05] for ARB compared with control). The posterior probabilities that ACE inhibitors and ARBs worsened organ support–free days compared with control were 94.9% and 95.4%, respectively. Hospital survival occurred in 166 of 231 critically ill participants (71.9%) in the ACE inhibitor group, 152 of 217 (70.0%) in the ARB group, and 182 of 231 (78.8%) in the control group (posterior probabilities that ACE inhibitor and ARB worsened hospital survival compared with control were 95.3% and 98.1%, respectively). CONCLUSIONS AND RELEVANCE In this trial, among critically ill adults with COVID-19, initiation of an ACE inhibitor or ARB did not improve, and likely worsened, clinical outcomes. TRIAL REGISTRATION ClinicalTrials.gov Identifier: NCT0273570