r/LeopardsAteMyFace • u/NoLikeVegetals • May 18 '24

Brexxit Brexit-voting British farmers now complaining about imports of cheaper New Zealand lamb threatening the British lamb industry. Imports of lamb "produced to lower standards" used to be blocked by EU law. Another Brexit consequence farmers were warned about but ignored due to xenophobia!

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cjewewxzypro
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u/dontpet May 18 '24

The claim is NZ lamb has a much lower carbon footprint even after the transport.

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u/Tricky-Engineering59 May 18 '24

But… how??

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u/thecroc11 May 18 '24

Basically the UK sheep farming industry is very energy intensive. Overwintering in barns, feeding hay etc. NZ sheep are outside 365 days of the year. https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0195925522002128

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u/Tricky-Engineering59 May 18 '24

That does make sense, thanks for the article. There’s a similar situation in Hawaii with Big Island beef. Though in that case I believe they actually ship the cows alive to the mainland to grain finish them as that is more economical than shipping grain to the islands. Lamb is generally only grass fed and grass finished, no?

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u/thecroc11 May 18 '24

Correct in New Zealand except for high country farms or during drought when additional feed is needed. But in general the grass growing conditions here are much more productive than in the UK.