In October, the European Parliament adopted a motion aiming to tackle antimicrobial resistance by reducing the use of antibiotics both in human and veterinary medicine. Two weeks later, the Save our Antibiotics Alliance, composed of Compassion in World Farming (CIWF), the Soil Association and Sustain, sparked criticism with a report that called for a 50% cut in antibiotics in the farming sector by 2015.

Two weeks ago (23 November) renewable energy company Eco2 unveiled its intention to build a biomass energy plant in Suffolk that will generate enough energy to power 65,000 homes while preventing the emission of more than 150,000t of CO2 into the atmosphere.

Despite the economic uncertainties in Ireland following the multi-billion euro rescue package in November 2010, the Irish meat and livestock industry has proved remarkably resilient during the last year, driven primarily by the strength of its export market. With the agricultural sector maintaining its position as the country’s largest indigenous industry and accounting for one in seven jobs, the agri-food sector has been recognised as key to rallying Ireland out of its economic stupor and lead it back to growth.

History has it that French King Henry IV, who was famous for showing great care for the welfare of his subjects, once proclaimed: “I want there to be no peasant in my realm so poor that he cannot have a chicken in his pot every Sunday.” Ex-US president Herbert Hoover went on to paraphrase the benevolent monarch for his 1928 election campaign, with advertisements promising “a chicken in every pot” if the Republicans won power.

Over 170 beef and lamb producers and processors gathered at the 2011 Eblex conference last month to discuss the industry’s strengths and opportunities for improvement. Despite high price volatility and lingering health concerns, the outlook for UK beef and lamb is positive, but according to Eblex chairman John Cross, the industry must optimise opportunities presented by global markets and technical advances.

A dramatic past year for the British beef industry has seen record deadweight prices, strong domestic supply, rocketing exports and falling imports. However, high prices for producers are creating a challenging environment for processors supplying the UK market, which remains in recession mode.

In the month where the euro nearly faced collapse, crippled by the debt problems of Greece, Ireland, Portugal and Spain, it is good to know that the region is still of use somewhere. The continent is key to the export success of English lamb. Indeed, it is these exports (and those of Welsh and Scottish lamb) that have been the good news story in the lamb sector in the past 12 months.

Harnessing and highlighting the environmental positives behind its hilly grass-based production and adding value to its abundant, high-quality raw material are among strategies aimed at sustaining a successful Northern Irish beef and lamb industry.

There can be no doubt that the global demand for pork is huge. A recent study by the agricultural lender Rabobank claims that demand for the meat will grow by 43% to 142 million tonnes (mt) by 2030, ahead of a sheep meat increase of 25% and an improvement in beef consumption of 35%. On top of this, the volume of sales is up in the UK too.

The Welsh red meat industry has undergone dramatic changes over the past two years.

"It has become the elephant in the room; everybody sees it, everybody is talking about it, but the damn thing won’t go away.”

The NFU is currently scrutinising the claims of all the majors and here we publish summaries of those policies. We asked for sustainability policies in regards to meat from Asda, The Co-op, Morrisons, Waitrose, Sainsbury’s and Tesco – however only Asda and Sainbury’s prepared official statements. The other retailers pointed us in the direction of their general CSR statements.

Pork has been riding high on the hog for the last 12 months, with cash-strapped consumers looking for a more affordable option within the red meat category. But with beef prices starting to tumble, have the days of pork bringing home the bacon come to an end?