A former head of Scotland's red meat promotional body has joined the ranks of the Scottish Beef Cattle Association (SBCA).

Brian Simpson, who was chief executive with the Scotch Quality Beef & Lamb Association for 10 years before it became Quality Meat Scotland, has been appointed executive development officer.

Simpson, who was also chief executive of Scottish Quality Salmon for five years, runs the Simpson Partnership providing agribusiness services from his home in Perth.

According to Simpson: "Securing a profitable future for beef producers needs leadership and vision. To this end, over 500 leading beef farmers have now formed the SBCA with a clear objective to further develop the industry working in close partnership with other agricultural and food bodies.

"An important priority is to secure the health of our stock, and in the wake of BSE and foot-and-mouth, producers need to continue to be vigilant against exotic diseases. Bluetongue virus primarily affects sheep but would be devastating for Scotland's beef producers, as transport restrictions on all stock would severely inhibit marketing.

"SBCA has lobbied government to ensure contingency plans appropriate to Scotland are in place and will ensure that members are regularly briefed on all risks to their herds."

Cost control remains a high priority, said Simpson. SBCA would rigorously examine every input to beef farmers, particularly the high cost of identification, inspection and administration imposed on the industry. New technologies must play a part in providing traceability and public confidence in Scottish beef at a sensible cost for all concerned in the food chain, including consumers, he added.

The market determines all incomes and it is vital that the Scottish brand is promoted to best effect.

SBCA has established close links with QMS and will fully support the trade and consumer campaigns for Scottish beef.

It is also important for producers to have closer relationships with downstream processors to ensure that standards of stock delivered are consistent with market demands.

Simpson said: "New systems of grading are in the pipeline, and if we can remove some of the uncertainty associated with current systems then producers will be paid more for livestock.

"The challenges for SBCA members are clear, suckler cow numbers need to build again, prices for finished cattle need to be back to 1995 levels plus an allowance for inflation and young farmers along with their bankers need to be confident to invest in quality Scottish beef."