A campaign to promote home-reared veal and young beef aims to end the export of live calves to the Continent.

Live exports restarted in May last year after the ten-year ban on British beef by the European Union, imposed because of the BSE crisis, ended. In the first year 100,000 calves were taken to France in a trade that is worth almost £100 million to the national economy. Ministers, farmers and animal welfare organisations now hope to encourage consumption at home with a scheme to develop a veal and young beef production system in Britain.

The veal market is worth £2 million a year, but industry experts believe there is room for rapid growth if the welfare conditions are right and accepted by consumers.

The effort to promote veal and young beef has become more urgent since the foot-and-mouth outbreak in August stopped all live exports. In just four months since the disease outbreak 70,000 day-old calves have been destroyed because, without the export market, they are worthless.

The earliest chance for live exports to resume will be in the new year, if veterinary experts at the European Commission agree. A Beyond Live Exports working group chaired by Lord Rooker, the Minister for Farming and Animal Welfare, is trying to put in place a national production scheme that ensures the rearing of a calf from birth until it is ready for slaughter in optimum welfare conditions.

Industry figures are working on two objectives. One is for the production of rosé veal, where calves will live outdoors, be fed on a mixture of grass and milk and slaughtered at 10 to 12 months. The other is for calves to be fattened on grass until they are 16 to 19 months, to produce young beef.

A boom in veal and young beef in Britain would help farmers such as Brian Clothier.

Mr Clothier, 41, owns 270 dairy cattle near Radstock, Somerset. Since the foot-and-mouth outbreak he has had 50 bull calves shot because he has no use for them. Since May last year, when live exports to Europe resumed, he has received £60 to £80 for each calf. Today his calves are worthless. Before BSE, calves were worth £200 each for export.

He is interested in a new veal and young beef market. “It would be marvellous but it would have to be sustainable and supermarkets would have to pay the right price for the meat,” he said.

Kim Haywood, the chief executive of the National Beef Association, said: “We are working on this project and hope 100,000 calves a year can be reared for the table in the UK.”

Waitrose is already pioneering such an approach with its Calfline project.

It has 65 dedicated dairy farmers producing standard and organic milk and is encouraging them to keep their bull calves for domestic meat production.

Heather Jenkins, the head of meat buying at Waitrose, said: “Veal is still a niche market in Britain but we hope to be able to drive up sales, though it will take some time to turn around.”

“This is a radical step. We feel it is right from an ethical and animal welfare perspective,” she added.

Tesco is also promoting organic rosé veal from bull calves reared at Eastbrook Farm, Wiltshire, which is run by Helen Browning, the food and farming director of the Soil Association, the champion of organic production. Marks & Spencer will stock high-welfare rosé veal only from January.

A spokeswoman for the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs said: “We’ve always said we prefer a livestock trade that is on the hook and not on the hoof.”

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