UK farmers weigh in on cultured meat

While some UK farmers see advances in the development of cultured, or cell-based meat, as potential competition to traditional meat production, others from the farming community have suggested it could create a premium for pasture-reared meat. 

Farmers’ concerns include the public health effects of the new technology, how it could lead to consolidation of power in the food system, and how it might affect rural life.

While there have been many academic papers about the opportunities for cultured meat, very little work questions how it might affect farming, farmers and their livelihoods. A team of farmers, researchers, and start-ups is looking to redress this imbalance by investigating farmers’ attitudes to cultured meat, potential opportunities and risks, and how, if production is scaled up, it could affect UK agriculture.

The first phase of the project, published in Frontiers in Sustainable Food Systems, summarises discussions with 75 farmers, from six focus groups representing a wide range of sectors, across the UK.

Among the threats that were discussed were potential effects on health, and where the product would be pitched in the market, as either a high value or low value protein –  would it compete with steak or mince, chicken breast or chicken nugget? Another common concern was the lack of information on the technology.

“There's so much money being thrown at [cultured meat] that we can't afford to ignore it. We need to be raising all sorts of questions about things like waste products and sourcing the inputs and that sort of thing. We should be pinning them down on that now. They’re telling us this is the future; they’ve got to tell us what it means.”
— One farmer in the study

Some participants saw opportunities. One farmer, an extensive lamb and beef producer, thought that marketing their produce as “the real stuff” might give them a competitive edge compared to protein made in a bioreactor. Others could imagine new markets where farms supply plant or animal based raw materials for use in the cultivating process.

The farmers also discussed far-reaching impacts across the whole livestock industry where margins are small and the industry is under financial pressure. 

This consultation with farmers will inform the next phase of the Cultured Meat & Farmers study, by mapping how cultured meat might affect different sectors within agriculture.

Mike Goodman, Professor of Environment and Development/Human Geography at the University of Reading, who contributed to the paper said: 

"This first of its kind study on cultured meat, farms and farmers has opened up novel space in which to analyse the perceptions and thoughts of farmers who might be impacted by the growth of the cultured meat sector in the UK. The farmers’ responses provide unique and timely insight into how they are thinking this potentially disruptive technology might not just impact them, their livelihoods and the countryside directly, but how they think it might fundamentally shift UK agro-food systems towards a highly concentrated ‘American’ model of protein production and consumption."

The team is now partnering with nine case study farms spread across the UK and representing a wide range of farming systems. Together, they will explore how each farm could respond to this new technology, for example how it could best compete, or how it could supply ingredients, or even produce cultured meat, on farm.

The findings will be used to produce a heat map of the winners and losers in future scenarios where cultured meat is on sale in the UK. The outputs from the project will support policymakers and investors to consider the technology’s multiple impacts on farming and rural communities. 

The following authors also contributed to the paper; Louise Manning (lead author), University of Lincoln, Lisa Morgans from the Royal Agricultural University, John Dooley, Tom MacMillan and David Rose from the Royal Agricultural University, Illtud Dunsford from Cellular Agriculture, and Alexandra E Sexton from the University of Sheffield.