The breed’s society is the first to introduce compulsory testing of all calves in the UK. Eventually being able to trace the meat to the sire.
The society's chairman has said there are two main reasons as to why they want the new rules in place:
Firstly because it is going to help protect the integrity of the herd book, previous audits have already picked up some minor discrepancies which are believed to be genuine mistakes. The new rulings will not be at any further cost to farmers, samples will be tagged using the Caisley tissue sampling tags, the only cost will be of a stamp to the farmer for sending the samples to the lab.
The second reason is that it is going to add value to the brand, all the Aberdeen Angus certified beef is generically DNA tested to check that it was produce of a Aberdeen Angus bull and the retailers also have their own DNA verification programmes.
The new process will ensure that any of those trying to get their non-genuine products into the market will fail.