Extensive beef cattle production in Portugal: the added value of indigenous breeds in the beef market

Abstract

Beef production in less-favoured areas in Portugal is usually extensive, and along with forestry and agriculture is one of the main sources of income and employment. It has also an important role both in a social and environmental context. Portugal is not self-sufficient in beef production, though the BSE crisis has severely hit beef sales, and it is difficult to envisage consumption making a full recovery in the short to medium term. However, it is possible to see an emergent market for beef produced by Portuguese indigenous breeds from extensive production systems. Beef from indigenous breeds is considered to be a high quality product by producers and consumers, mainly because of the superior taste and structure of the meat resulting from the production methods: differences within breeds, slow growth rate and type of vegetation consumed. This product differentiation has allowed the enlargement of small niche markets and has led to an increase in the value of meat with a Protected Designation of Origin (PDO). The specificity of a product linked with a PDO has a fundamental role in the establishment of the strategies for agricultural enterprises and in rural development. Since Portuguese agriculture cannot compete on quantity or production cost with other competitors, differentiation and quality seem to be the alternatives that may stimulate rural activities in LFAs and create a regional added value able to contribute to sustainable development. Extensive animal production systems can be an important component of environmental and landscape protection, as well as contribute to the decrease of the human and physical desertification of our rural areas.