British farmers are expressing increasing anger at a sharp rise in Australian beef and lamb imports, which they say is undercutting domestic producers and putting further pressure on an already strained livestock sector.
New figures show beef imports from Australia have surged since the UK-Australia free trade agreement came into force in May 2023. Volumes rose nearly 200 percent in the deal’s first year, rose another 170 percent last year and rose more than 80 percent in the first nine months of 2025 alone, according to Australian data.
Sheep meat imports, particularly lamb, have also risen sharply, rising 39 percent in 2023 and 42 percent in 2024, before slowing to single-digit growth rates so far this year.
The figures appear to confirm warnings from British farmers before the deal was signed, when they warned that the deal could open the door to a wave of cheap meat imports.
David Barton, livestock farmer and chairman of the National Farmers’ Union’s livestock committee, said the impact of the deal was now being felt across the sector. “We have long warned that the UK-Australia agreement would have real consequences for British livestock farmers,” he said. “Now we’re seeing the impact.”
Barton added that the rise in imports comes at a difficult time for British farmers, many of whom are struggling with a difficult dry season and rising costs. “You need trust to produce British beef and this undermines that trust,” he said.
He also argued that British farmers would be penalized if they met higher animal welfare and sustainability standards, which could result in British meat being less price-competitive. “The problem is that the government seems quite comfortable with cheap imports that may not be made to the same standards or production methods that would be legal in the UK,” Barton said.
The Australian Meat and Livestock Association (MLA) has rejected claims that Australian meat is flooding the UK market or being produced to lower standards. Richard Saunders, the MLA’s UK country manager, said Australian beef still only made up about 4 per cent of Britain’s beef imports.
“There is no way the market will be flooded,” Saunders said, adding that Australia is currently only filling about a third of its 50,000 tonne duty-free beef quota under the trade deal. However, he acknowledged that Australian producers were keen to establish and grow brands in the UK, particularly premium offerings such as Wagyu beef.
For lamb, Saunders said Australia was using about half of its duty-free quota of 36,000 tonnes. Britain imports between a quarter and a third of the lamb it consumes, with Australia and New Zealand accounting for around 80 percent of these imports.
Saunders argued that structural differences in production costs explain the price difference. “It is no longer very economical to raise lambs in the UK,” he said, citing higher overhead costs associated with housing and lambing conditions compared to Australia’s free-range systems.
He suggested that most imported lamb is sold in London, while consumers elsewhere in the country often prefer British meat despite the higher price. “If you don’t have British lamb on the menu outside of London, you’ll be thrown out of town,” he said. “You should definitely look for local producers.”
However, Barton warned that the impact of the trade deal would grow over time. “This agreement is a clear example of how trade agreements can have a lasting impact,” he said. “The cumulative impact of this deal, subsequent and future agreements cannot be underestimated.”
He added that Britain’s climate and grasslands make it one of the best places in the world for sustainable beef production, and argued that domestic producers should be supported and not pushed out by rising imports.
