The quest for best of British
British and European cattle provide benefits to the north
POTENTIAL benefits of British and European cattle to the northern beef herd were touted at Beef Australia.
British and European beef breeds were well-received at the national beef expo last week, held every three years in Rockhampton, Queensland, winning accolades in the show ring and over the hook.
However it was the improvements the breeds could bring to profitability that southern and northern breeders highlighted.
Holbrook, NSW, hereford breeder and Cattle Council independent director Marc Greening, of Injemira Beef Genetics, said Australia was moving from a commodity producer to a high-quality production industry.
“To enter that market on a global point of differentiation scale we have to make quality a selling point. And to get meat quality as a selling point, regardless of individual brands, we are going to have to increase MSA (Meat Standards Australia) scores and hit those markets and have a point of differentiation from South America, from our global competitors,” he said.
“The only way to do that is to increase the quality of our biggest production state, which is Queensland, and as far as we can push it is to put a bos taurus animal into the component from an eating quality point of view.”
He said improved carcass attributes in northern production systems would increase supply continuity for grass-fed brands, offsetting seasonal variations.
“Because of the drought in the south, clearly that grass-fed product is going to suffer in terms of supply, so those processors will be looking to Queensland to pull that high MSA indexing grass-fed animal out of the north, and the only way they are going to get cattle to the same specifics as they are getting out of the south is to have that British content,” he said.
Steve Reid runs Talbalba Herefords at Millmerran, Queensland, and said there had been a big meat quality push in the north.
“People in the north are trying to increase their markets, and to do that they need a British cross to take the hump off their cattle,” he said.
Progressive management practices were making it possible.
“There is more water and smaller paddocks and cattle are handled more frequently, so they can manage those bulls better and they handle conditions a lot better than they did 40 years ago,” he said.
“Producers have been focused on this market for a lot of years. They are breeding cleanskin cattle that will work well in the north.
“They are breeding cattle that have mobility and also turning bulls off that haven’t been living on grain, bulls that have been paddock reared that can come up to the north and acclimatise.”
Mr Reid added that fertility and age of puberty could also benefit from crossbreeding, a factor commercial producer and Angus Australia director Brad Gilmour also pointed to.
“We are certainly seeing an improvement of MSA grading for northern producers and increasing their bottom line, but also an uptake and improvement in fertility, which is a major profit driver for any of those producers,” he said.
Mr Gilmour said adaptation of British and European cattle breeds to northern conditions was a work in progress, but there was a rapid increase in the field with plenty of data being collected.
Angus Australia chief executive Peter Parnell said while they were continuing to learn about adaptation, increased knowledge of how to manage British and European bulls was having the biggest impact.
An increased demand from beef brands was driving northern demand for angus cattle.