Northern beef producers are being urged to look to MSA grading
to increase their profitability.
Rewards of up to $34 a head are awaiting northern beef
producers who gain the full benefit of the Meat Standards Australia (MSA)
system, according to the findings of four years of research.
In fact, two MLA-funded producer demonstration sites (PDS) in
Queensland found adopting strategies to improve MSA compliance can increase
bottom line profits by up to 2%.
Queensland Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry
(DAFF Qld) senior beef extension officers, Alan Laing and Felicity Hamlyn-Hill,
who supported the producer groups, said it was the result of higher
weight-for-age steers and heifers.
“By focusing on genetic selection for growth, fat and marbling
and adopting best practice management and animal nutrition strategies, producers
were able to turn-off heavier cattle earlier and meet MSA specifications,” they
explained.
Between 2008 and 2012, the PDS set up on ‘Lisgar station’ in
the Burdekin and ‘Trafalgar station’ near Charters Towers, evaluated the
benefits of adopting MSA grading, improving compliance and reducing ungraded MSA
percentages.
Critical MSA compliance factors of breed, age, use of hormone
growth promotants (HGPs), temperament, handling and mustering were assessed
against MSA grades achieved through export meat processor, JBS Australia at
Townsville.
The PDS showed genetic selection within breeds for early
growth and supplementary feeding could allow producers to turnoff 300–340kg
carcase animals a whole year earlier as two-and-a-half year olds and hit MSA
premium boning groups.
DAFF Qld Economist Timothy Moravek, who crunched the numbers
for the PDS, said in the short term, options to boost compliance could include
removal of HGPs, using molasses to finish steers if this was economical and
minimising time cattle spent in yards pre-slaughter.
In the longer term, MSA compliance could be improved by early
feeding of molasses supplements, selection pressure for a range of desirable
carcase and growth traits and reducing age of turnoff – with an associated
reduction in ossification and dentition.
The processor perspective JBS Australia Livestock Manager
Brett Campbell welcomed greater uptake of MSA, but added this required producer
education and support through analysing carcase feedback and premium
prices.
“In boning groups 1–9 there are often premiums of 5¢/kg to
25¢/kg, but the bulk of MSA cattle going through in Townsville are not hitting
those specifications,” he said.
“With efforts in genetics, growth and nutrition to reduce
turn-off age, I think local producers can work towards increasing grading
percentages in those higher paying groups if grazing conditions and cattle are
suitable.”
Major learnings from the Burdekin and Charters Towers MSA
PDS
•Handle cattle less preslaughter – reduce yard and transport
time
•Use BREEDPLAN EBVs to fast-track genetic
progress
•Target traits for fertility, growth, fat cover and marbling
(intramuscular fat)
•Supplementing steers can be profitable
•Depending on the price, feeding molasses in the dry season
can pay off
Source: MLA.com
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