PRODUCERS from all corners of Australia will find out who has the best beef in the country with the ANZ National Beef Carcase Competition at Beef Australia 2015.
This is one of the fastest-growing competitions, with 582 head from 194 entries, a significant jump from Beef Australia 2012, where there were 336 head from 112 entries.
Winners will be revealed 6.30pm on Tuesday, May 5, at the Hegvold Stadium.
“I doubt you would see a competition like this anywhere else in the world,” said the competition’s committee chair, David Hill.
The purpose of the competition is to give feedback to producers about the compliance of beef carcases to market specifications, yield of saleable meat and predicted eating quality.
“It allows producers to benchmark cattle from around the country, from their normal production systems and normal turnoff,” Mr Hill said.
Processing began in June last year and finished this March to allow producers to get their animals through at peak performance.
“I think it’s a blueprint of industry going forward, as it is collaboration between producers and meat processors.”
Beef Australia representative and MLA-funded MSA project officer Janine Lau has visited 17 processing plants around the country in that time and graded every animal in the competition.
“It’s a massive undertaking,” he said.
The competition is divided into grassfed and grainfed classes, and within these two categories there are another three categories: medium trade – 180-260kg; heavy trade – 260.1-340kg and 300-420kg. Entries are made up of pens of three.
This criteria has been set up to best reflect the current requirements for each market segment.
The carcases are judged on a score out of 100, made up of 40 per cent on MSA index, 25pc market specification, which are P8 fat, meat colour and distribution, and 35pc on saleable meat yield – rib fat and eye muscle area.
“We have made the science of the eating quality 40 per cent of the score, and into the future we would like to see more objective measures of saleable meat yield,” Mr Hill said
The current beef language review is currently looking into this.
“As producers, we would like to see the market specifications modernised to better reflect the supply chain and consumer requirements.”
Prizemoney and ribbons will be awarded to first, second and third prizewinners in each class; ribbons will also be awarded down to sixth place; trophies will be awarded to the winning pen in each class; the MSA Index Award will go to the group of three carcases with the highest MSA index; and Beef Australia champion and reserve champion pens will be awarded to the highest scoring pen of three in each of the classes.
The individual carcase with the highest scores will be awarded the ANZ Achievement Award overall champion carcase and reserve champion, and the MSA will award a trophy to the winning carcase with the highest MSA index.
These numbers are crunched by the committee in mid-April, but the winners will be announced at the dinner.
“What I like about this carcase competition is getting the message coming from the consumer to the producer,” Mr Hill said.
“We have gone on MSA so all this is based on the science of eating quality.”
At Beef Australia 2012, producers from Western Australia and Tasmania took the top prizes, but there was no reason cattle from other states could pip them at the post.
“To me, it is all about the learning – it is an educational opportunity,” Mr Hill said.
“Ribbons are nice, but it is the ability to benchmark with cattle all over the country and remembering they are going to be as good as anything you will find in the world.”
