Beef true blue

Hours and hours of paperwork, long phone conversations and painstaking research will often deter even the most committed producers from following their beef from the paddock through to the plate.

But the determination of two producers to improve their business profitability has led to the launch of Australian Grassfed Meats and its flagship brand, Blue Label Beef, in August this year.

The premium brand is the brainchild of Karl and Erin Harms, Severn Fields, Texas, and Roderick Binny, Westbrook Station, Guyra, NSW.

The trio are currently using the Northern Co-operative Meat Company at Casino to process about 22 tonnes (dressed weight) of beef for Blue Label Beef each fortnight and hope, when kill space becomes more readily available, to achieve that tonnage on a weekly basis.

The HGP-free, MSA-licensed beef is largely sold onto the domestic market in Brisbane, but some products, such as trim, are exported to markets in Canada, Japan, China and, most recently, Korea.

Mr Harms said it had been a hard slog to get the label off the ground and, while still early days, he was happy with the progress that had been made.

"Getting access to the domestic market is relatively simple," he said.

"There is still a lot of paperwork that you have to stay on top of, but getting access to the export business is an awful lot of work. We've put hours and hours into those markets and we are very confident that it will all be worthwhile.

"When you are able to buy the right type of cattle for store prices and sell them at the top of the grid, it's not a bad system."

Formerly from Roma where he operated the Myall Charolais Stud with his mother Marj and late father Boyd, Mr Harms said the idea to develop their own branded product was largely driven by a need to value-add to the on-farm operations.

"It basically came about because we were trying to find something that we could do off-farm to improve our bottom line on-farm," he said.

"We also felt we could draw on the experiences we'd had in our stud-stock operations and utilise the network of contacts we already had to create a successful branded product."

Access to irrigated pasture is critical to the success of the business, and Mr Harms has five centre pivots and some extra flood irrigation on Severn Fields.

With a reliable allocation of 350 megalitres of bore water, Mr Harms irrigates a range of high-yielding pastures that underpin his beef production.

Pastures currently used include lucerne, ryegrass, woolly pod vetch, bluegrass, clover, chicory and silk sorghum.

"The irrigation is really critical to the success of the label because it allows us to guarantee supply," Mr Harms said.

Although Mr Binny still runs a small number of breeders, the bulk of the cattle in the program are bought into the operation. They buy British/Euro-cross steers and heifers from neighbouring producers no lighter than 380kg and aim to process them at 240kg dressed or heavier.

Mr Harms said accessing the right type of cattle had proven relatively easy so far, but he was under no illusions that supply would tighten once seasonal conditions improved.

"We haven't had to branch out too far yet (for cattle), but when it rains, I know that I will," he said.

"It will take more planning, but I think it's doable. The market will also shift with us. Beef prices will go up domestically when the price of cattle does."

In addition to Blue Label Beef, Mr Binny and Mr Harms have plans to launch a sister brand for grassfed lamb in 2015.