THE latest commercial trials of the revolutionary DEXA scanning technology show the objective carcase management system is on track to deliver significant benefits for the red meat industry.
DEXA, which is shorthand for dual x-ray absorptiometer technology, is a carcase measurement system developed by Murdoch University and its research partners.
It can accurately differentiate meat from fat and bone, offering considerable efficiency savings to Australia’s meat industry.
Murdoch University’s Associate Professor Graham Gardner, who developed DEXA in collaboration with Scott Automation and Robotics, said cattle were currently sold mainly based on their weight.
“This method is a poor indicator of the amount of meat on a carcase,” Mr Gardner said.
“Our analysis of this traditional method, using beef datasets, found that accuracy varied from 10 to 80 per cent.
“Results from the latest commercial trials shows that DEXA can accurately measure beef and differentiate meat from fat and bone with good precision.
“DEXA described 88pc of the variation in carcase fatness within the mob of 50 cattle scanned, with the bulk of these predictions ranging within three carcase fat percentage units of their true value.”
Meat and Livestock Australia (MLA) has announced plans to install the technology at meat processing facilities throughout Australia, after successful trials recorded improvements in precision and accuracy in lamb processing.
New work done at a Victorian abattoir has demonstrated positive results after the technology produced similar levels of accuracy in beef production.
In May last year, MLA announced that Murdoch University would lead a $12.5m project to develop DEXA and other carcase measurement technologies.
The Advanced Livestock Measurement Technologies project is funded by the government’s Rural R&D for Profit program. It is focused on further refinement of the lamb and beef DEXA algorithm, the development of eating quality and live animal measures, industry database alignment and the promotion of processor-producer feedback.
MLA announced this week a further $10 million investment to accelerate the adoption of the DEXA technology.
The organisation is partnering with meat processing plants around the country to support the installation of DEXA measurement systems.
“This project will enable supply chains and the businesses within them to drive new efficiencies, generate more value and better meet market demands, which ultimately improves our industry’s international competitiveness,” said MLA managing director Richard Norton.
Prof Gardner said he was delighted that the DEXA scanning technology has now been selected by the Australian meat industry as the key to future efficiency savings.
“Once the system has been fully implemented, Australia will set the standards which the international industry will follow,” Prof Gardner said.
Prof David Morrison, Deputy Vice Chancellor Research and Innovation at Murdoch University, said Prof Gardner’s work was a perfect example of Murdoch’s translational research focus, which aimed to provide solutions to the challenges facing industry and the wider world.
The rollout of DEXA technology is said to not only bring greater accuracy in terms of meat yield and improved profit margins, it will also provide vital data which will help raise meat quality and consistency across the industry.
