Alpha cattle producer Fred Appleton is a believer that the northern beef production industry can do more to meet consumer trends.
As a Nuffield scholar, Mr Appleton has researched how the industry can better meet market demands such as organic beef, meat quality, traceability, animal welfare and environmental sustainability credentials and released a report on his findings.
The research involved travel to Canada, the USA, the UK, the Netherlands, South America and New Zealand, which gave Mr Appleton insight into Australia's unique competitive advantage.
"The natural, pristine environment of northern Australia gives us an excellent platform from which we can better tell the story of our product," he said.
"Our low intensity grazing systems, which can produce a quality grass-fed product despite an often-harsh environment, are unique.
"Consumer concerns around the origin of food are intrinsically linked to sustainable production, food quality and improved animal welfare outcomes.
"Proactive producers understand that it is difficult to convince consumers of a product's credibility unless it stacks up against a range of these criteria across the whole production system."
While initially focused on animal husbandry practices such as castration, after meeting stakeholders from across the world on Nuffield's Global Focus Program world tour, Mr Appleton was struck by the bigger picture.
"People kept coming over to you and they were so interested in the story," he said.
"I started thinking, what's the actual story worth to industry?"
Mr Appleton said since undertaking the program in 2016, there had been major advances in the consumer trends towards traceability.
"A lot of these major meat companies are now trying to focus on the stories behind the products," he said.
"We definitely have a clean, green story to tell and now is a great time to tell it."
Mr Appleton's report explores the potential posed by northern Australia's landscape, despite the challenges that come with its remoteness.
"From the edge of the Fitzroy and Burdekin regions in central Queensland, through the desert channels near Alice Springs and into the Pilbara, the hot dry climate lends itself to organic production," he said.
"Consumer preference for organic products is not going away, and these northern regions present significant untapped potential that can be realised with very little change or investment in existing production practices."
Industry change starts at home
Fred Appleton has the beef industry in his veins.
Growing up on various cattle stations in central Queensland, he went on to work as a ringer in northern and central parts of the state before going on to get his commercial helicopter licence.
After a period of time running his own commercial helicopter mustering business he teamed with other family members to form Appleton Cattle Company.
The family's properties include Islay Plains Station, Craven, Tango and Star Downs in the Alpha district, Yarmina and Bulliwallah near Belyando Crossing and Fairlight, north of Hughenden.
Mr Appleton is based on Islay Plains Station and oversees the family's Alpha aggregation.
He said their operations went organic in about 2014 and it was an easy decision.
"The reason we went organic is we were already doing a lot of the things that needed to be done," he said.
"We didn't really have to change anyway apart from doing some more paperwork."
Another key recommendation in the report which is a vital part of the Appletons' operation is the use of British bulls to improve meat quality.
On the Alpha properties, Mr Appleton uses 50 per cent Droughmaster bulls and 50 per cent Shorthorn and Angus bulls over a Droughtmaster cow herd to that end, while other properties use a combination of Charolais and Simmental bulls for similar reasons.
