Clayton's Organic Beef received government grant

Premier and Trade Minister Annastacia Palaszczuk said Clayton's is one of 45 Queensland companies to benefit from Trade and Investment Queensland's $440,000 E-commerce Grants Program, alongside 24 other regional producers.

"E-commerce grants are a key part of my government's COVID-19 economic recovery plan to boost Queensland businesses' global marketing," Ms Palaszczuk said.

"COVID-19 hit small export businesses like Clayton's Organic Beef hard when their international customers were shut down and online sales hampered by logistical issues.

"These grants will back their pivot to increased international online sales, which is key to competing in an increasingly virtual global marketplace."

Clayton's Organic Beef managing director Jackie Sargood said the company exported 95 per cent of its certified organic beef to the US, so they would use their grant to update their US website and develop sites for Dubai and Vietnam.

"We have been exporting to the US for 10 years, so when their restaurants were closed for four months during the first COVID-19 outbreak last year, we had to manage changes to our orders and products," Mrs Sargood said.

"We are negotiating with buyers in Dubai and Vietnam and are developing websites to incorporate those countries into our global marketing strategy."

Mrs Sargood and her husband Clayton run their family-owned boutique beef operation from their 260 hectare property Tulloch Brae just north of Toowoomba.

Cattle are fed to an average of 260 kilograms carcase weight at Tulloch Brae where they are fed a diet of organic hay silage and a grain ration from bunkers in the paddock, and consume between 20 to 25kg/day wet ration.

The Sargoods grow their own silage and buy organic grain and hay supplies.

Each beast is visually checked daily and each week Mr Sargood hand selects his weekly kill for processing, with the beasts delivered to Stanbroke's beef processing facility at Grantham for slaughter.

Stanbroke bones out the carcases and cuts the bodies of beef into quarters.

"Over the years we have built up enough supply of certified organic beef to serve our market while controlling every aspect of the process to ensure animal welfare and ecologically sustainable farming practices, with no pesticides or added hormones," Mrs Sargood said.

"We can trace every beast from pasture to plate.

"We care for the cattle and what they eat, muster on horseback to minimise stress, and use our own transport and specialist abattoir facilities to ensure humane treatment, which all adds up to natural, healthy, better-tasting meat.

"We could not keep growing and tackle the global market without this grant and the continuing support from the Queensland government."

Trade and Investment Queensland's E-commerce Grant Program has recipients based in South-East Queensland, the Darling Downs, Wide Bay, central Queensland, Outback Queensland and Far North Queensland.

Companies needed to produce and export Queensland products, have e-commerce marketing plans and strategies for their overseas markets, and have been exporting for more than a year.