BEEF producers will be able to benchmark the carcase quality of their cattle more easily, with the Southern Grassfed Carcase Classic changing its format.
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In previous years the successful carcase competition has received catle over a fortnight in early October at Teys Australia’s Naracoorte abattoir, but with the wet winter and spring the delivery period this year has been extended from now until late February.
Instead of individually ear tagging the animals they wish to enter beef producers can enter either whole truck consignments or part loads with a minimum of 10 animals. These will automatically be put into the appropriate classes based on their carcase weight, fat depth and dentition.
SGCC chairman Allan Kain hopes the change of format will encourage more entries from across SA and Vic, particularly from the Lower South East and western Vic which often turn off grass fed cattle later.
“A lot of those rising two-year-old heavy calves aren’t really ready until mid November through to Christmas so we are hoping to open it up to these cattle ,” he said.
“Rather than taking the handful that are ready or the tail end of last year’s cattle we are now hoping to get into some better cattle with higher eye muscle areas.”
In the past seven years the SGCC has consistently attracted around 200 cattle but Mr Kain hopes having a longer delivery window will grow entries by 30-40 per cent.
He is thrilled how the industry has embraced the competition and says there has been a vast improvement in those hitting grid specifications and improving their Meat Standards Australia indexes.
“For every animal and every kilogram you get right you are well rewarded, and if you are not getting it right you are missing out on easy money,” he said.
The competition will continue to be a fundraiser for the Royal Flying Doctor Service with more than $30,000 raised over the past seven years.
Organisers of the 2016/17 Southern Grassfed Carcase Classic have come up with three new classes
*Single steer or heifer 180-240kg, 0-2 teeth, P8 fat 5-10mm and rib fat 5-8mm
*Single steer or heifer 240-320kg, 0-2 teeth, P8 fat 8-13mm and rib fat 6-10mm
*Single steer 320-420kg, 0-4 teeth, P8 fat 12-17mm and rib fat 8-13mm
Other awards will include the ten highest scoring animals chosen from each consignment using the Australian Beef Cattle Appraisal system, the best eating quality awarded to the animal with the highest Meat Standards Australia score across the three classes, and an overall champion for the highest scoring carcase.
Smaller producers interested in entering the competition with less than 10 animals should contact Teys Australia.
Cattle must be delivered by Friday February 24 2017 with a presentation night to be held in April.
- Details: Allan Kain 0409 366 010, David Woolard 0418 832 045 or Kitty Sheridan 0427 027 981