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MSA offers new market premium for southern grassfed beef
By MURRAY ARNEL, Stock & Land markets analyst - Australia
Tuesday, 11 December 2007
About 160 cattle supplier clients of the Teys Bros Naracoorte beef plant in South Australia have attended an information workshop to learn the benefits of being a registered MSA supplier.
The workshop, which was held in the Naracoorte Town Hall on Friday, was aimed at providing a greater understanding of the on-farm requirements of the MSA pathways program and the basic science behind its cuts based grading system.
Teys Bros livestock manager, Geoff Teys, told the workshop producers in the lower border districts of SA and Victoria have an opportunity to return to their traditional roots of supplying quality grass-fed beef for premium end of the domestic and export markets.
He said a small price premium was now available as the program was being developed.
And he hoped this would grow to the point where product from the Naracoorte plant would fill Teys group national requirement for MSA-graded product for eight months of each year, while the remainder would be supported "off-season" from the company's three Queensland plants.
Mr Teys said the company carcase specification of 180-340kg (HSCW), zero-to-two teeth and 6-22mm of fat cover, was aimed as a "best fit" for MSA's 0-11 boning room group where the premium money could be written on the five major primal cuts extracted from each Achilles hung carcase.
MLA manager industry systems, Alan Bloxsom, expected about 30pc of the national kill would be processed under MSA grading system by the end of the financial year.
He said there was a great and growing demand for MSA-graded product in Victoria although most of this was imported from processors from the northern States.
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