NORTH East Victorian beef producer Gary Coventry was named the State’s inaugural Meat Standards Australia Producer of the Year at the MSA Excellence in Eating Quality Awards and seminar in Bendigo last night.

The awards recognise the state’s top producers who have achieved outstanding compliance rates to the Meat Standards Australia specifications for cattle MSA graded during 2014-15. They follow similar awards made in NSW and Queensland this past week, with further presentations to follow in SA, WA and Tasmania.

Mr Coventry operates a cattle growing and finishing business at Benalla, turning off between 250 to 300 steers a year.

He won the MSA title from a field comprising more than 1400 registered producers in Victoria who consigned cattle during the 2014-15 financial year. Two other finalists in the running for last night’s Victorian award were Black Mountain Pastoral Co, Wulgulmerang and Antonio and Rosa Gentile, Coral Bank.

Victorian MSA Producer of the Year Gary Coventry is congratulated by Aussie cricket legend Merv Hughes and MLA managing director, Richard Norton

MSA producer engagement officer Jarrod Lees said Mr Coventry’s beef was high quality primarily due to optimising the weight for maturity of his cattle reflected in the low ossification scores.

“Gary has been very effective in buying-in good quality young cattle and feeding them out very quickly, ensuring optimal growth for maturity,” Mr Lees said.

“This has contributed to the low ossification scores of his cattle.”

Ossification is a measure of the physiological maturity of the beef carcase, and eating quality declines as ossification increases. While ossification increases as the animal ages, it can also increase with nutritional or health stress.

Mr Lees said Mr Coventry’s beef had exceptional marbling scores, corresponding to excellent flavour and high levels of juiciness.

“High marbling scores can be attributed to managing high quality nutrition, as Gary only buys in cattle when quality feed is available,” Mr Lees said.

“The quality of the beef from these animals is very good – Gary should be really proud of himself.”

To be eligible for the awards, a producer’s annual MSA-graded volume had to be in the top 50th percentile for the state they were produced in.

Each producer that met the eligibility criteria received a score out of 100 weighted on two factors – the compliance to MSA minimum requirements, and eating quality performance as determined by the MSA Index for cattle consigned to MSA in 2014-15.

The awards, being held throughout Australia in conjunction with a ‘Future of Eating Quality’ forum in each state, aim to raise awareness of best management practice from producers who consistently deliver superior eating quality beef ultimately for the benefit of consumers and for the profitability of the industry.

MSA was developed by the Australian red meat industry to improve beef eating quality consistency. The system is based on over 700,000 consumer taste tests by over 100,000 consumers from nine countries and takes into account all factors that affect the eating quality from the paddock to the plate.

During 2014-15, about 13,000 producers throughout Australia consigned more than 3.2 million cattle to the MSA program.

• See this morning’s separate case study on Gary Coventry’s winning approach to MSA supply.

Upcoming MSA state awards gatherings:

The Victorian awards presented this evening followed similar MSA state awards recently in Queensland and NSW. Other state MSA Supplier of the Year awards will follow, culminating in WA’s event on April 14.

Here’s the dates and venues for remaining events:

• Tasmania: Thursday 7 April, 2-8pm, Tailrace Centre, 1 Waterfront Drive, Riverside Launceston.
• South Australia: Tuesday,12 April, 11am-8pm, Adelaide Hills Convention Centre, 145A Mount Barker Road, Hahndorf (NB: this event will be held in conjunction with the SA Sheep Industry Blueprint launch).
• Western Australia: Thursday, 14 April, 2-8pm, Lighthouse Beach Resort, Carey Street, Bunbury.