Technologies now in place or soon to hit the market could hold the key to making value-based marketing in Australia’s cattle industry a commercial reality, last week’s ICMJ conference in Rockhampton was told.

John Langbridge speaking at the ICMJ conference.

The value of products or co-products from each carcase tends to be averaged out in current payment systems to Australian cattle producers.

Value-based marketing would involve paying producers for the specific value of each part of a carcase, including co-products such as hides and offal.

In real value terms there may be a difference of about $600 between the best animal and the worst animal in a single farmer’s draft of cattle.

“A farmer thinks they’re all the same but in fact they’re not, from a quality point of view, pathology, even carcase yield – you get some animals that have got bigger loins than others and the value then of that animal goes up.”

The cost to produce and to process every animal is the same, “but they’re worth vastly different values”.

“How do we transmit and tell the farmer about that, and how do we help the farmer improve the value of each individual animal?

“I think that is one of the big challenges and we’re just starting to get out heads into that space now.”

He said the challenge is to improve value by analysing data and presenting it in a meaningful way back to producers.

“Trying to get early and accurate information back to producers I think is fairly key to getting those improvements.”

Technology is now hitting the market that can make this a reality he said, including tools that help producers to work out what the marbling score of their cattle is while they’re still alive, and also predict yield.

“We really need to be telling farmers what is good about their cattle and where the value is and how the farmer can replicate that value in the future, so looking at yield technology.”

The two-dimensional European E+V carcase grading camera (which Beef Central has written about extensively in previous artcles) was one example.

“We are interested in its abillity to predict yield,” he said.

“We actually think that is going to be almost as accurate as an X-ray machine at about a 10th of the cost.

“It allows us to get information back to farmers early.”

He also pointed to the MEQ Probe, a tool that uses ultraviolet light to grade intramuscular fat, or marbling.

“We can do it hot so we can grade it in the chillers, we don’t have to wait 24 hours,” he said.

“That will give the marbling score essentially after a 48 hour or 72 hour chill.”

Technologies that allow carcases to be sorted pre-chilling would give processors more time to analyse their boning processes and “work out where get the best value for a carcase”, Mr Langbridge said.

Another technology showing promise is Nuclear Magnetic Resonance, which does not require penetration and is currently being trialled for its ability to measure marbling, rib eye area and subcutaneous fat in live sheep and cattle.

The next step is to develop live animal measurement tools on farm.

A working Nuclear Magnetic Resonance is set to be trialled on an Australian feedlot this year, he said.

“There are still gaps, we need to keep doing this work,” he said.