INTEGRATED grainfed beef supply chain Rangers Valley was announced as the NSW MSA Producer of the Year during an industry function in Dubbo last night.

Rangers Valley managing director Don Mackay accepted the award on the company’s behalf.

Rangers Valley’s Don Mackay accepts the NSW MSA Supplier of the Year award last night from Wallabies great, Tim Horan.

Japanese-owned Rangers Valley is a modern 33,250 head feedlot facility near Glen Innes in the New England district of northern NSW.

The business turns off about 43,000 grain-finished cattle each year, representing a combination of longfed and 100-day Angus, and longfed Wagyu programs.

Rangers Valley is arguably the only substantial feedlot in the world that specialises in longfed Angus cattle, producing the abundance of marbling that is highly sought-after in premium international beef markets. While the feedlot also manages a large F1 Wagyu longfed program fed out to +350 days, it can be argued that it is in its unique Angus 270-day longfed programs that the Rangers Valley brand has forged its strong international reputation over the past 25 years.

The yard saw annual turnover last year of about 21,000 purebred longfed Angus cattle, plus 11,000 Wagyu and an additional 11,000 100-day Angus cattle produced for a ‘Coles Finest’ premium domestic beef supply contract.

The company has developed a vast performance database on suppliers’ cattle and bloodlines, which has underpinned and improved meat quality performance across both Angus and Wagyu over time.

Rangers last July completed a $6 million site upgrade, including a new mill and boiler, plus extensive other work. Further development work has taken place on the surrounding Rangers Valley cattle station to boost backgrounding capacity. The majority of feeders entering the yard come either direct from the station backgrounding paddocks, or other nearby backgrounding properties, often walked into the feeding pens from the paddock.

Ten or 15 years ago, virtually all of Rangers Valley’s beef production was directed into Japan, via parent company Marubeni’s trading arm. That has gradually changed over time, with high quality food service and retail custom now established in more than 20 other markets including Korea, China, Taiwan and the Middle East. About 10pc of the longfed Wagyu beef stays in Australia, in addition to 100pc of the Coles Finest contract cattle.

A detailed summary of Rangers Valley’s operations is contained in this earlier article, published as part of Beef Central’s Top 25 Lotfeeders feature.

Other NSW state finalists for the award presented last night were JAC Wagyu from Bingera, and William Lawson from Perthville.

Rangers Valley won the MSA title from a field comprising more than 4400 registered producers in NSW who consigned cattle during the 2014-15 financial year.

MSA producer engagement officer Jarrod Lees said analysing the MSA data showed Rangers Valley beef would produce a great eating experience for consumers.

“Rangers Valley have really scored well with their grading results. Their ossification scores are low and that’s very positive for eating quality and tenderness,” Mr Lees said. “The amount of marbling in their beef is also helping to create a really high quality product that is juicy and flavoursome.

“From a consumer perspective, the quality of beef that Rangers Valley is producing is really consistent – there’s not a lot of variation in the data. Don and his team should be very proud of their results. The cattle they are producing are high quality and that’s really a testament to the system they have in place.”

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.

Marbling is measured using MSA marbling standards and reflects the amount as well as distribution of intramuscular fat, which has a positive impact on juiciness and flavour of beef.

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.

The NSW result follows a similar state award presented in Queensland last Wednesday.

Upcoming MSA state awards gatherings:

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:

• Victorian event: Tuesday 5 April, 2pm – 8pm. All Seasons Bendigo, 171-183 McIvor Road, Strathdale.
• Tasmanian event: Thursday 7 April, 2-8pm, Tailrace Centre, 1 Waterfront Drive, Riverside Launceston.
• South Australian event: 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 Australian event: Thursday, 14 April, 2-8pm, Lighthouse Beach Resort, Carey Street, Bunbury.