There is growing public interest for how food gets from paddock to plate and this was evident at the Steer Trial Demonstration Day which was held recently at Lardner Park.
Lardner Park Steer Trial has been a regular fixture on the event calendar at Lardner Park since 1974.
The Trial provides local and regional farmers with insight to compare how cattle are performing on their own farms compared to those at Lardner Park under controlled conditions and against other breeds.
Data collection assists farmers to improve the quality of their stock, growth response rates and ultimate financial return.
While the weigh-in was occurring, David Skinner from Bask Aerospace piqued everyone’s interest with a presentation on the company’s innovative drone system, SmartHangar and AeroDrone MR4 Mk3, giving a glimpse to the future of automation and a system that can be dropped at any location of a farm to undertake a wide variety of tasks.
The system self-powers through solar and automatically exchanges the drone battery for a powered one, whilst automatically charging up the used battery. No human intervention required!
Proceeding another successful weigh-in that saw an average daily weight gain of 1.44kg, entrants, farmers, local producers and hospitality representatives, gathered in the Exhibition Centre to view and participate in a series of demonstrations by Coles, JBS and Radford Meats.
Mark Inglis, the Farm Assurance and Supply Chain Manager for JBS Abattoirs, provided a detailed carcass presentation revealing how the Meat Standards Australia (MSA) grading index is calculated including measuring pH levels, marbling, meat and fat colour, rib fat and eye muscle area, and ossification.
He advised that in Gippsland, where it is green most of the year, older animals will have lower ossification and higher dentition, with ossification providing a more accurate measure of the eating quality outcome, or maturity of an animal.
Specialist Coles butcher Peter Smith and representatives from Radford Meats then provided an expert boning demonstration and presented how trimming and slicing is maximized to produce various cuts of meat.
Guests were interested to learn that dependent on how the carcass is broken up, whether it is for a roast or stir fry, alters the amount of trim they are expecting, and from a measuring point of view, this is measured, all of it, every day, across 11,000 bodies per week!
The presentations were compered by Steve Rennie, Coles National Livestock Manager for Beef
“Coles greatly values direct connection with the beef industry and the Lardner Park Carcass Demonstration Day was exactly that,” he said.
“Everyone attending found the day highly informative and it was terrific to see the interest shown by so many breeders and producers through their questions and input.
“When everyone stays until the end to engage in more discussion, it shows the success of the event and the industry’s desire for information and education.
“By bringing together Coles, Radford Meats and JBS, we were able to share the full journey from the weigh-in through to carcass grading, boning, slicing and cuts for retail sale, to the delicious sampling thanks to Chef Leigh Marino’s beef samples.
“Coles was very pleased to support such a successful and popular event.”
With more than 80 industry people in attendance and an enthusiastic crowd, guests were treated to a variety of beef dishes, expertly prepared by in-house Chef Leigh Marino from the Big Spoon Group.
And with representatives from Agriculture Victoria, Coles, Coopers Animal Health, Gallagher, and Meat and Livestock Australia (all 2017 Steer Trial Sponsors) in attendance, guests were able to ask questions and seek advice from industry experts.
Nicola Pero, CEO of Lardner Park was very enthusiastic about the day.
“This has been such a tremendous response to the activities today and we’re really thrilled.
“The cattle industry, as a whole, is core to Lardner Park and will continue to be so.
“We’re looking to develop expanded activities and events in relation to cattle breeders, primary producers, and the wide range of stakeholders associated to the industry.
“Running the Steer Trials is important for the industry and we are currently researching adding a summer grain trial onto our winter grass trial which is now in its 43rd year.
“It’s so valuable to be able to work with all the partners we do for the Lardner Park Steer Trial and today’s success reinforces industry appetite is strong for sharing education across the whole chain from paddock through to packaged meats sale – and beyond with the preparation and cooking techniques.
“Lardner Park hopes to host more of these types of events and by having them across just a few hours, busy farmers can more easily attend.”
Anyone who is keen to be involved in the program and to be informed of the trial results should subscribe to the Steer Trial e-newsletter on the Lardner Park website.
