GRID and Meat Standards Australia compliance, supply numbers and spread, and loyalty may result in increased lamb and beef producer incentives such as increased prices and access to kill space, according to JBS Australia’s Jose Webb.

Ms Webb will speak about the industry-wide online carcase analysis tool Livestock Data Link at the Animal Production 2016 conference on July 4-7 in the Stamford Grand in Glenelg, South Australia.

The theme for the conference organised by the Australian Society of Animal Production and the New Zealand Society of Animal Production is animal welfare, productivity and profitability of livestock industries. American animal behaviour expert Temple Grandin will outline the principles of her work in her keynote address.

LDL links slaughter information to NLIS and MSA

LDL links slaughter information to National Livestock Identification System and Meat Standards Australia databases ensuring producers receive comprehensive feedback on processed livestock. Increasing compliancy and reducing costs to producers and processors was the focus of the LDL system launched 12 months ago by JBS Australia and Meat & Livestock Australia.

Ms Webb said LDL allowed JBS to provide enhanced feedback to JBS Farm Assurance producers enabling them to analyse their business performance and make continual improvements to their business by understanding and obtaining advanced carcase feedback.

“Identifying and acknowledging the most compliant beef and lamb producers that continuously provide compliant carcases and meet company and market specifications will not only reduce the non-compliant cost to producers and processors, but to industry as well.

“A study conducted by ProAnd Associates estimated that within the beef industry alone, $51 million is lost every year from cattle not meeting market specifications and an additional $64m is lost annually from carcase condemnations,” she said.

“By pinpointing non-compliant carcase issues, JBS is able to identify and work with industry and producers to reduce or mitigate the issues through further research and development, within producer groups such as the JBS FA grass-fed group.”

Ms Webb said LDL also identified non-compliant carcases, non-compliant issues and associated costs.

“It gives producers and processors the ability to benchmark within lots, by property, by region and or at state level,” she said.

Carcase feedback led to producer awards – price and access incentives next?

LDL was also used to determine inaugural beef and lamb producers of the year within JBS Australia’s Great Southern programs from a cohort of 3000 producers. Ms Webb said this was achieved by analysing a number of traits, such as percentage of compliant animals, MSA Index, along with other factors such as number of head supplied, spread of supply and loyalty to the program.

“Identifying and awarding the beef and lamb producers of the year will result in increased producer satisfaction and appreciation through understanding that processors are working to one line of communication, to strengthen and develop the relationship they have with producers,” she said.

“The analysis that underpins these awards is only the beginning of refining and determining what could be the “A” and “B” grade suppliers within the FA program.

“This analysis may result in increased producer incentives such as price received per kilogram and access to kill space during peak demand,” she said.

This recognition will increase producer’s determination to strive to produce the “ideal” and most sought after carcases. Ms Webb was last year awarded a CAS Hawker scholarship to study farm management at Marcus Oldham College and began an undergraduate cadetship with JBS Australia.

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Click here for details on conference registration due by June 20.