Gundagai Lamb CEO Will Barton, left, with Oxton Park’s Paul O’Connor, Brad Cavanagh, Lachie Barrett and Alex Wyeth. Image – Supplied.

VALUE-BASED marketing with full carcase feedback to producers is improving the marketability of lamb for Gundagai Lamb suppliers and clients, according to GL chief executive officer Will Barton.

After the operation’s annual producer awards night last week, Mr Barton said despite the antagonistic genetic relationship between the key traits of lean meat yield and intramuscular fat, producers have made progress in both over the past three years.

He said the average lean meat yield of lambs consigned since late 2023 had increased by 2.6 percent as producers aimed for the GL grid’s “sweet spot” of 59-66pc LMY.

“And the average intramuscular fat has increased by 0.27 over the same period.”

“What’s amazing about that is that notwithstanding that there is an antagonistic relationship between intramuscular fat and lean meat yield — which we still observe when we look through mobs – on average both (IMF and LMY) are increasing across our supply chain,” he said.

“Which means value-based marketing is working.

“And the majority of gains are coming from the cohort we call returning producers; so 70pc of lambs last year came from people who supplied us the year before.”

Gundagai Lamb is the only Australian lamb processor to supply complete carcase eating quality feedback to its producers linked to the individual electronic identification of each lamb.

Mr Barton said the company had procured slightly fewer of lambs last season because of supply constraints.

“It was almost like a stabilisation year.”

Mr Barton said in just six years, Gundagai Lamb has become a premium staple chefs are putting on the menu in Sydney, New York, London, Tokyo and beyond, “because they know it delivers consistency, flavour and provenance every time.”

“There’s no denying that quality sells well, and with its world-first eating quality credentials, Gundagai Lamb is as good as it gets.

“The people who produce the lamb are the reason why what we’re putting on the table is so special, and their pursuit of perfection deserves to be rewarded.”

Balanced Oxton Park program reaps returns

New South Wales Merino lamb suppliers, Oxton Park from Harden, were again recognised as the GL Producer of the Year.

Oxton Park principal Paul O’Connor said the operation just concentrated on doing its own thing and focussing on the feedback data it received from Gundagai.

“The transparency of it has always been an appealing thing and we tend tweak our artificial insemination program a little bit around that.”

Oxton Park has utilised carcase data as well as Australian Sheep Breeding Values, flock profiling, genomics and subjective appraisal to breed its own dual purpose Merino rams for wool and meat production.

“We never lose sight of the balance that we are always looking for; for wool, meat, worm resistance and marbling …”

Improvements have also been made in producing heavier lambs earlier – from a 22kg carcase at 12 months to 30kg lambs at 9-10 months.

Mr O’Connor said lamb and mutton returns, along with the increase in wool prices, had made Merino sheep returns “never look better.”

“The numbers have never looked better.

“And I really do feel there are better numbers to come … there is still room to keep getting better.”

He said many Merino studs were also moving in a dual purpose direction; “realising the value you can get from your Merino from the meat as well as the wool.”

“You really can have your cake and eat it too.

“There are plenty of progressive Merino studs doing that and it’s a no-brainer from a commercial point of view.”

Other award winners at the GL night were: Grid Compliance Award – Glenleigh Farms, Barmedman, and HP Ag, Seymour, NSW, equal tie; GLQ Score Award – JJ & MJ Ryan, Yerong Creek, NSW; GLQ Score for Age Award – Maxjem, Benalla, Victoria; Pioneer’s Award – James Burge, Burge Ag, Cootamundra, NSW, and; Agent of the Year – Jarrod Slattery, Nutrien Ag Solutions Wagga Wagga.

A consistently world-class product sells – ThinkCulinary

ThinkCulinary’s chef Benjamin Udave and Kenny Townsend, left, with Gundagai Lamb account manager, Molly Greentree.

Gundagai Lamb also hosted executives from California-based fine meat importer and distributor, ThinkCulinary, who took part in a panel session on the challenges and opportunities for Australian lamb in the current US market.

ThinkCulinary partners Kenny Townsend and Chef Benjamin Udave travelled from the importers’ Los Angeles headquarters to unpack what was landing Australian lamb on American tables, and how producers could secure continued demand for their premium product.

“Not only does GLQ5+ deliver superior eating quality from the marbling and tenderness, but it has a system to prove it – and that’s what chefs ultimately want,” Mr Townsend said.

“When you have a product that’s consistently world-class, night after night, service after service, you have a product that’s going to sell itself in kitchens and venues around the country.”

A separate panel session of Gundagai Lamb producers highlighted the learnings and achievements of the brand’s four producer groups, established to enhance knowledge, feedback and performance among suppliers.

Gundagai Lamb’s 2026 Precision in Practice Program is the brand’s fourth and largest producer group to date, with 11 businesses involved across the Southern Tablelands and Riverina districts. The program’s participants supplied 6953 lambs to the brand in FY26 alone and participated in three separate workshops on objective carcase measurement, ruminant nutrition, breeding and genetics.

A year-in-review update shared by Gundagai Lamb’s Jake Bourlet and Emily Stewart revealed that in FY26 overall, 165,000 lambs from 253 producers were processed for the Gundagai Lamb brand, with GLQ5+ grading 47 per cent in the 2025–26 season.

Mr Barton said world-class lamb starts in the paddock, and our producers really are the reason why our lamb never lets you down.

“Only the lambs that meet the grade, carry the brand, and there’s nothing like getting exactly what you wanted for dinner, every single time.”