Bringing the action at Beef Australia

Rockhampton was the place to be last week, 5­–11 May, as crowds flocked to the town for Beef Australia, the country’s week-long celebration of the beef industry.

The event, which is held every three years, drew people from across the supply chain, including producers, scientists, chefs, students, and exhibitors.

Over 115,000 people passed through the gates, including 600 international delegates from across 35 countries.

For MLA, the event created an opportunity MLA to engage with key stakeholders about industry updates and innovations, including the launch of the National Young Cattle Indicator, results from the latest sustainability scorecard, and the announcement of the new Environmental Credentials platform.

MLA employee recognised for 25 years

Beef Australia was fitting timing for MLA’s Janine Lau, who reached 25 years working within the industry.

The Beef 2024 National Carcase Competition awards dinner honoured Janine with a lifetime achievement award, celebrating her contribution to the red meat industry through the world-leading Meat Standards Australia (MSA) grading program.

MLA’s MSA Program Manager David Packer said that Janine and MSA now go hand in hand, having been involved since the program’s inception. 

During her 25-year stint with MSA, Janine has graded over 80,000 beef carcases, for which she has become known as the industry gold standard.

The making of meat (powder)

Australia’s national science agency, CSIRO, took the opportunity to launch Just Meat protein powder, offering taste testings at Beef Australia.

The product turns red meat into a highly nutritious powder to give an allergen-free protein boost to snacks and beverages, targeting a $3.8 billion health and wellness market opportunity.

The powder’s nutritional and allergen-free profile sets it apart from other protein powders on the market so it can appeal to a wide audience in products ranging from protein balls and shakes to energy drinks.  

The powder has the potential to grow Australia’s $75.4 billion red meat industry, by capturing more value from a greater percentage of the carcase.

Meat & Livestock Australia (MLA) is an investor and collaborator in the product’s development.

Something for the students

As a supporting partner of Beef Australia 2024 School’s Program, MLA Australian Good Meat Education played a vital role to build student education about Australian sustainable beef production practices from paddock to plate.

Leading up to the event over 70 QLD schools representing over 4,000 students participated in a six-week in-classroom program where teachers utilised the Australian Good Meat Education school resources to bolster student knowledge ahead of their visit to Beef Australia 2024.

Across the week of Beef Australia 2024 and with the assistance of Red Meat Industry Ambassadors, MLA hosted 26 Australian Good Meat Education sessions engaging over 720 primary and high school students with group learning and interactive games to build their red meat and livestock industry knowledge.

Attending teachers were extremely positive of the sessions highlighting the age appropriate content, relevance to the Australian Curriculum and level of student interactivity as some of the best sessions attended during their time at the event.

Additionally a number of MLA staff and Red Meat Industry Ambassadors participated in the Career Conversations event aimed to inspire high school students about a career in the Australian Beef industry.

On the screen

The event’s live broadcast Beef TV ran across the week, attracting an audience of 79,000 viewers from across the world.

Several MLA spokespeople appeared on the channel across the week, discussing everything from the rise of meat snacks, global export trends, and carbon neutral 2030 (CN30).

Off-air, hundreds of producers attended two sustainability-focused seminars hosted by MLA, exploring sustainability from paddock-to-plate, and increasing customer demands for delivering a sustainable product.