MSA producers among guest speakers at Wagga Wagga Forum
03 September 2019
MSA beef producer, Marg Killalea, ‘Killandayle’, Wantagong, will be among the guest speakers at the MSA Excellence in Eating Quality Forum at Wagga Wagga on 12 September.
New South Wales beef producers targeting Meat Standards Australia (MSA) specifications can hear how one of the State’s earliest adopters of MSA has benefited from the program when the MSA Excellence in Eating Quality Forum is held at Wagga Wagga on 12 September.
Oliver, Marg and Tony Killalea run 450 trade steers and a breeding herd of 175 Angus-cross females on their 366-hectare property ‘Killandayle’, Wantagong, near Holbrook.
Selling the majority of their steers into the Coles Graze program, the Killaleas use MSA data to benchmark their home bred steers against their trade steers, and guide on-farm strategies to improve the overall performance of their cattle.
At the upcoming MSA Excellence in Eating Quality Forum, Marg will present on these strategies and talk about how they have used the MSA program to gain greater insights into the connections between on-farm management and the performance of their cattle.
“We compare performance of our home bred cattle to our trade cattle, and MSA data helps guide key decisions like breeding, bull selection and our pasture and grazing management,” Mrs Killalea said.
“With a relatively small holding for the district, keeping stock on a rising plane of nutrition is critical to reducing incidence of dark cutting and ultimately getting higher returns.
“We have used the MSA program for 20 years now and the ability it gives us to target our decisions and on-farm activities is invaluable.”
The MSA Excellence in Eating Quality Forum is designed to equip producers with the tools to make practical on-farm changes to benefit their herd’s eating quality outcomes, the end consumer, and the profitability of the industry.
Local processors and commercial brand owners will also be speaking at the forum, giving producers the opportunity to hear about the market and where MSA beef is being consumed.
The Forum starts at 1.30pm at Wagga Wagga RSL, and will be followed by the announcement of the 2019 MSA Excellence in Eating Quality Award winners.
The Awards are presented to producers who have achieved outstanding compliance rates to MSA specifications, as well as high eating quality performance, as represented by MSA Index results for MSA graded cattle during the 2017-18 and 2018-19 financial years.
The event is free but registration is essential. To register, click here https://msaeeqseriesnewsouthwales.eventbrite.com.au.
