P.PSH.1207 - BeefLinks - Program Coordinator

Summary

BeefLinks was a four-year research partnership that aimed to drive an integrated and complementary R&D program for northern and southern production systems across WA to achieve profitable, consistent, and sustainable beef yields matched to consumer expectations.

Objectives

The objective of BeefLinks is to provide high level coordination across a network of projects to drive an integrated and complementary R&D program for northern and southern production systems across Western Australia that achieves profitable, consistent, and sustainable beef yields matched to consumer expectations.

Key findings

- No practices identified in the BeefLinks program that lessen the impact of transition from pastoral to backgrounding properties on the average daily gain (ADG).
- The magnitude in change in ADG was as significantly influenced by the time of year in which cattle were sent to backgrounding properties.
- The flow of information along the WA pastoral beef supply chain was improved through the development of regular communication channels such as the monthly animal performance dashboard report.
- The low level of adoption of key technologies such as weighing equipment and eID tag readers required in this project highlights the need for further WA industry capacity building.

Benefits to industry

- The use of the decision tree and partial budget tools by pastoralists to understand the pathways available for animals entering the pastoral beef supply chain will help to identify the pathway for maximum profit and the most optimal exit point for the pastoral owner to manage production risk.

MLA action

MLA is using the outcomes of this project to create new adoption materials.

Future research

The results of the program identified the key strengths of BeefLinks but also some risks:

- The strong leadership created opportunity to assemble a diverse, engaged team of researchers and research users.