Organic Angus gets MSA tick of approval

It comes down to a good breeding program and pasture management, according to Narrung producer Dave Harvey.

With his wife Cathie, Mr Harvey runs an purebred Angus program alongside a dairy and cropping program, all of which are certified organic.

Their success resulted in the family’s Tauwitchere Pastoral Co being named a finalist at the Meat Standards Australia Excellence in Eating Quality Awards earlier this year, for most improved producer.

The Harveys significantly improved their MSA compliance to 93.7 per cent, and achieved an increase of 1.16 MSA Index points between 2014-15 and 2016-17.

The MSA Index improvement has derived from the Harveys reducing their average ossification scores by more than 20 units, while increasing carcase weight by an average of 25 kilograms.  

Their average marbling also increased by 60-70 units, with all these factors contributing to an improvement in eating quality.

Mr Harvey said the improvements resulted from an increase in target weights from 450kg to 500-550kg to get a better carcase yield and larger eye muscle area, buying a fat scanner, and pre-selecting cattle three weeks prior to transport to reduce stress.

“We were sending off some cattle that didn’t meet the six millimetre P8 fat requirement,” he said.

“Every animal is scanned to ensure it meets the fat depth prior to sending it away.”

In their most recent report, the organic Angus cattle were sold at 21 months old and were graded to the top of the grid, averaging $5.72/kg.

They scored a 5mm to 22mm back fat score, a meat colour average of 2-3 and a fat colour of 2-3, results that show the Harveys’ cattle are at a high standard.

“The fat colour was a good score off pasture because there’s a lot of keratin in the pasture, which means the cattle have good  nutrition to achieve that fat and meat colour score,” Mr Harvey said.

“For a pasture-based feeding system with no grain feeding at all, that’s what you’re trying to achieve.”

The Harveys’ Angus operation involves 300 cows, which are mated from July 23 for nine weeks, running naturally with bulls, and calves drop from May 1 the following year during a nine-week period. At weaning, all cows are pregnancy tested and empty ones are sold on.

“By selling all empty cows, it gives you a very fertile female herd,” he said.

Prior to their organic status, the Harveys bred bulls on-farm, but 10 years ago they made the decision use bulls from Vic Angus stud Te Mania, Mortlake.

Calves are grown-out on-farm until they are about 18 months old and reach a kill weight of about 500kg.

PASTURE rotation at Dave Harvey’s Narrung beef and dairy farm means he does not have to drench his cattle - which is a bonus given his organic certification.

By ensuring pasture is free from livestock for 35 days, worm larvae excreted by cattle will have mostly died and cannot be re-consumed by his livestock.

“The problem with set grazing is the cattle continue to ingest the eggs,” Mr Harvey said.

“If you’ve got a rotational grazing program where the cows aren’t going back for 35 days, that’s how you break the cycle.

“The challenge with organic beef on inside country comes from pasture production, because you can’t use any commercially manufactured chemicals off the shelf to establish or maintain good pastures.”

Mr Harvey’s 300 Angus cows feed on a lucerne pasture which has a lifespan of eight to 10 years.

There is no set stocking rate on the farm, and the sandy soils along the Coorong are responsive to summer rain, enabling lucerne pasture to perform well.

Because Mr Harvey uses a rotational grazing system, he has not had to drench his cattle in more than 40 years.

He uses a natural product called diatomaceous earth, which is a naturally occurring, soft, siliceous sedimentary rock that is crushed into a fine white to off-white powder, and applied with vegetable oil as a backliner, which kills small insects when ingested.