RANGERS VALLEY is one of Australia’s only dedicated long-fed beef lotfeeding operations.
Located 20 kilometres north of Glen Innes, NSW, Rangers Valley aims to produce premium quality highly marbled branded beef, which is processed locally and sold around the world.
Extending across 4500 hectares, Rangers Valley Station was purchased in 1988 by parent company Marubeni, three years prior to the liberalisation of the Japanese beef market.
“The plan was to invest in a facility in preparation to sell a high quality product into the (Japanese) market when it opened up,” Rangers Valley chief executive Don Mackay said.
Mr Mackay, who took on the position at Rangers Valley in 2009, said the Japanese originally selected the location of the feedlot for its cool climate.
“We’re 1100 metres above sea level in the New England region,” he said. “The cool climate lends itself to growing long-fed black cattle.”
Mr Mackay said where possible cattle were sourced directly from producers.
Cattle purchased through saleyards are usually lighter cattle for backgrounding, which are grown out on at Rangers Valley Station or other properties.
“We have a vast database of information which contains 700,000 animal performance records,” Mr Mackay said.
“So we can select genetics we know or suspect will perform for us.”
Milk tooth (up to 16 months old) Angus steers are bought at 400-500 kilograms liveweight.
All Angus introduced into the feedlot are pure black Angus steers, while a portion of F1 Wagyu cattle selected are heifers.
“The Wagyu-Holstein heifers we can long-feed quite successfully, while you’ll struggle to feed a Wagyu-Angus heifer for that length of time,” Mr Mackay said.
The Wagyu portion is fed for 360-400 days to target an average marbling score of five or six at 800kg lwt.
“The F1 Wagyu is slightly different to the Angus,” Mr Mackay said. “They take longer to grow out and we’re aiming for a highly marbled product.”
Specialised feed rations have been designed based on the history of the Japanese long-fed Wagyu.
“We are trying to promote marbling rather than focusing only on growth rates,” Mr Mackay said.
“We’re aiming for a slower pace over a longer period, therefore the amount of grain in the ration is a lot less than you would see in a short-fed feedlot.”
Hormone growth promotants (HGP) are not utilised in the Rangers Valley feedlot.
“We want a slower, more natural growth rate,” Mr Mackay said. “We are aiming for a marbled product and HGPs are negative for marbling.
“I’m not opposed to HGPs at all, but there are no benefits of HGPs in our program.”
Traceability is a priority for Rangers Valley and their clients.
A hair sample is taken from all cattle introduced into the Rangers Valley feedlot, which is stored with Pfizer and recorded against the National Livestock Identification System (NLIS).
“We have number of customers who require us to do that as a matter of course now,” Mr Mackay said.
Rangers Valley’s Korean customer Lotte Mart tests traceability on an annual basis.
A sample of the final product is taken from the cabinet to be traced back to the animal.
“This is possible through DNA technology and the NLIS tag system,” Mr Mackay said.
“We can trace back to an animal, batch number or day, which gives us the ability to limit damage, from any problem that may occur such as residue issues.
“With 60 per cent of Australian beef going off-shore, Australia can’t afford to lose export markets.”
Rangers Valley holds a license to lotfeed 50,000 head and has a carrying capacity of up to 32,000.
Having expanded from 4000 head in 1998, 22,000 Angus and 4000 Wagyu are on-site.
Processing of Rangers Valley beef is carried out at John Dee processing plant, Warwick, Qld, which is owned by the Hart Family.
“We have Rangers Valley staff on site to follow the process, overseeing boning, packing and distributing,” Mr Mackay said.
The family operation processes 480 head a day, with Rangers Valley cattle making up a high percentage of the total.
Rangers Valley Beef is sold to 14 different countries around the world, with 60pc sold into the Japanese market and 15pc into Korea.
“Up until mid 2000, 100pc of the beef went into Japan,” Mr Mackay said.
“Now it has gradually changed, initially selling into our domestic market and then into Taiwan and Korea which expanded into 14 countries.”
Full sets of cuts are rarely sent to one customer with different cuts sold into the highest value market.
Mr Mackay said Korea take full set carcases without loins, plus addition cuts such as chuck roll while Japan takes full sets and additional cuts for retail and food service markets and Australia, who make up only 5pc of Rangers Valley’s market, take mainly butt and loin cuts for the food service sector.
All marketing of the Rangers Valley Beef brand is carried out by company representatives who travel regularly to maintain international markets in Japan, Korea, Hong Kong, Indonesia, Dubai, United States and Russia.
“We have a single distributor in each country, apart from Korea where we have four (distributors),” Mr Mackay said.
The increasing value of the Australian dollar is a continuing issue for the Rangers Valley business, according to Mr Mackay.
“In my view, up until recently there has been a lot of lip service paid with the press focusing on how nice it is to go on a holiday,” he said.
“But given Australia generates its income from overseas it has made things difficult.
“It has certainly made things difficult for our customers who are paying 30-40pc more for our product now than they were paying 18 months ago.
“Although we are better off than some, our style of product has withstood ($A value) a lot better than most. It is a higher valued product and has great capacity to handle a higher price.”