WITHIN the space of a month, Rangers Valley, Glen Innes, Queensland, hopes to have completed its EU accreditation process.
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This will see the feedlot begin acquiring EU-accredited cattle to go into its 300-day grain-feeding regime, specifically aimed at being on-sold as part of the Australian and US 20,000 tonne EU beef quota.
“Because of our feeding process, it’s important to us to get our cattle in as soon as we can,” sales and marketing manager Leith Tilley said.
Initial estimates from the feedlot suggested cattle bought specifically for the EU quota would total from five to 10 per cent of monthly purchases, or about 250 head, “to make it worthwhile”.
He felt attracting suitable producers to offer their cattle would be relatively easy providing there were the “right price signals” on offer.
“Some of the cattle we already buy are EU accredited, so we’re hoping it’s not a major issue finding them.”
Rather than become a major player in filling the high-quality quota, Mr Tilley said Rangers Valley viewed the quota as an opportunity to develop another niche market for their business.
“To take away the more profitable cuts from our more stable customers, like Japan and Korea, we’ll need to generate certain premiums to justify this.
“We won’t be putting in significant volumes, but hopefully it’s higher end products which allows us to make it work.”
It will also provide an opportunity for Rangers Valley to service current restaurant customers who have London affiliates.
To fill the EU quota, it will be mostly business as usual at the feedlot which currently grainfeds for a 300-day period.
Similarly, black Angus steers will remain high on the shopping list, weighing 400-500 kilograms.
Mr Tilley said they aim for daily weight gains of between 1.1 to 1.2kg.
Certain premium cuts will then be “hand-picked” for the EU quota.
“We can hand-pick the cuts which we’ll make the money on and sell the rest into existing markets such as Japan, Korea, Australia and Taiwan.
“It’s not a new program, but an extension of our existing program.”