Saturday, June 16, 2012
Australian Overview
This trip was a chance of a life time. I was blessed to be able to go to another country and learn the way of their producers. It was nice that a group of young adults could come together in the means of learning production agriculture from another land. We had a lot of good stops that individually had a positive influence in my perception of agriculture in other countries. the way that they have the NLIS system in place is amazing. Although they do not have the numbers of cattle that the U.S. has I think the time is coming where that is the direction we will have to go to be competitive. I learned a lot on this short adventure. It was a beautiful country with a lot of history. I enjoyed myself very much when i was there. I think that every student should take the opportunity like this if it arises. Thanks to all that helped make this trip a success. I really enjoyed it
Wednesday, June 13, 2012
Beef it's whats for dinner
One of the interesting but mind altering discoveries that I made during the journey of Australia's haw the people there buy there meat. When we as American beef producers are selecting a hunk of beef we are looking for the thickest slice of Rib eye with mouth watering intramuscular fat throughout.
This is not the case for the Australian meat market. The mass majority of the meat that is sold in the chain market in the country is to our standards low quality. Low to mid select beef is what the majority of the consumers buy. This is very skewed from the market in the U.S. While Traveling to different producer operations it seemed to boggle me every time when i would ask about premiums in their beef market. They do exist in the market place there but it is nothing lie ours. As beef producers it is our goal to improve the carcass of the animal for what the consumer is more willing to buy. We strive to make our meat more palatable and improve the taste of every cut. For the Australians this is not a driver in the market place. So really for me it was the question of "whats the point?" These producers are trying to improve their genetics and herds to reflect those traits of the U.S. but are not reaping the benefits that they deserve. Here is a link that the MLA has out to promote their meat. ( http://www.mla.com.au/Marketing-red-meat) It seems to me that Australians have the oposite criteria in mind when judging there cut of meat than this simple Kansas rancher. I hope that things turn around over there in the sense that they understand that the fat is not bad for them and that producers will see the dollars when improving their product.
This is not the case for the Australian meat market. The mass majority of the meat that is sold in the chain market in the country is to our standards low quality. Low to mid select beef is what the majority of the consumers buy. This is very skewed from the market in the U.S. While Traveling to different producer operations it seemed to boggle me every time when i would ask about premiums in their beef market. They do exist in the market place there but it is nothing lie ours. As beef producers it is our goal to improve the carcass of the animal for what the consumer is more willing to buy. We strive to make our meat more palatable and improve the taste of every cut. For the Australians this is not a driver in the market place. So really for me it was the question of "whats the point?" These producers are trying to improve their genetics and herds to reflect those traits of the U.S. but are not reaping the benefits that they deserve. Here is a link that the MLA has out to promote their meat. ( http://www.mla.com.au/Marketing-red-meat) It seems to me that Australians have the oposite criteria in mind when judging there cut of meat than this simple Kansas rancher. I hope that things turn around over there in the sense that they understand that the fat is not bad for them and that producers will see the dollars when improving their product.Friday, June 8, 2012
Last Day
The last day in Australia was one of the best experiences of my life. We got the opportunity to explore the great Barrier Reef. After a brief skills training class i was under water breathing out of a pressurized oxygen bottle. that right i had the opportunity to scuba dive. it was the neatest thing ever.
Besides the oriental lady that was calling dinosaurs behind me and awoke me from much needed nap i think that the trip to the reef was the most fun of all the trip. Although i will not take away from all the great places that we visited to broaden our horizons in the production agriculture world. I enjoyed learning the ways of other people. I learned some was of doing things on my place but a lot learning what not to do. it was a chance of a life time and i am glad that i took that chance.
Wimer
The last day in Australia was one of the best experiences of my life. We got the opportunity to explore the great Barrier Reef. After a brief skills training class i was under water breathing out of a pressurized oxygen bottle. that right i had the opportunity to scuba dive. it was the neatest thing ever.
Besides the oriental lady that was calling dinosaurs behind me and awoke me from much needed nap i think that the trip to the reef was the most fun of all the trip. Although i will not take away from all the great places that we visited to broaden our horizons in the production agriculture world. I enjoyed learning the ways of other people. I learned some was of doing things on my place but a lot learning what not to do. it was a chance of a life time and i am glad that i took that chance.
Wimer
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