Analytical Blog about Australian Beef

           Thank goodness for this thunderstorm that just rolled through western Kansas yesterday or I would still be working harvest right now.  For my Australia class I am writing an analytical blog about Australian Beef.

           On our visit to Australia, we visited two harvesting facilities.  I found those to be the most interesting visits because I learned about different ends of meat production.  We visited both JBS and Cargill Abattoirs.

           At the JBS Brooklyn Abattoir, they harvested about 1,200 cattle and 5,000 sheep a day.  This abattoir is the largest multi-species processing facility in the Southern Hampshire. The beef was grass fed which had a lot of yellow fat.  I had never seen grass fed beef harvested before.  The consumers in Australia seem to prefer the grass fed over grain fed.  The marbling content in the meat was very low which would make the meat tougher to eat.  JBS was also doing some value added products such as garlic butter and rosemary garlic.  The sheep side of the abattoir was also interesting to see.  Sheep is a lot more popular in Australia than it is in the United States.  Another thing I thought was interesting, is that what we call a porterhouse in the U.S. they call it a t-bone in Australia.  They have a lot of the same meat cuts as us, but yet there are some that are different.  This past semester I was in meat science at Kansas State so this was really neat to see the difference.

           JBS had about 960 employees at the Brooklyn Abattoir.  With all these employees, it seemed very organized and efficient.  

          We also visited Teys Abattoir in Wagga Wagga, which has a joint venture with Cargill.  I thought that it was operated more like an American processing facility.  They showed us how they processed their cattle.  Teys and Cargill are a 50/50 joint venture.  They employ people from 66 different countries.
          This experience has furthered my interest into the technology and improvement in the animal science industry.  It also reassured my future in the scientific research and the production of agriculture.

Elizabeth