Behind the Beef – Angus Verified & its success Cheyne Twist, Communications Officer
The Behind the Beef podcast recently showcased the Angus Verified program and its successes in the months after the launch of the program in early 2021. Joined by special guests Liz Pearson, Angus Australia Commercial Supply Chain Manager, Jamie Grosser, Boambee Angus and Barry Shearman, R & B Livestock, the episode covered off what producers wanted to know most about the program and some firsthand experiences from producers who are part of the program and have sold Angus Verified cattle to great success. Firstly, Liz Pearson joined the podcast to discuss the questions the society received most regarding the Angus Verified program.
For anybody who isn’t familiar with the program, what is Angus Verified?
Angus Verified is our latest integrity program that we’ve launched for commercial producers. It verifies the producers claim that an animal is Angus, and we do this through the validation of sires used via the NLIS database and the use of purebred commercial Angus females.
What are the benefits of Angus Verified?
There are plenty of benefits. The key benefits are centred around building integrity, confidence and trust and that’s really for the marketplace integrity for your business. What it allows you to do as a producer is really leverage a competitive advantage against those who aren’t in the program, and hopefully then securing some market premiums, which is what we’ve seen so far. It rewards that use of Angus and registered Angus sires and adding reputation and credibility to your business which really links up to integrity. It’s really about making sure that everyone is getting what they’re paying for, and that confidence and trust is there. There is also a couple of other benefits in the program in terms of how you market your cattle, as you can utilise Angus Verified tags and the logo when you’re selling. We’ve also managed to integrate Angus Verified into the AuctionsPlus selling platform, so any animals listed on there will carry an Angus Verified identifier and people will be able to filter out Angus Verified animals on AuctionsPlus.
How do producers join Angus verified?
It’s pretty easy to join! You just get in touch with Angus Australia if you are already a member. It’s literally just an email including your member ID asking us to join. If you are
not an Angus Australia member you can join up using the joining form on the Angus Australia website in the Angus Verified section or by contacting the society. Once you become a member, you then subscribe to Angus Verified and from there you’ll move on to be able to put information in the system through an app and web portal which is run by our collaborating partner Aglive.
Can you check if animals you have purchased are Angus Verified?
Yes, you can. The key is being able to know that what you have purchased is what you thought you were buying and that’s where the trust comes in. You can actually upload the RFIDs or NLIS tags of any animals you bought if you think they are Angus Verified into the angus.tech database through a simple CSV file. Doing this can tell you whether they are Angus Verified, with the verification of each animal staying with them for life. And there’s obviously the benefit for you as a purchaser further down the chain if you’re breeding from those animals or if you’re intending on selling them yourselves.
How much does Angus Verified cost?
If they are becoming an member of Angus Australia there is a $110 annual membership fee. Once you are a member there is the Angus Verified subscription fee which is an annual fee of $110. The other fee for the program is a dollar per animal that you verify, which is just the animal, you don’t need to verify the mothers or the bulls.
What physical guidelines must cattle meet to comply with Angus Verified?
There is a set of physical guidelines of these animals have to comply with to be able to be verified, outside of the fact they must be by a registered Angus sire and purebred commercial Angus female. They need to be straight black and represent the Angus phenotype. They can have a small amount of white on their underlines which we define as no white visible from the front of the animal. For example, you might see some white in between the brisket and the front legs, so those animals wouldn’t comply. The rest is pretty standard with no white legs or feet and no horns. Scurs are acceptable, but you cannot have any bos indicus or dairy characteristics.
Angus Verified on AuctionsPlus
AV
Angus Verified has been integrated in the AuctionsPlus selling platform. This will enable agents and AuctionsPlus accredited assessors to identify their clients’ cattle as Angus Verified in the AuctionsPlus sale catalogue, assisting producers and agents in securing Angus Verified premiums.
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