FROM THE MLA

Showcasing Scenic Rim

Twenty-two farms and producers set to open their gates and welcome the city on Super Sunday

Mark the diary for Sunday 6 March. You may like to call it Super Sunday.

This is the day a massive 22 farms and producers from across the famous Scenic Rim are opening their gates and welcoming visitors. From fresh produce from the Scenic Rim Farm Shop, cuddles with lambs at Towri Sheep Cheeses, picnics with Alpacas at Mountview Alpaca Farm, stocking up on artisan dairy products at Tommerup’s Dairy Farm, to beer tasting at Scenic Rim Brewery and wine sipping at Sarabah, visitors will leave with full stomachs and a love for the Scenic Rim region. It’s the most wonderful day, where eskies and hearts are filled and farmers, flavour-makers and producers are the stars of the show.

It all happens in the Scenic Rim, named one of Lonely Planet’s top 10 regions in the world to visit this year.

This community initiative, driven by local tourism association Destination Scenic Rim, will celebrate Queensland agriculture, give visitors a chance to meet and support local farmers directly and is a perfect excuse for a country drive just over an hour from Brisbane and the Gold Coast. It’s the perfect day trip, or weekend away!

Destination Scenic Rim Board Member and Dairy Farmer Kay Tommerup of Tommerup’s Dairy Farm said, “Farm Gate Trail is important to our business because building connections with our customers is at the core of our values. Farm Gate Trail brings visitors to our farm who love local produce, who value knowing their local farmers, and who are excited to taste their way around the Scenic Rim. It brings a wonderful opportunity for us to showcase our product to people who may not have tried our products. We love being able to share our farm story, our produce, and encourage visitors to take the time to visit other amazing producers across the region.”

Destination Scenic Rim CEO, Jessica Greenaway, is excited for visitors to experience the beauty, warmth, and authenticity the region has to offer. “There is no mistaking why the Scenic Rim was named in the top ten regions in the world to visit in 2022, patchwork fields of green, world heritage rainforests and mountain ranges, all provide a world-class backdrop for a Sunday drive in the country, but it is the opportunity to meet our passionate local farmers and produces that make this event so special.”

Hannah Hughes, Vineyard Manager at Sarabah Estate agrees the Farm Gate Trail is a celebration of local business and their collective passion. “The Farm Gate Trail is so important as it allows us to celebrate not only our own small business but allows us to support and celebrate other local businesses who are passionate in what they do. We love the ability to interact with our customers and share a bit of our story. Visitors can expect to be welcomed into a small family-owned estate that takes pride in grape growing. Enjoy a glass of wine amongst our vines, a wood-fired pizza from our smoke and vine bar or a beautiful meal at our bistro.”

Kate Bennie from Summerland Camels thinks the Farm Gate Trail is a fantastic way to connect with people from all walks of life and to introduce them to their business - Australia’s largest Camel Dairy and the world’s largest Wild Camel Training Facility. “We love to welcome visitors to our farm to share our passion for camels and camel milk. As you learn all about these amazing creatures and get up close and personal with them, you might find yourself falling in love with them too! They get The Scenic Rim Farm Gate Trail on 6 March will be held from 9am-3pm

The 22 farmers and small producers opening their gates include Summer Land Camels, Scenic Rim Farm Shop, Coco and Myrtle, Scenic Rim Mushrooms, Scenic Rim Brewery, Running Creek Beef, Olive View Estate, Towri Sheep Cheeses, Tommerup’s Dairy Farm, Bee All Natural Honey, Sarabah Estate Vineyard, O’Reilly’s Canungra Valley Vineyard, Mountview Alpacas, Pretty Produce, Witches Falls Winery, Oaky Creek Farm & Harvest Cafe, White’s Farm, The Overflow Estate 1895, Ladybrook Farm, Canungra Creek Fingerlimes, Tamborine Mountain Distillery and Cauldron Distillery.

a snapshot of some of the amazing things that the Scenic Rim has to offer - and they’ll be sure to want to come back for more!”

The inaugural Scenic Rim Farm Gate Trail was first held in 2020, fast forward 2 years and the popular event has now grown to attract over 5000 visitors to the region.

Eating quality awards begin in March

Beef producers are being reminded to register for the free producer forums and awards held across the country.

Beef producers who consistently deliver carcases with superior eating quality are set to be recognised when the Meat Standards Australia (MSA) Excellence in Eating Quality Series is held nationally in March 2022.

Hosted by Meat & Livestock Australia (MLA), the series will travel to six states across the country, with each event featuring an interactive forum centred around the theme of ‘Growing and grading the greatest meat on earth’, followed by the Awards ceremony.

Registrations are now open for the halfday forums, which are designed to equip producers with the tools to make practical on-farm changes to benefit their herd’s eating quality outcomes, the end consumer, and the profitability of the industry.

The biennial series, originally due to be held in September and October this year, was rescheduled to 2022 due to the impact of Covid-19 restrictions.

The Awards are presented to top-performing MSA registered producers and are based on MSA Index results for MSA graded cattle during the 2019-20 and 2020-21 financial years.

Awards will be announced in each state for Most Outstanding MSA Feedlot (with the exception of Tasmania), and two awards for Most Outstanding MSA Beef Producers, to recognise producers of both larger (Band 1) and smaller (Band 2) MSA consignments.

One producer from each state will also win the MSA Excellence in Eating Quality Progress Award for showing the greatest improvement in their MSA results since the last Awards series.

A new award will be presented to one producer in each state for the Champion MSA Index Carcase. This will be presented for an individual carcase that had the highest MSA Index in the state over the two-year period.

MSA was developed by the Australian red meat industry to improve eating quality consistency of beef and sheepmeat. The MSA beef program is based on almost 1.2 million consumer taste tests from more than 171,000 consumers from 11 countries and takes into account the factors that affect eating quality from the paddock to plate.

MSA Program Manager, Dr David Packer, said the forums would provide the opportunity for beef producers and others along the supply chain to hear from the MLA leadership team and industry speakers on how to maximise value using the MSA program.

“The forums will detail the 2021 Australian Beef Eating Quality Insights (ABEQI) report as a tool to benchmark MSA performance against other producers and understand the on-farm production factors that influence beef eating quality,” Dr Packer said.

“Attendees will hear from local producers who are using MSA and carcase feedback to meet their target markets and key industry advisors providing guidance on management and genetic factors to influence positive MSA outcomes. The audience will also have the unique opportunity to ask questions of local processors and brand owners about the importance of meeting customer requirements.

“The strong eating quality performance of Australian beef over 2019-21 has been supported by participation along the entire Australian red meat supply chain. I hope to see many members of our red meat industry at these events, so we can celebrate these outstanding results together.”

The awards and producer forums are free to attend and registration is essential.

The Queensland event is on Thursday 10 March at the Explorers Inn Function Centre, 44778 Warrego Highway, Roma (moved from 8 March).

Doors open at 12pm with the forum to begin at 2pm. Afternoon tea and a light dinner and drinks will be provided to coincide with the Awards presentations.

A-UK FTA putting runs on the board for Aussie red meat

Australia and the United Kingdom share many similarities as countries and as people. In keeping with the sporting theme in this edition of the paper, our mutual love of cricket is one of those, although one country is more skilled than the other if this summer’s Ashes series is anything to go by!

It’s due in part to our shared values and beliefs, that Australia was the first country to sign a free trade deal with the UK post-Brexit.

The Australia-United Kingdom Free Trade Agreement (A-UK FTA) will allow for tarifffree access for a huge range of goods, with some ‘sensitive’ Australian products subject to expanding volume quotas, prior to eliminating the barriers completely over various time frames.

For the Australian red meat and livestock industry and our UK customers, the A-UK FTA represents tremendous opportunities. In fact, the red meat industry’s access to the UK from Day one of the FTA will exceed the available annual access we have had to the European Union for the past 50 years.

Under this landmark FTA, future trade will be more streamlined, removing burdensome costs from the supply chain that ultimately disadvantage British consumers and stifle opportunities for Australian red meat producers. Essentially, the FTA will mean that Australian beef and sheepmeat exports will enter the UK under a tariff rate quota (TRQ) regime, with initial TRQ tonnages gradually increasing over a ten-year transition period. Product within the TRQ amounts will enter the UK tariff free. Whilst there will be no TRQ regime post the tenth year, a volume safeguard provision will apply until the end of the 15th year, beyond which no safeguards will apply. For goatmeat, existing tariffs will be phased out over eight years.

The FTA with the United Kingdom will also go a long way to helping achieve industry’s goal of doubling the value of Australian red meat sales by 2030, as well as securing increased preferential access to key export markets.

Access to new markets and boosting performance in existing ones like in the UK, will also help ensure the sustainability and resilience of the Australian red meat industry during this decade and beyond.

Just as the Australian cricket team flourished this summer, Australian red meat producers and British consumers who love our product’s taste and quality, will flourish thanks to the A-UK FTA.

FROM

THE MLA

JASON STRONG

The yards will be auctioned to provide the Rare Breeds Trust of Australia with funding for their Future Farm Genebank Programme.

A model of generosity

By Judy Barnet

It is not hard to imagine that an awful lot of work went into making this set of miniature cattle yards. Every gate is hinged with minuscule hinges that open and shut with a timber slide just as you would see in a real set of cattle yards.

I can’t trace the origin or maker of these yards however I can imagine they have brought children much joy and entertainment over the years. It gives me immense pleasure to let you know that these yards are now going to continue on that journey of giving someone joy and pleasure thanks to the Stanthorpe Men’s Shed who have helped with the restoration of the yards. The next step in this project will be auctioning the yards on AuctionsPlus and this will provide the Rare Breeds Trust of Australia with some funds to continue on with their Future Farm Genebank Programme. Here is the story of how this came to be.

I purchased this set of yards for the princely sum of $30 in July 2021 for the sole purpose of donating to the RBTA thinking it would be an ideal item to offer in the Trusts 2022 International Heritage Breeds Week Auction which raises funds for their Future Farms Genebank. I was pleased as punch with my purchase and also felt pleased that something that had had so much work put into building them would continue to be of use hopefully for many years to come. The only problem being that the base of the yards was chipboard and in need of restoration, not a job that was really up my alley.

After a few months of wondering how I was going to get the yards restored, I happened to read an article about a local Men’s Shed and thought they would be the perfect people to do the job.

Enter Terry and a bit of a funny story. I called Terry and explained I had a set of miniature cattle yards that needed some restoration work and Terry replied no problems at all. We arranged to meet that Friday Morning, Terry said he would make sure he was there to help unload them. Well, I had not quite explained myself properly as when I arrived at the Men’s Shed Terry was there to greet me along with several other men all ready to unload the yards! - They thought I was bringing a real set of yards but in miniature to hold miniature sheep, goats etc! Not such a big job as they had imagined! The men did an amazing job on restoring the yards for a small donation and I was very grateful indeed.

The yards will be auctioned on Auctionsplus May 15-21 to coincide with International Heritage Breeds Week. I am currently working on seeking donations for the auction which will be the RBTA’s second annual auction, the first being held last year. As the organiser of the auction, I have tended to focus on asking for donations from my contacts in the Southern Downs and Toowoomba areas but many donations last year were made from all parts of Australia, notably the Zoos from every state that came onboard. Our local Darling Downs Zoo pitched in with some passes to the Zoo. Other very generous local sponsors were Kent Saddlery and Riverina Stockfeeds. I donated a two-night stay in the Glenlyon Dam Holiday Cottage and will be doing the same again this year.

I would love to stock the yards with good quality cattle such as Schleich brand breeds which would add to its value, so if anyone has any spare cows, calves or bulls they would like to donate please do not hesitate to contact me.

This story truly is a good news recycle story that has benefited others in so many ways – it is providing two charity organisations with funds and a local club with a project. So next time you go to throw something out that could possibly be of use to someone else – think twice and donate it to reap the benefits of a better future for all Australians and the earth!

The mini cattle yards.

QUEENSLAND MACHINERY AGENCY