QLD Hereford producers earning accolades through eating quality excellence

When Hereford producers Glen and Maree Gray were awarded by Meat and Livestock Australia for excellence in eating quality, they drilled down into the carcase feedback to learn exactly what they were doing right.

The Queensland couple spent an hour with MLA Meat Standards Australia program manager David Packer interpreting graphs on their cattle relative to the national herd to find their own strengths.

“It enabled us to work out what we are doing right – getting the weight at low ossification. Multiply those two together and you get a high MSA score.” Glen said.

He and wife Maree won the Most Outstanding MSA Non-feedlot Band 2 for Queensland in the 2025 Meat Standards Australia Excellence in Eating Quality Awards on November 18 in Adelaide.

The awards highlighted the dedication and innovation of producers who strive for excellence in eating quality.

Award recipients were selected based on the MSA Index and compliance to MSA minimum specifications. The MSA Index is a feedback benchmark tool reflecting the predicted eating quality of an entire beef carcase.

As a fourth generation commercial Hereford breeder, Glen runs a closed herd of 200 breeding females joined to Talbalba and Devon Court bulls.

Fronting the Condamine River, the 2024ha property, Glenleigh Park, comprises black self-mulching clay soils and has an annual rainfall of 590mm.

Hereford cattle have always performed well on the Brigalow country with their docility and fertility, and, according to Glen, their proven carcase performance has now been quantified by the MLA award.

“Our country is not just suitable to breeding and growing but we have the option of finishing on oat crops – from mating to market. These cattle perform right from calving to when we sell them,” Glen said.

“We don’t use hormone growth promotants or buy in cattle so became European Union accredited and then added MSA accreditation (to increase market options).

“When we heard we had won this award for Queensland, we asked ourselves what are we doing right so we could learn from it.”

Glen and Maree heard their cattle were well grown with the right carcase weight at a low ossification.

“You put those two together and the cattle are really suitable for MSA,” he said.

All of the grass fed Glenleigh Park cattle supplied to supermarkets under MSA grading had average index of 62.

“There is a fair bit in the grazing management as well – 10 per cent less stock means 90 per cent less droughts. We seldom have to feed but we do supplement our cows with cotton seed and a lick,” Glen said.

“To fatten the cattle off grazing oats to the right weight, they have to be calved a little earlier (in August/September) than some suggest (to achieve low ossification). Otherwise, they have to be sold at two and a half years of age when ossification is increasing.”

Glen invests time in monitoring the heifers during calving, placing emphasis on nutrition during pregnancy and the selection of bulls for calving ease and lower birthweight.

“We are looking for high growth bulls as we need the steers to reach 280kg carcase weight and 5-19mm of fat before two years of age. We are trying to improve the marbling but were made aware by the MLA researchers, the grass-fed market is not expecting high marbling at the age and fat cover we are targeting,” he said.

“We were shown graphs of where our cattle sit for marbling, and it was surprisingly high for grass fed animals. The eye muscle area is a small component in MSA but muscling and 400-day growth is important to us.

“We have a purpose for each bull and correctively mate with the cows.”

Glen is strict on temperament and the individual animal’s response to handling in the yards.

All classed out heifers are finished on oat crops and graded under the MSA programs.

The cow herd grazes pastures of buffel, Bambatsi panic, bluegrass and medics along with improved pastures on the river flats.

When conditions are tough, the market flexibility of Herefords give Glen and Maree the option to sell their EU accredited steers to repeat buyers at Bowenville for finishing.

Glen said there was no price differential in the grass-fed programs for Hereford cattle.

“Once the hide comes off, we are not penalised at all in the supermarket grass fed market and I’m making sure I do a good job of it. We are passionate about what we do, including our Herefords.”