Steak of Origin kicks off

With the shadow of the foot-and-mouth disease hoax still hanging over it, the beef industry kicks off its sale season this week with Meat & Wool New Zealand Beef Expo in Palmerston North.

The subject would inevitably be a big talking point this week, said event director Murray Meads.

"The indications are that it is a hoax but it would be catastrophic for the beef industry in New Zealand," Mead said.

Thankfully it looks like those at the expo will be able to focus on more positive topics, and the disease scare aside, things are looking very good for the beef industry this season.

Cattle had enjoyed the good Autumn conditions, said Bruce Orr, Wrightson Stud Stock manager and expo committee member.

"Cattle are like you and I, they respond to the good weather," he said. "You couple that with good commodity prices and things are looking pretty comfortable."

The animals had been growing well but the size was no longer necessarily the key to a prize winning bull, he said.

"In the early 90s the trend was to get more high growth cattle - across all the breeds - but we've tended to moved away from that."

The cattle were generally about the same weight, but would have a lower frame score now, he said.

There was more emphasis on cattle that were "easy doing."

That meant animals with more positive fats and better meat quality, he said.

Easy doing cattle were more efficient converters of a kilogram of grass to kilogram of protein.

"They are softer, they don't tend to move around as much. They get their fill and they lay down." Easier doing cattle generally had a better temperament, he said.

Research now showed a correlation between low pH levels - which comes through stress and temperament - and tenderness.

"So the better temperament the better the quality of the meat."

In the next couple of months there will be hundreds of bull sales around the country.

The Beef Expo provided people with a chance to get a look at some of the best genetics in New Zealand, Mead said.

The theme of the expo was "conception to consumption", he said.

"So we are following the food chain from the genetic end to beef as a food product."

Traditionally the expo was a series breeders "show and sales" but that had been extended to include the food services industry.

There are now events like the Steak of Orgin - the hotly contested competition to determine who has produced the tenderest steak in the country.

Last year it was won by Pahiatua farmer Joe Fouhy.

His Angus steak took the "best of British" and the supreme award.

The event has attracted a record 170 entries this year - nearly double last year's total.

"There is a lot of work going on in trying to identify tender genetics right now," Mead said.

The general public was becoming more discerning about the product that they buy, he said.

The expo attracts farmers, stock and station agents, farm consultants and others in the agribusiness sector as well as the food service people.

Mead said the focus of the event was mostly on the domestic industry but good quality genetics were sought after internationally.

New Zealand beef

* Exports were worth nearly $1.8 billion in 2004.
* 83 per cent of New Zealand's production is exported.
* New Zealand product accounts for 8 per cent of world trade.
* Our largest beef market is North America - accounting for 52 per cent of exports.
source: Meat & Wool NZ