Lowline Beef

lowlinebeef.com.au

Meating the Market

Vitulus won Champion Lightweight, Heavyweight and Grand Champion Carcass of the Royal Brisbane Show 2009! So to build on that we have some very exciting plans for 2010. We have developed a wholesale market for our branded product that is all MSA graded. Our main market will be the restaurant trade and gourmet butcher outlets in SE Queensland. Initially our market share will be small but as the brand,  Lowlinebeef.com.au, gains a reputation then so too will our market. Keep watching this space.

July 2008 saw the begining of our Lowline Branded Product. We are very excited about our 2010 plans as we know the tenderness of Lowline Beef is what differentiates our product from others.

Our breeding and marketing program is aimed at satisfying specific markets which include the Lightweight Domestic/ Supermarket trade requirements (slaughter age under 2 years, showing no permanent teeth, with liveweight 300-400kg). We also use inherd Breedplan results as these, in conjunction with GeneStar testing and scanning, will help us tailor our product to suit those markets. Vitulus, to date, has been placed in more carcass competitions than other Lowline breeder in the nation.

Where Can I Taste This Award Wining Beef?

There are now a number of ways to try our Lowline beef either through retail outlets, buying in bulk or at selected restaurants. Vitulus also sells sides and quarters of quality MSA graded lowline beef cut up to your specifications, packaged and then delivered to your door.  If you want quality MSA guaranteed beef then our beef is will give you flavour and and tenderness that you won’t find in the supermarket shelves. We care about our product and we manage it personally from the farm right through to the customer .

Our growing clientelle regularly purchase sides of our boxed Lowline beef and keep coming back for more due to the flavour and tenderness of our beef. The range fed beef is cut up to their specifications and delivered right to the door. Price is $9.99 per kilo for all cuts including T-Bone, Rump and Eye Fillet.If you would like to taste our beef then please let us know and we can email or send you a specification sheet. Andrew’s Quality Meats  in Lowood is now also selling lowline beef for the retail sector.

Our Carcass Results to Date.

2009 Royal Brisbane Show Led Steer Carcass Competition: GRAND CHAMPION CARCASS

2009 Royal Brisbane Show Led Steer Carcass Competition: CHAMPION LIGHTWEIGHT CARCASS & MSA Eating Award

2009 Royal Brisbane Show Led Steer Carcass Competition: GRAND HEAVYWEIGHT CARCASS

2008 Warwick Show & Rodeo Society Hoof and Hook Competition: 3rd place Medium weight

2008 Royal Brisbane Show Led Steer Carcass Competition: 3rd place Medium weight

2008 Royal Sydney Show Prebreed Steer Carcass Competition: 3rd place Lightweight

2007 Royal Brisbane Show Led Steer Carcass Competition: GRAND CHAMPION CARCASS

2007 Warwick Show & Rodeo Society Hoof and Hook Competition: 2nd place Medium weight

2006 Royal Brisbane Show Led Steer Carcass Competition: Winner of MSA Eating Quality Awards in both Lightweight classes

2005 Warwick Show & Rodeo Society Hoof and Hook Competition: 1st place Light weight

Vitulus Wins Grand Champion Carcass of the Royal Brisbane Show 2007.
Vitulus won Grand Champion Carcass Royal Brisbane Show 2009 again! Our greatest achievement yet because we won both lightweight and heavyweight division. This has never been achieved by another exhibitor in the history of the Royal Brisbane Show. The significance of this win will cement the Lowlines position as a serious beef breed as not only does it builds on Vitulus’ previous Grand Champion win in 2007 but also Lynda Senger-Whiteheads previous Grand Champion win at Melbourne in 2005 but it also proves that Lowline as a breed can repeatedly win carcass competitions — not one off wonders. As Vitulus has been saying for years: Lowline fit supermarket domestic trade absolutely perfectly. They are designed for producers who want feed-efficient, early-maturing animals combined with exceptionally easy calving. In 2009 the 18 month old Lowline cross (75% lowline, 25% senepol) steer weighing 396kg won the lightweight Championship and then went on to become the Grand Champion Carcass against 255 entries represented by all breeds. The 22 month old Lowline cross steer (50% Lowline, 25% Limousin, 25% Murray Grey) steer weighing 530 kg took out the heavyweight cahmpionship. In 2007 the 14 month old Lowline cross (50% Lowline, 25% Limousin, 25% Murray Grey) steer weighing 332 kg won the Lightweight Championship and then went on to become the Grand Champion Carcass against 238 other entries of all breeds. One of the reasons for his success was due to his perfect fat coverage score. This was achieved with grain feeding of only 90 days. He was placed fourth in his class on the hoof. You will see from the carcass results that the steer scored well in all judging sections, excelling in his fat coverage with an excellent EMA. That is the satisfaction of carcass competitions in that it is not one persons opinion on the day. It is the result and subsequent scores in all nine sections of the competition that is measured accurately.

Vitulus Wins Meat Standards Australia Eating Quality Award at the Royal Brisbane Show 2006 & 2009.
Two Vitulus Lowline Steers won the Meat Standards Australia Eating Quality Award in both classes entered at the Royal Brisbane Show 2006 and again in 2009. This award is only given to three carcasses out of a possible 75 entries and Vitulus Lowline steers won two of these awards! THE MSA Grading Model predicts eating quality of 40 muscles by 6 different cooking methods. It applies all the current knowledge about the factors affecting the meat. The MSA eating quality score is the average predicated MSA eating quality score of 11 major primal cuts. Cooked by their optimum method. This is the benchmark standard for high quality table beef.

Vitulus Wins Grand Champion Led Steer on the Hoof
In 2005 at the Laidley Show, where the competition was from over 160 beef cattle, Vitulus took out first place in both the lightweight and heavyweight section and went on to win Grand Champion Led Steer. This is a remarkable achievement due to it being the first year Vitulus has entered the led steer competition arena. The lightweight led steer was from a Limousin/Murray grey female with a Lowline sire and the heavyweight was 50% Lowline and 50% Charolais.

Vitulus Wins Champion Led Steer on the Hook: Lightweight Division
In October 2005 at the 43rd Warwick Show and Rodeo Prime Cattle Hoof and Hook competition Vitulus won the Class 1-Single Steer or Heifer- Light Domestic trade Suitability-250kg to 350kg showing no permanent teeth. The steer was a 16 month old 25% Limousin, 25% Murray Grey and 50% Lowline. His even fat distribution and excellent marbling was what put him over the line in front of the other 25 entrants obtaining maximum points in both sections.

From Paddock to Plate

The Market of the Future
Lowline genetics are based on high 200 day growth, moderate 400 day growth and low 600 day growth. With these growth patterns, producers have been able to enter the exclusive end of the domestic market, by producing steers that can fatten and marble off grass or with 60 to 90 days of grain finishing.

The commercial advantage begins to emerge at about 12 -14 months as the Lowline starts to mature and begins putting his energy into developing muscle and fat rather than bone growth and body form. The commercial Lowline operator will be producing steers from 300 kg to 350 kg that are already starting to lay down fat. The argument than many breeders of other traditional breeds will have is that their cattle will be 50 kg heavier at this age. Whilst this may be true the difference lies in the cost of getting those animals to an eating standard i.e., the cost of finishing that animal which is the major cost to meat producers. With the early maturity given by a Lowline, producers can sell their stock without the need to supplementary feed. Time and time again we see producers trying to fatten their large framed steers that continue to grow rather than producing fat. As it has been stated Lowlines help ‘down turn’ the high growth curve of regular cattle so that they can mature earlier and express fattening ability at an earlier age”.

More Meat: Less Bone
Another attribute of the breed that is now just coming to the fore as the commercial Lowline beef market expands is the high yield percentage that Lowlines provide. This is expressed as the cut up/carcass yield percentages i.e.: the percentage of meat that remains from the carcass once the bone and fat are removed. These are very important figures for a butcher because when they buy a carcass they purchase the whole carcass so the higher the yield percentage the greater the profit for the butcher. Graham Zahl, one Queensland butcher, who has been in the business for some 43 years, recently gave us yield figures of 76.13% and 74.21% for purebred Lowline steers. This is well above average for any breed. Graham even commented that most of the larger breeds considered 70% as exceptional. His rationale for this high percentage is due to the small bone content and this is most evident in the amount of chuck that the carcasses produced. The steers were, as stated pure-bred lowlines, grass fed with a little supplementary grain and killed at 25 months of age with a 6-8mm fat depth.

Vitulus has achieved similar figures with cross bred steers with all yield percentages being well over 70%.

Lowlines, in recent comparisons, score favorably in the efficiency of primal cut production when considering eye muscle to body weight ratio. A number of our bulls have had an EMA score in excess of 102cm..pretty impressive when you consider the larger European breeds are often only scoring between 100 and 120cm. This will ensure a clear and continued place for Lowlines in the Beef Industry.

TASTE THE LOWLINE DIFFERENCE
Lowline cattle are small, early maturing animals that produce good quality beef which marbles well and is very tender. Research shows that the customer wants tasty and tender beef. Vitulus is actively chasing the tenderness and feed efficieny gene in their cattle. Smaller cattle have finer grained beef and finer grained beef is the most tender beef. This is supported up by the recent DNA GeneStar that show how well Lowline score. Recent tests conducted on the Vitulus herd wherein every bull tested to date has given a positive reading for the Tenderness gene. Two of our bulls have 7 stars for tenderness, out of a possible maximum of eight obtainable, and from our experience you can certainly taste the difference. In addition it is also supported by winning Grand Champion Carcass at the Royal Brisbane Show in 2009 & 2007 and by two Vitulus Lowline Steers winning the Meat Standards Australia Eating Quality Award in both classes entered at the Royal Brisbane Show 2006. This award is only given to three carcasses out of a possible 75 entries and Vitulus Lowline steers won two of these awards!

Beef that is well marbled indicates that the monounsaturated/saturated fat ratio is higher. Fifty percent of all marbling is made up of oleic acid (mono-unsaturated), while a relatively small proportion is saturated fat. Another benefit from marbling is derived from a particular component of the omega-6 polyunsaturated fatty acids, called conjugated linoleic acid (CLA). CLA has shown to have anti-carcinogenic (cancer forming) effects as well as being anti-inflammatory. It has a whole raft of health benefits such as reducing heart disease, diabetes and asthma to name a few. Cattle that are well marbled have the highest amount of CLA per gram of any foodstuff due to higher linoleic acid levels. Another factor of CLA is that it is highest in marbling fat, rather than outside fat. The concentration of CLA in fat is highest in pasture rather than grain fed cattle. Lowline cattle in recent DNA GeneStar Marbling tests score favorably and they fatten very well off grass.

Lowline attributes are very appealing to a range of producers including the dairy farmer due to their low birth weights and shorter gestation periods; the commercial cattlemen due to their calving ease and fast 200 day growth and those with smaller acreage due to their increased efficiency and stocking rate. The Golden Rule for any commercial cattle producer when choosing bulls to put over first calf heifers is to avoid High Birth weight EBV’s and select for short gestation length EBVs. Above all they want to avoid big shouldered, short necked bulls.

Science helps makes our Beef Better
Our emphasis is on providing range fed beef (cattle that are grown on grass and improved pastures) that is finished on grain for some 60-90 days. We do not use any growth promotants and try to be as organic as possible but at the same time minimising external pests such as ticks and buffalo fly. In keeping with the latest scientific evidence Vitulus steers are fed a diet that has a ratio of the essential fatty acids omega-6 and omega-3 of 4:1 and not 15:1 as happens in the majority of feedlots today. Whilst we have already identified the benefits of omega-6 fatty acids previously the unnatural ratio of too much is unhealthy. We also use sires that have been identified with the DNA marbling, tenderness and feed efficiency gene. As Vitulus has always said we chase the tenderness gene more than any other because we believe that this does affect the quality of the beef more so than any of the recent DNA markers. Recent validation work performed by AGBU showed that marbling and feed efficiency markers were not informative enough to be used in marker-assisted EBVs. Ideally the animals are killed between 18 and 22 months of age weighing between 350 and 450kg. In March 2007 a study released by the University of Rochester medical Centre in New York found that women who ate a lot of feed lot beef while pregnant gave birth to sons who grow up to have low sperm counts. They believe pesticides, hormones or contaminants in cattle feed maybe to blame. Chemical can build up in the fat of animals that eat contaminated feed ad cattle were and are routinely given hormones to boost thier growth. It is interesting to note that hormones have been banned in beef in the EU since 1988.

GeneStar Testing: All sires at Vitulus have been GeneSTAR tested for Marbling, Tenderness and Feed Efficiency. It is the high tenderness score we have always chased. Vitulus Lowline cattle score very favourably and the results from our bulls can be see on our export page. View the breed results of the breed frequencies

The Vitulus Commercial Herd

The acquistion of some 200 acres in the Lockyer valley was bought specifically so that Vitulus could, as well as expand its stud herd, develop a commercial Lowline herd. The catalyst for this was an approach made by a wholesale butcher requesting some seven Lowline carcasses a week. He particularly wanted Lowline due to their size, yield and well marbled beef.

The commercial female herd of some 50 breeders, consists of a variety of breeds including Angus, Hereford, Belmont Red, Bonsmara, Senepol, Limousin/Murray Grey cross and Charolais. These have all been joined to Vitulus Lowline Bulls. From this we hope to find the perfect mix to satisfy our market. It is our aim to have a composite designed for the domestic market with a British: Euro breed weighting of 50%. The Euro Breed component includes the Limousin for high carcass yield and low birthweight or the Charolais for high growth and muscularity. The final outcome must ensure high weaning percentages, fast growth and the ability to finish at the target carcass weight, adequate marbling and high yielding carcasses. If the Euro content were too high then the finishing and marbling characteristics would suffer.

2008 saw the first line of commercial steers ready for our beef product. They were sired by our bull Vitulus VIP and out of a range of cows owned by John Stone including Angus, Hereford and Santa Angus cross. The steers were grown out on grass and then brought into be finished on grain for 90 days. Average entry weight of the steers at 21 months was 333kg. The steers daily weight gain ranged from 1.1kg to 1.4kg per day. After 90 days the average weight was 473kg or 36% gain. Next lot of data will include yield %, primal cuts %, fat etc. In comparison the purebred steers entry weight averaged 284kg, exit weight 383kg or 31% gain.