Members have been invited to participate in the 45th Annual Lardner Park Steer Trial.
The Lardner Park Steer Trial has been a regular fixture on the event calendar at Lardner Park since 1974. The Trial provides local, regional and interstate farmers the insight to compare how cattle perform on their own farms compared to those at Lardner Park, under controlled conditions and against other breeds. Data collection assists farmers to improve the quality of their stock, growth response rates and ultimately a stronger financial return.
The 45th Lardner Park Steer Trial will begin in July, with entrants invited from anywhere in Australia, arriving on the property in late June. Compliant with the Coles QA grass fed program, the aim is to achieve the best outcomes for both during trial information and data collection, and purchase price on carcass meat when the trial is turned off in early December, as a domestic grade with a specification of between 220-310kg HSCW (hot standard carcass weight). As the only grass-based Steer Trial in Australia, producers across multiple states are provided the opportunity to assess their cattle under independently controlled grazing conditions. Entrants will be required, as part of the application process, to declare entered steers have not been grain fed since birth.
Lardner Park CEO, Nicola Pero said “In what are challenging times for so many farmers it has been fantastic to see such strong industry support with profile partners and sponsors to the Trial, and annually increasing entries from primary producers. Even more evident is the Carcass Demonstration Day where over 130 primary producers attended. Entries at the last Trial came from NSW, VIC and the SA/VIC border and we are keen to attract additional entries this year from Tasmania. Herefords Australia came on board last year and we are looking to engage more breed societies. The national subscriber base for data and monthly updates has been steadily growing with the Trial delivering value to primary producers nationally. In its 45th year the Trial is fundamental in assisting producer education on industry trends with great insights through our MLA partnering, comparative data analysis (livestock health and wellbeing through Zoetis, pasture growth and health with Heritage Seeds and Agriculture Victoria as examples), agribusiness financial insights and introductions through Commonwealth Bank who have long supported this Trial. Our monthly Trial weigh-ins are open for entrants and general industry attendance with scanning and weigh measuring provided and overseen by Gallagher – always a great networking opportunity and usually cup of tea and scones! Radford Meats, JBS and Coles have been incredible supporters of the Trial which is compliant to the Coles national QA program for grass-fed beef. We’re excited to be entering this 45th year of the Trial with growth, partner commitment and high producer interest”.
At the conclusion of the trial, carcass feedback reports are compiled for each competitor. These reports aim to provide entrants with their competition and carcass results as well as an eating quality analysis of how their entries compare to cattle within the trial, as well as against MSA eligible graded cattle within Victoria, New South Wales, and nationally. This report uses figures relative to the calendar year.
Applications are now open for the 2019 trial, and can be found on the Steer Trial page on the Lardner Park website https://lardnerpark.com.au/ For more information, please contact the Lardner Park office 03 5626 1373.