CASINO, NSW, butcher and cattle producer Grant Sheddon says Limousin beef is delivering the competitive edge that keeps him in front of the supermarkets.
"When it comes to beef, consumers regard tenderness as the most important factor," Mr Sheddon said.
"Taste, flavour, nutrition and meat colour are certainly very important, but if you have tenderness as the basis of your product, everything else flows on from that.
"The reality is for us to take on the supermarkets, we have to have a better product.
When it comes to beef, consumers regard tenderness as the most important factor. Nothing else comes close.
- Grant Sheddon
"That's what we're getting with Limousin beef, a product that delivers a notably better eating experience."
Mr Sheddon operates Smith's Butchery in Casino, and is a Certified Limousin Beef retailer.
In addition to producing his own purebred Limousins on country at Greenridge and Sextonville, he sources Limousin infused cattle from long term suppliers who use his Ainskirbeau bulls.
"It's an arrangement that works well," Mr Sheddon said.
"We sell bulls and we have access to a consistent source of purpose produced cattle for the shop.
"It also means we can tell our customers everything about the beef they are eating and the cattle it has come from right from the genetics to how it was raised and processed. That back story is very important and something a lot of customers are interested in."
The cattle are processed at 10 to 16 months at the Northern Cooperative Meat Company. The 160-240kg carcases yield 58-64 per cent with a 6-7mm fat cover.
Mr Sheddon attributes the consistent tenderness of Limousin beef in part to the myostatin F94L muscling gene, backed by low stress production systems.
According to University of Adelaide research the gene explains a large increase in retail beef yield. While F94L isn't the only gene that influences yield, it has a large effect. Homozygous animals have 13 per cent larger ribeye areas and 4pc more total retail yield, according to the research.
"That F94L gene really makes the Limousin breed," he said.
"But the tenderness is also a result of keeping everything as low stress as possible. We make sure the cattle are calm and well fed right through to the time of processing."
Objective measure
Mr Sheddon says the objective measurement of carcases will drive home the true value of the Limousin breed for retail butchers.
"I can't wait for the DEXA technology to be implemented because it will reveal just how good Limousin carcases are in terms of meat yield," he said.
"DEXA will show the true ratio of meat, fat and bone. When the high retail meat yield and revealed and is combined with the Limousin's F94L muscling gene it makes for pretty exciting times for the breed."
Mr Sheddon runs about 150 Limousin cows on his property on the Richmond River at Greenridge, south east of Casino, and country at Sextonville, north west of the town.
