Latest / CattleUSA Daily / 335: Million Acre Ranches, Crocodiles & Wagyu… Welcome to Australian Beef Production with Matt Brown

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335: Million Acre Ranches, Crocodiles & Wagyu… Welcome to Australian Beef Production with Matt Brown · CattleUSA Daily

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Today on the podcast, we are welcoming Matt Brown on as an
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Australian beef producer, and Matt is here today to give us
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the rundown on Australian beef production and especially what
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him and his family on their ranch are really focused on
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right now. Some differences between
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Australian beef production and US beef production.
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And we just have an open, candid conversation about our different
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operations and what it looks like from halfway across the
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world before we hop in. Today's conversation with Matt,
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if you're watching on YouTube, make sure you take a second to
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hit that subscribe button and like this episode.
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If you're watching on any of our other podcast platforms, make
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sure you are following the show, go rate and review it.
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And if you enjoyed today's episode, share it with a friend.
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Now without further ado, let's go ahead and hear from Matt.
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Welcome to the Cattle USA Daily Podcast, your go to source for
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the latest livestock markets, industry insights and the update
0:53
shaping agriculture today. I'm your host, Lauren Moylan, a
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passionate advocate for agriculture, here to keep you
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informed and connected. Now let's dive into today's
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episode. Well, Matt, welcome to the
1:09
podcast. I am so excited to have you on
1:12
today and joining us from most literally all the way across the
1:17
world. I would love it if you could
1:19
just give us a little bit of an introduction of yourself and
1:22
kind of how you got started in the beef industry in Australia.
1:25
Yeah. Thanks, Lauren.
1:26
My name is Matt Brown and I'm in Queensland in Australia.
1:31
I grew up in a little place called Linville, which is in the
1:35
Brisbane Valley. So I grew up on the Brisbane
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River and our family was on that property for three generations,
1:42
so 100 years. And we sold that place and went
1:46
to central western Queensland to a place called Long Reach.
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And we bought a block out there and I was teaching at Long Reach
1:54
Pastoral College as well. And then we sold that block and
1:57
went to another place called Roma in Queensland and bought a
2:02
block there. And I met my wife at at Long
2:05
Reach. And then my parents sold the
2:07
block at Roma and my wife and I moved to Rockhampton and we went
2:13
into our own cattle business there.
2:14
So I've always been involved in the cattle game and I've, I went
2:19
on a live export boat from the tip of Queensland up in the Gulf
2:23
across to the Philippines. And we've feedlotted as well in
2:26
the Brisbane Valley as well. So yeah, I've been involved in
2:29
the cattle game all my life, but I've done various different
2:32
things in my career. So I've worked in a bank, I
2:34
worked for the Queensland government as a beef extension
2:37
officer. So I've done a lot of work in
2:40
grazing Land Management, genetics in herds, looking at
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calf loss and land remediation as well.
2:47
So yeah. And my wife is a ruminant
2:49
nutritionist. So she's the brains and the
2:52
looks in the outfit. And yeah, we just, we, we're a
2:55
good partnership and we're a cattle business now.
2:58
It's my wife and I and we have another business partner and
3:02
she's like an Agri business specialist.
3:05
So we're a great team. We're a great team, yeah.
3:08
Wow, that is so wonderful. It's always so fun to hear
3:12
whenever I'm at work conferences or national events and I get to
3:17
hear from people as a US beef producer, from either
3:20
Australians or people from New Zealand or somewhere on that
3:25
part of the world, and just hear about production agriculture and
3:29
what the beef industry really looks like in their country.
3:31
So can you kind of give us the rundown as someone who has
3:36
touched a lot of different parts of the beef industry on
3:38
Australia, when we're kind of comparing the US and Australia,
3:41
what what are some major differences and what does just
3:45
kind of the beef industry look like in Australia?
3:47
I think the. Australian beef industry is
3:49
changing and evolving to market trends and technology is playing
3:54
a huge part now in beef production in Australia.
3:57
A lot of reproductive health, health and technology is
4:01
evolving and changing, which is very exciting and people are
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embracing technology more within our grazing system, so they're
4:09
using software for grazing and management, The herb production
4:14
head analysis as well. Data is playing more of a
4:17
prevalent role within the Australian beef industry as
4:21
well. And there's certain breeds
4:22
within Australia that are driving that like Angus, for
4:25
example, Wagyu, the Tropical Breeze are also coming on board
4:30
with, with technology and data production as well.
4:33
And I think The thing is within Australia and well general beef
4:37
production everywhere I reckon is that data is playing a major
4:40
role in the business and looking at that data and the analysis
4:45
that data of how cattle can be more productive and more
4:48
relevant to market specifications.
4:50
Yeah, absolutely. And I think that's something
4:52
here in the US we're also really leaning into right now.
4:55
And so I think that's like a really awesome similarity that
4:58
we have. And I mean, so many of these
5:00
companies that we utilize here in the United States, you guys
5:03
are utilizing just the same in Australia there's.
5:05
Obviously. Nuances of Raising cattle in
5:08
Australia is different than raising cattle in the United
5:10
States, right? Like, there's a lot of different
5:13
nuances of I can't tell you the last time I had to worry about a
5:18
spider the size of my head killing me outside of my front
5:21
doorstep or maybe in my house, right?
5:23
Like, I can't say that's an everyday occurrence for me, but.
5:28
But you guys have bears like you guys have got.
5:31
Bears. I don't have bears.
5:33
Not at my house. But in America you have bears
5:36
where we don't have that. In Australia we just got snakes
5:39
and stuff. Snakes and Crocs.
5:42
I think I'm OK with my bears, if I'm being completely honest.
5:45
I I don't, I don't really love. My you battle with a snake and a
5:48
bear. Like a bear is going to eat you.
5:50
Like a bear is going to actually get down and chew your leg off,
5:54
where a croc can do that better, snake can't.
5:57
This is going to bite you. My goodness, Oh my goodness.
6:00
Yeah, No, So obviously some different nuances of raising
6:03
cattle in the two different countries.
6:05
So like technology is something we're really leaning into.
6:08
Technology is something you guys are really leaning into,
6:10
data-driven analytics. I always tell people when we're
6:13
talking about those conversations, I'm like, it's
6:15
like running our cattle businesses more like a business
6:19
rather than just something that we're doing because we have data
6:23
behind our decisions. Making.
6:25
Informed decisions and everything like that.
6:28
But as far as just like other nuances of raising cattle, do
6:32
you have any like fun stories or just like you've obviously lived
6:37
some life, seen some things in Australia, What do you, what
6:40
does that kind of look like for you as far as being a cattle
6:42
producer? Look, I guess I've been lucky
6:45
that I've lived and run cattle in different scenario, like
6:50
different parts of the state. So, you know, I like I grew up
6:54
in the Brisbane Valley and that's a cattle tick area and
7:00
the land holding was small and was all mountainous.
7:03
And then we went out to Long Reach, which is I guess you'd
7:07
kind of say it's like a Savannah for you guys, but we call it
7:10
range land. Well, more of a range lands.
7:13
So a lot of native parts, yeah, like Mitchell grass and cattle
7:16
just ballooned out there. Like they just grow so quickly.
7:20
But the rain falls very different.
7:22
And when we took cattle from from the Brisbane Valley out to
7:26
Long Reach, everyone's going, oh, they're going to die.
7:28
They won't live out there. Like our cattle went from
7:30
strength to strength. So the, the waners and the
7:33
females were bred a lot earlier than what they could be in the
7:35
Brisbane Valley and we didn't have to worry about ticks, which
7:38
was fantastic. And they just grew so quickly
7:41
And the cows just grew into beautiful roomy cows, you know
7:44
what I mean? And increase their fertility
7:46
because although it didn't rain as much, the vegetation and
7:49
stuff was so was so good. So we were really like, I was
7:52
really lucky to be involved in like the rangeland sort of
7:56
stuff. And my wife is from that sort of
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area, so she's a western Queensland girl and she's a
8:03
ruminant nutritionist. So she's actually pioneered some
8:06
research into Australian feeding standards.
8:10
So she's pretty smart. So I'm, I've just been a cowboy
8:14
where my wife is really focused on like the grasses and stuff
8:18
like that. And I've learned a lot about
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that throughout my career as well as it understanding
8:24
nutrition. But like, it's been a great
8:26
career and it's been great time. Like chasing Mickey's in the
8:29
Strike, wild paddled Mickeys, like that's a wild bull as a
8:33
Mickey, like there was never been touched before and
8:36
scrubbers and stuff like that. So that's been a lot of fun.
8:39
And it's definitely fun when you're young, but when you get
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to my age, I only run if something chases me now, like my
8:45
kids are might get it. Like I've got a son and a
8:47
daughter and they're kind of at the stage where they want to
8:50
scruff calves because that's what you like you.
8:52
We've had a lot of American and Canadian fellas that have worked
8:55
with us in the past. And my mother and father and my
8:58
sister, they've, they've been over and, and they've become
9:01
part of the family. So they've been over and been on
9:03
their ranches and stuff, but I've never got the chance,
9:05
unfortunately. And when they've come over the
9:07
just the differences between the way that they ranch compared to
9:10
what we do with our catalytes is going to holy moly.
9:12
Like this is just, well, I don't say holy moly, but whatever.
9:15
Like this is so different to what they experience because a
9:19
lot of it is a lot bigger too, you know what I mean?
9:21
Like a long reach, you know, it's 50,000 acres and I've got a
9:26
mate that's got like 500,000 acres.
9:29
And recently I was in the territory and it's a million
9:32
acres and they run 34,000 head of cattle.
9:35
So the scale can be a lot different.
9:38
And also a cattle handling is, is different for you guys as
9:42
well. Like with the branding when
9:44
you're roping them and Brit, you know, dragging them up to a fire
9:47
and stuff, we've got to put them in cradles, like a calf cradle
9:50
just to crunch the numbers. So my children and I will brand
9:53
on A1 or 200 calves in a couple of hours just to get the numbers
9:57
through to to. And I mean, you know, they do a
10:00
lot of complaining because I reckon I'm too hard on them.
10:03
But yeah, it's, it's just different.
10:06
It's just different, yeah. I mean, at that scale, you got
10:09
to be a little, you got to really lean into the efficiency
10:11
side of things because otherwise you'd be out there branding for
10:14
six days. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah,
10:17
yeah, yeah, yeah. But The thing is for us, Lauren,
10:19
is that for our cattle business, which is hardline grazing, yes,
10:24
my wife and I and our business partner and we don't own much
10:27
land. Like we have all our cattle on
10:30
adjustment and we have our cattle spread.
10:32
So we have our steers on some really good country with baffle
10:37
grass where they're growing. We keep our our stud cows close
10:41
to home, but our crossbred cows are away.
10:43
We are growing cattle and stuff like that.
10:45
So we got cattle spread all over Queensland.
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So I'm really busy because I do, I do consultancy work as well.
10:52
So yeah, I'm kind of, I don't have time to get bored, which is
10:56
good. That is always a good thing as
10:59
well. And I think you kind of get the
11:00
best of both worlds. You get to go be a cowboy, but
11:03
then you also get to go and you get to consult on grazing
11:07
management practices and everything else that you're kind
11:10
of doing with that consulting side of things.
11:12
So I do want to have a grazing management conversation as well.
11:15
And as far as like environmental concerns go, that's something
11:19
worldwide, every country is having to deal with, especially
11:22
when we look at our export markets.
11:24
You guys have very similar export markets that we do here
11:27
in the United States. And so we have export market
11:30
pressures on how we are raising our beef, what we're doing for
11:33
the environment, different things like that.
11:34
But then also just as far as an efficiency standard goes, you
11:38
guys have a very, very high ratio it sounds like to cattle
11:42
to land ratio. And so you have to have
11:45
different grazing management protocols as well.
11:47
So can you kind of give me the rundown on what grazing
11:49
management looks like in Australia and then how that
11:52
discussion has really evolved, evolved and changed over the
11:55
past few years? Yeah, for sure, for sure.
11:58
I think the biggest change in Australian beef industry
12:01
regarding grazing and management is a focus, is a focus on
12:06
ecosystem health. So it's about ensuring that your
12:09
operation is functioning in a positive way, because if you get
12:14
that right, it'll help with the cattle production obviously, and
12:18
the ground covering what have you.
12:20
And it's about understanding the ability of the land to
12:24
regenerate after rain and ensuring that the ecosystem is
12:29
functioning efficiently even in dry times and how it has the
12:33
ability to recover once it does rain from that dry time to grow
12:37
grass and and ensure the cattle can keep growing.
12:40
There's been a major push in Australia in that way.
12:44
And regenerative agriculture is, is getting, you know, a huge
12:48
amount of action within Australia, not only in beef but
12:52
horticulture and what have you, cropping as well.
12:56
And people are understanding the importance of knowing what's
12:59
going on with the environment because that leads to a healthy
13:03
herd. Yeah.
13:04
Yeah, absolutely. I mean, that is something we're
13:07
really focused on here in the United States too, is just the
13:10
connection of everything and really looking at the ecosystem
13:14
of our business, the ecosystem of what we're grazing and really
13:19
leaning into that. Because I mean, here in the
13:22
United States, one of our most important commodities is the
13:26
land that we're able to graze our on.
13:28
And it's something you don't get back.
13:31
And I mean, when you're looking at ranches in your area where
13:34
you're talking 500,000 acres, 1,000,000 acres, different
13:38
things like that, that puts it on a mass scale as well and
13:45
really just makes it all that much more important that you
13:48
understand what grazing protocols are for the different
13:51
areas. And I mean, you guys have a very
13:53
biodiverse ecosystem within Australia as well.
13:56
It's not just like the Australian Outback that I think
13:59
so many of us think of when we think of Australia, like there
14:02
is a very diverse ecosystem. And you gave us the rundown on
14:05
that a little bit in the beginning.
14:07
Just back on your background of the different areas that you
14:11
guys have personally ranched in and how that has really impacted
14:14
you guys as you've gone through life as a rancher in Australia.
14:19
But then I mean, when we're having the conversation of
14:22
grazing management and bringing in data and everything like
14:26
that, that's they're all conversations of how we're
14:28
building our businesses and how we're building better
14:31
businesses. So and just like better ranching
14:34
operations. So as far as Australian beef
14:36
production is concerned, what are something either you as a
14:40
rancher really focused on or from the consulting side that
14:43
you're really focused on helping people grow and develop within
14:46
their businesses right now? Well, Lauren, you know what I
14:49
reckon, I reckon that the most important aspect of a grazing
14:53
business is a market that you're going for.
14:56
So if you understand the market and you understand the like the
15:01
milestones that the herd needs to meet to get from conception
15:05
through to departure onto the plate, and you set those
15:09
milestones for your herd, everything else will flow.
15:12
So if you if you set the breeding objective for what
15:15
those animals need to achieve, which is the market, the grazing
15:19
Land Management will flow, the profitability will flow and
15:22
you'll understand the intricacies of where the herd
15:25
needs to be. For example, how many breeders
15:28
you need to run compared to growing our steers and the moths
15:32
like the the moth signs of the steers need to meet so on.
15:36
So it all will flow. So if you get that market right
15:39
and you set the breeding objectives around that market,
15:41
everything else will flow into place.
15:43
And it's about balancing up the actual data that you collect
15:48
within the herd, like PTAC percentage, branding percentage,
15:51
the re breed percentage of maiden heifer's going back in
15:54
calf after the second time. You know, I mean, like, so a lot
15:59
of times people have struggled getting their maiden heifer's
16:02
like they have one calf and then getting them back into calf.
16:05
But understand what's going on with that hair file, like what's
16:08
her nutrition like and so on will allow that heifer to go on
16:13
to be a more productive member of the cow herd or the breeder
16:16
herd as she progresses through her career.
16:18
And I think The thing is as well is, is the data that tracks how
16:23
cattle perform throughout the year, because we know now, like
16:27
in Queensland in particular, May to October is the hardest part
16:32
of the year because we're going into winter and we're where
16:35
summer driven with rain. So we're going into hard part of
16:38
the year. So we know that we need to
16:41
supplement our cattle with a, with a, with a lick to make sure
16:45
they can utilize that dry grass once the frost hit.
16:47
Because once the frost hit, all the nutrition goes out of the
16:50
grass. And I mean, we would never had
16:52
the winters that you guys have. Like I would die thinking about
16:55
those winters that you guys go through.
16:56
I just couldn't handle it. Like if it gets down below 20°,
17:00
I'm looking for a jumper. Like I could not do what you
17:03
guys do. Just it's too much.
17:05
That's fair. I feel like we also have been
17:08
raised with it and so to a certain extent we're just very
17:11
used to getting snow and being in blizzards and everything like
17:17
that. Rather in glass.
17:18
I couldn't handle it. I went to Tasmania, Lauren, and
17:21
that was cold enough. Like it was 21° and all the
17:24
Tasmanians are going, it's hot and we're going, dude, this
17:27
isn't hot. This is spring.
17:29
This is gold. Like coming from Long Reach
17:32
where it's, you know, 45° heat down to Tasmania where it's down
17:35
21. I'm all afraid of going, Oh my
17:37
God, this is just ridiculous. It's against God's plan.
17:40
I, I just couldn't do, I couldn't do that Blizzard stuff.
17:44
It would be just I'd like to see it but I'd I couldn't like for 5
17:48
minutes I reckon no. I'll do a fly over.
17:51
Yeah. Yeah.
17:51
I'll, I'll, I'll get in a plane and I'll do a fly over and
17:54
you'll look at it. You're like getting out now.
17:57
I'll stay right here. Yeah.
18:00
Exactly. We thought of being marooned and
18:02
you know, you have to eat something.
18:03
I mean, what would you eat? And everything's frozen isn't Oh
18:05
my God, we just. We need to get you up to a ranch
18:10
in like North Dakota or South Dakota in the middle of winter
18:12
and really just like bundle you up and be like, welcome to the
18:16
Antarctic. We're going to go feed some
18:17
cows. Yeah, yeah, yeah.
18:20
Would you like, are you still doing?
18:21
But he hits your horses up to put the fodder out and stuff
18:24
like those big Persron horses and stuff.
18:27
No, no, no, no, we, I mean nothing that fun.
18:31
We're we're more worried about plugging our tractors in the
18:34
night before so they don't gel up in the middle of winter so
18:37
that we can use them. Everyone is worthless when
18:40
there's that much snow on the. Ground like thank.
18:42
Thank the Lord we've we've surpassed that now.
18:45
I mean we do have really heavy Amish influenced communities
18:49
throughout the. Midwest and so.
18:50
Some of those communities probably definitely still lean
18:54
on that, but as far as we're concerned, absolutely not.
18:57
I would also, I was thinking these big Persian horses and the
19:01
beautiful big mules that they breed out of the Persian mares
19:05
and hitching them off and. See, we will find you a ranch
19:08
that still does that. I, I can guarantee you with all
19:11
of our listeners who've got someone out there that just for
19:14
fun, they still do it. But I would also rather eat
19:17
glass than do that, Matt. So I'm I'll, I'll come hang out
19:22
with you guys in your guys's winter during our summer,
19:26
because our summer is coming, coming up and I don't really
19:29
love the 100 and 2000 and 10, even 190°, nothing like that
19:34
Fahrenheit and I, I'll just come hang out with you guys and.
19:38
Yeah, bloody eyes. Sit back and be like, oh, I just
19:40
need a light jacket. Matt, this isn't bad at all.
19:43
Yeah, and I and I, we'll all be going.
19:45
Oh my God, it's raising. Yeah, exactly.
19:48
Yeah. Oh, that's too funny.
19:50
So is when we're talking, going back to kind of our previous
19:53
conversation a little bit, you were talking about your markets
19:56
really influence what your decisions are.
19:59
Is that why you guys have started to really lean into the
20:01
Wagyu production? Yeah, yeah, look, I think The
20:05
thing is with me, Lauren, is that I love cattle.
20:07
Like I've been obsessed with cattle my entire life.
20:10
Like when I was a kid I was obsessed and I've contributed
20:15
that obsession throughout my life.
20:16
So I was pretty lucky that in the Brisbane and Valley, like we
20:20
had Hereford cows and we put a Brahman bull over them and we
20:23
create those beautiful Brindle bully cows.
20:26
I just love them. I just absolutely love them
20:29
because it's a hybrid vigour that the the Brahman across the
20:32
Hereford. And then from there we actually
20:35
put Charley bulls over them and we get a three-way cross and
20:39
then we kind of went into Shabrai.
20:41
So we we had a lot of because of the environment that we lived
20:44
in, we've had a lot of influence from boss Indigas cattle.
20:47
So, you know, I like in at Long Reach, it was Brahman's
20:50
Chevrolet bulls over them. And then going in, we actually
20:53
did a couple of Mandalong specials.
20:55
Have you heard of them? Yeah, they, they're good cattle
20:58
too. So we, we bred the charbres and
21:01
that. So at cows at Long Reach and and
21:03
Charoma were like 4th generation charbres.
21:06
But in the Brisbane Valley, my father, like this is in the 90s
21:11
and my father decided to go into waggies and I'm just going
21:15
whatever drugs you're on, get me some dad.
21:16
Like they don't look anything like what we breed because we
21:20
had like I said, we had boss indicas cattle and you guys,
21:23
dad's is looking through the semen catalog going Oh my God,
21:26
Oh my God. Anyway, so we started doing that
21:30
in early 90s and we, I spent like months eye eyeing cows,
21:34
absolutely loved it. Like on a horse, checking him,
21:36
bringing him in the yards like and the stuff.
21:39
And then we took those cows out to long reach and just when we
21:43
get a bigger herd and dad guys, I don't want them anymore.
21:46
So we sold a lot and it's gone. Oh my God.
21:48
And now you tell people because they were the original
21:51
bloodlines that came into Australia, like Mr. Fuku, all
21:55
those old bulls. And you tell people now and
21:57
they're going, let's just look in the years if you're not
21:59
something going. I know, I know.
22:02
So when when we kind of got out of the family show at Rome, like
22:06
my wife and I have always been interested in cattle and we
22:09
wanted to get our kids involved and stuff like that.
22:12
And that's how we formed the partnership with our business
22:15
partner who is cattle mad as well.
22:17
But we realized that Wagyu's were the only breed that we're
22:21
going to make money for because all the money's borrowed.
22:24
So we got to make money and, and we started off with Brangus cows
22:28
or ultra black cows, you know what I mean?
22:30
Like so flat back Brangus sort of cows because we couldn't get
22:34
pure Angus where we lived. And that's how so we bred up
22:37
from them. And we're really happy with what
22:39
we've done because like we've done it from the get go make,
22:43
you know, like we couldn't go out and buy the full blood herd
22:46
for 1,000,000 bucks. We had to start with what we had
22:48
and we bred up from there. So we've launched into full
22:52
bloods now like recently, you know, within the first five
22:56
years, I guess, and we're getting really good data.
22:58
But the performance of our herd with the crossbred has really
23:01
made us a success into what we've done because we've we've
23:05
we've bred up and those cows are more environmentally adapted to
23:10
the, to the actual environment as well, because they've had
23:13
their, their mothers were Brangus cows.
23:15
And a lot of people go, oh, you can't use Brangus.
23:17
And and his boss Indicus is going to you know, influence
23:21
some meat quality which hasn't been the case for us.
23:23
So a lot of our crossbred steers have performed that like
23:29
equivalent to full blood herds and purebred herd in Australia.
23:32
So we've been really happy with that.
23:34
So the. Do you feed out your own cattle?
23:37
So do you like take your steers and feed them out until they go
23:40
into? Slime or do not know.
23:42
Before that we have. In the past we have sold all our
23:47
stairs as feeders into a feed lock, but because they're all
23:50
registered with the society, we get the data back.
23:53
And that's how we've been determining.
23:55
So we've got several years of feedback data from from the
23:59
feedlots that the cat, the bullocks have been fed in.
24:01
And that's how we're determining, determining the
24:04
breeding objectives for the herd.
24:05
So that's what I love about the Wagi society is so progressive
24:08
and it's data-driven. And so all our cattle are
24:11
registered, all our crossbred cattle are registered with the
24:14
society and that's how we use that data to progress our herd.
24:18
And now we're going into full bloods when a lot of IVF and
24:23
I've loved that. I've really been scared of IVF
24:26
in the past and embryo transfer because it cost so much money.
24:29
But we, I had a crack at it from our best cows and we imported
24:33
like we use some bulls from the, from the United Kingdom and we
24:38
bred a really good bull. And I went, Oh my God, if I can
24:42
do this without having a crack, imagine what I can do if I do it
24:45
properly. So from there we've done other
24:48
stuff. And so we've really concentrated
24:50
on animals that are across traits because in in Wags in
24:54
Australia, there's a milk strain and there's a marbling strain.
24:57
So the milk strain has got the the growth and the marbling
25:01
strain is small. So why I've looked for the bulls
25:05
that we bred ourselves and the things we've looked at getting
25:08
animals across traits. So they're going to grow,
25:10
they're going to eat well and they're going to be
25:12
environmentally adapted. So that's really important for
25:15
us is how well they're going to go.
25:17
Yeah, and you get paid on weight that.
25:19
Is so interesting. Yeah, yeah, that's, that's so
25:21
interesting. And I mean, we're the Wagyu
25:24
thing has been picking up in popularity here in the United
25:28
States over the most recent years.
25:30
And I think it's it's really influenced by our export
25:32
markets, right. Like yes, here in the United
25:35
States people are enjoying Wagyu, but at the same time,
25:38
especially when you're talking you're pure bra that's almost
25:42
too rich for most of the consumers here.
25:45
Yeah, yeah, full bloods. And so when they're going over
25:49
to like we're exporting those over to our foreign markets and
25:54
really have a really big reach there.
25:56
But I personally, I worked for a Wagyu ranch here in Kansas when
26:01
I was in college. I did, I did.
26:03
When I was in college, I did. And it was so fascinating to
26:07
learn more about the breed and especially when we were talking
26:10
about cross breeding because they really leaned into like all
26:14
of the meat that they were doing, they were processing here
26:17
locally and then selling here. Locally, Yeah, yeah.
26:21
Had a direct to consumer beef operation and so they had full
26:24
bloods, but then they also had like F1 crosses.
26:28
And so we were throwing like a Wagyu bowl on Angus cows or
26:32
something like that and getting those crosses.
26:34
And I personally loved the meat product of the crosses that was
26:38
coming out because it's like, it's still, to me, tastes like
26:41
the beef I'm used to, but it's just richer and it's more melt
26:44
in your mouth. And things like that.
26:46
I mean, there's so many love it. I know exactly what you're
26:49
saying and that's very similar to here too.
26:52
So the the full blood stuff mainly goes overseas and you
26:56
don't eat it like a normal steak, like it's a bit tiny
26:59
slither of meat and you put it on a bunch of better than down
27:01
the Hatch and away you go. It's so beautiful.
27:04
But I think the difference between you guys and us is that
27:08
you guys are really focused on the Ikushi's, the red Wags where
27:12
in Australia there there's no data on them, but like the
27:16
bigger players are getting into Reds and we're getting into
27:19
Reds. So I'd love to talk to more
27:21
American producers about a Cushies because I reckon I've
27:24
got a huge potential in Australia.
27:26
They're like they look a lot better.
27:28
I mean, I love waggies. I think they all look wonderful.
27:31
But a lot of people, especially boss indicus people go, oh,
27:33
they're ugly looking mongrels where the Reds are more
27:37
attractive looking animals. So yeah.
27:39
And we are doing a grass fed product using cattle called
27:44
English Longhorns and we're going to put a red, we put a red
27:49
Wag bull over them. So we, we developed our own
27:52
grass fed products selling directly to consumers in
27:55
Brisbane. So yeah, we've launched one.
27:58
We've got another couple of head that are going into that and
28:00
we're calling it Australian Heritage beef.
28:02
So we're using Breeze like British White, because I was a
28:05
bit of a British white fan as well, an English Longhorn, and
28:10
we're putting the Red Bully Kushi Bull over them.
28:12
But I'm really want to get more into Reds.
28:14
I reckon that Reds have got a huge future and I've watched
28:17
what Heart brand can do over in America.
28:21
There's absolutely phenomenal. Like it's so inspiring.
28:24
So yeah, I'd love to talk to more American producers about
28:28
Red Wags. Yeah, absolutely.
28:30
So do you guys, are you finishing your Wagos currently
28:35
on feedlots or are they on a grass fed operation?
28:39
And if they are on grass fed, what does that look like?
28:41
The steers and the cul heifers go into the feed lot, but there
28:46
is a certain few females that we'll put through this grass fed
28:52
job. But and the reason we went into
28:55
the English Longhorn is that we still wanted to focus on eating
28:58
quality and they marble on grass.
29:01
But it's about selling that story, selling that story to the
29:04
consumer. But also it's exactly the same
29:07
as putting our Sears into a feed.
29:08
Like I tell their story, like we put up their weight, we put up
29:13
their their peritage. And now we're getting to a
29:16
certain stage with the herd that we're actually getting mild
29:19
carcass data back for specific bulls, which is what a fantastic
29:24
because now we can say the average marble score of this
29:27
side has been blah, blah, blah, blah, blah.
29:30
And through the breeding technology, we're actually
29:32
putting our own balls into the mix as well.
29:35
So I'm very excited about that. So exciting and I mean, I'm
29:38
just, I'm thinking about all of this and like running it through
29:42
like a scientific brain type of thing and that is that's so
29:45
fascinating and I love how you guys are like pulling in
29:49
different breeds. That's really what we're leaning
29:50
in here in the United States too, because I think the wagers
29:52
have such a big place in the export market industry and just
29:55
in the premium beef industry in general.
29:57
As much as as a producer of normal cattle here in the United
30:02
States, I look at them and I do think that they are ugly, but
30:05
it's okay. It's okay.
30:06
They have a purpose and they have a place in the industry.
30:10
I acknowledge that. But no, that's, that's really
30:13
fascinating. All of the things that you guys
30:15
are doing there and the different advancements in
30:18
technology that you're really leaning into within all of that.
30:20
So when we're talking about like starting to wrap up this
30:23
conversation, and I mean, I think I could talk to you about
30:26
Australian production all day long.
30:28
But as we're starting to wrap up this conversation and we're
30:31
really looking at the differences between the US and
30:34
Australia, we've talked about a lot of them today, but what do
30:36
you think that we can learn from each other?
30:39
You've talked about you want to learn, learn a little bit more
30:41
about like the Red Wagyu side and things like that.
30:44
But at the same time, just as an industry as a whole, what's
30:47
really something that you see that, whether it be from people
30:51
that you've had on your operation come and visit from
30:53
the United States or Canada or different things like that, what
30:56
are some things that you really think that we can learn from
30:58
each other? Definitely genetics and how the
31:01
genetics performed in different environments and how the make
31:04
qualities affected by the environments that the animals
31:09
are raised in. It's like, I think The thing is,
31:12
is that we all like, I love the cattle that I grew up with like
31:16
Charbraise and Brahmins. I'd absolutely love them.
31:19
But the biggest thing that I've learned at of being in the beef
31:22
game is this is that I don't care what breed it is now.
31:25
I just look at that thinking how am I going to make money from
31:27
that and how is it going to improve my operation?
31:31
And like I said, you guys are way ahead with the red Wags,
31:35
like the Akushi's, like it's amazing what's been done over
31:38
there. So we can definitely learn from
31:40
that. And I really like the interview
31:42
you did. But the Guelphy guy like that
31:44
was really good when you talked when he was talking about the
31:47
heart, the size of the heart of the Kelphy and how that affected
31:51
where they went from California to, you know, up into the snow.
31:55
So all that kind of stuff is really interesting and that
31:59
there is aspects of that that we can use in Australia because in
32:02
Victoria and NSW and Tasmania is cold and Angus bulls and Waggy
32:07
bulls that are bred down there are coming up into northern
32:09
Queensland. So the poor old fellas are going
32:11
to deal with ticks and flies and heat, you know, when they've
32:13
been bred down on the, you know, in the cold and stuff like that.
32:17
So just even hearing that that was, I thought, wow, there's
32:21
something that we've never, you know, really thought about and
32:24
what aspect of that can we use in Australia in the production
32:27
that we do over here? Like, there's definitely a lot
32:31
that we could share. Yeah, absolutely.
32:33
Wow. Well, Matt, this has been just
32:35
such a wonderful conversation and I have had so much fun
32:39
talking to you today. Again, I think I could talk to
32:41
you for hours about just the different nuances between
32:44
operations and what like I think I could just listen to you all
32:49
day on all of it. But as we wrap up this podcast,
32:51
is there anything else that you would really like to leave with
32:54
our audience today or our listeners from just your
32:58
experience in general? Look, I, I reckon that, like I
33:02
said, there's a lot of a lot of ways that we could work together
33:05
and as a business, a beefiness. Like, I would really, really
33:09
love to talk to American producers about what you guys
33:12
do. But I'm gonna give you a pitch.
33:15
Beef Australia is on in Rockhampton next year.
33:18
You need to come. It's a massive week.
33:21
It's huge. And there's so much.
33:24
It's all about the beef industry.
33:25
So there's processes, there's stud cattle, there's trade
33:28
cattle, there's property visits. Like it's just massive.
33:33
So you should definitely come, Lauren, You should definitely
33:35
come. That would be so much fun.
33:38
My husband and I have it on our list to make it to Australia one
33:41
of these years anyway. And I mean, if I'm going to a
33:45
beef event. Yeah, it's all about being.
33:47
I'll even show you my cast because I'll even show you my
33:50
cats. Perfect, perfect.
33:52
As long as you keep me away from the snakes and the spiders and
33:54
the crocodiles, I I will be fine.
33:58
I can't. I can't promise that, but I'll
34:00
do my best. I'll definitely keep you away
34:02
from the call. Perfect.
34:03
Well, if you get a call, if I, if I end up over there, you have
34:06
to answer the phone at 1:00 in the morning, Matt, if I'm
34:09
screaming that there's a spider in my hotel room, you have to
34:11
come deal with. I'll just, I'll just send.
34:13
My wife, she'll. Sort it out for you like she's
34:15
fearless. Oh my gosh, I love that for her.
34:19
But I am not fearless and I have seen too many videos and too
34:23
many things. I went on a trip to Italy one
34:26
time with a bunch of Australians and they were like, no,
34:30
Australia will kill you. Like you got to be a little be a
34:32
little worried about Australia sometimes They're like, it's
34:35
pretty and it's beautiful and we love it here, but it'll kill you
34:38
and I'm. Like I think bears are way
34:40
worse, Lauren. Like you got bears like horses
34:44
are scared of bears. I'm scared of bears like.
34:47
But I don't have bears in my backyard, Matt.
34:49
I got to drive like 9 hours to find a bear.
34:53
So I'm not concerned about bears.
34:55
I know other people are, but I'm not over here in Kansas.
34:58
I'm quite comfortable where I'm at.
35:00
I don't have the closest thing I have to big spiders and snakes
35:05
is like poisonous little copperhead snake or something
35:10
like that that we have here that you see once in a blue moon or
35:12
maybe a rattlesnake every once in a while.
35:14
That's that's as close as it's getting over here.
35:17
So I don't know. It's quite comfortable.
35:18
But if I make it to Australia, I will I'll be seeing some beef
35:23
and calling you to take care of all of my snake and spider
35:27
issues. Well, Matt, thank you so much
35:29
for your time today. This has been such a wonderful
35:32
conversation to all of our audience members.
35:34
If you guys want to talk to Matt or have any questions or want to
35:38
get in contact with him, I'll make sure that I have his
35:40
LinkedIn information down in the show notes down below where you
35:42
guys can get a hold of him and start to have those
35:45
conversations across the country with someone else in beef
35:48
production. So Matt, thank you for your time
35:50
today. I really appreciate it.