Black Box interprets data to improve carcase performance
A chance meeting with Black Box Co’s Emma Black in 2022 resulted in the Quinn family resolving a problem that had the potential to cost their Essex Cattle Co thousands of dollars in lost income each year. Matt Quinn and his family run a herd of up to 8000 Charbray and Shorthorn cattle in an EU and PCAS accredited enterprise across a four-property, 35,200ha holding, with a home base at Essex, 20km east of Middlemount in Central Queensland.Their North Queensland holding, Taemas, located 120km south of Charters Towers, is used as a breeding block, with cattle sent to fatten on the brigalow country around Essex before being turned off as rising three-year-old bullocks.
As passionate grass-fed producers, the data that matters most to them comes from the companies that process around 1500 Essex cattle a year – Teys Australia at Lakes Creek, Rockhampton, and Thomas Borthwick & Sons at Mackay.“I was in Central Queensland’s first cohort in the professional development program Advancing Beef Leaders in 2022 and Emma presented, and that’s when I realised Black Box Co had the potential to more effectively interpret our kill sheets to improve carcase performance,” Matt said.
Identifying and solving a pH problem
One issue in particular had proven to be a challenge for the Quinns to solve. Some carcases were grading high for pH, which results in dark-cutting beef and a lesser quality eating experience. To grade MSA, receive a premium and provide a consistently high-end eating quality for consumers, the carcase must have a pH of 5.7 or below and 3mm of rib fat. “Two drivers of pH are the stress levels of stock prior to slaughter, and the carcase drawdown – the way the carcase temperature is brought down in the chillers,” Matt said. “The latter is the responsibility of the plant, but the handling of cattle prior to processing is something that we can manage on farm and in transit.”
Using Black Box’s MSA dashboard, Matt first identified the pH discounts from each consignment of livestock and clarified the impact these were having on their bottom line. “It showed the variation in cents per kilo between animals that graded MSA versus those that didn’t, over a three-year period. On a 300kg carcase, there was a difference of 49 cents per kilo between what graded MSA and what didn't, and that equated to $147 per beast,” he said. “If you multiply that across 1500 head sold to the abattoir each year, where 20 per cent are not meeting MSA compliance, you’re out of pocket $42,600.
“By identifying the impacts and changing our management strategies to reduce the non-compliance rate to as little as 5pc, we can reduce those losses by $31,575.”
Black Box measures effectiveness of decisions
As well as some minor changes to trucking schedules and time spent in the yards, Matt decided to try Beachport Liquid Minerals’ Green Cap formulation to reduce stress in the cattle prior to slaughter. A blend of trace elements, amino acids and electrolytes, Green Cap assists livestock to cope more calmly with yarding and transportation, especially in unfamiliar surroundings. “Some friends had tried it and had good results but no evidence, so in the beginning I was sceptical. But I added Green Cap to the water troughs seven days out, then another dose three days out from trucking, and we’ve had a significant improvement in our carcase grading results,” Matt said. “It’s difficult to link it specifically to Green Cap as we also made a couple of management changes, but the data definitely showed a benefit. It costs me 96 cents per dose, excluding GST, and I administer two 50ml doses. “While Black Box doesn’t help us to make those types of management decisions, it is the tool we use to measure the effectiveness of the decisions we make. And having the information in a visualised, simple and easy to comprehend format certainly makes the decision to implement change much easier. Numbers don’t tell fibs!”
Onboarding made easy with processors’ input
Matt said he’s always believed in only collecting livestock data that he’s going to analyse and use, otherwise it’s an expensive and futile exercise. “Because we breed and fatten, data like weighing doesn’t bring much to the table, but interpreting and analysing our carcase data through Black Box Co has been really beneficial,” he said. Matt began using the cloud-based software in May 2022 and says the process of onboarding was quick and simple, with historical data available from the processors, who provided Black Box with third party access. “Teys have it really streamlined. They had processed our cattle for the past 13 years and we just requested a history file of our company’s data and they sent it through to Black Box,” he said. “It was the same at Borthwicks. Recently, they uploaded 6-800 head for me from the kills of the past few months. Such a simple and streamlined process!”
Analysing kill sheets ‘accurate, fast and efficient’
Matt usually waits until an entire consignment has been MSA graded, then uploads the data to Black Box Co. At Teys, the information is available the day the carcases are graded, and it automatically uploads on Black Box. “Teys really need a pat on the back for that. They’ve always provided feedback, but to collaborate with Black Box Co to create a process that is so easy and hassle-free for producers to interpret and analyse it more effectively is amazing,” Matt said.“We’ve always had the ability to analyse the kill sheets ourselves, but it takes a lot of time and it’s inefficient. With Black Box, it’s a matter of a few clicks and it’s on the dashboard in front of you – it’s accurate, fast and efficient.”
Analysis of business-specific data a powerful tool
Matt is pleased with the direction Essex Cattle Co’s herd is going, and happy to have the assistance of Black Box Co. “Last year, we had our highest MSA carcase so far, which graded 67.01, and we’re pretty happy that we can achieve that for cattle coming off buffel grass and legumes. That’s where we want to be,” he said.“The best part about Black Box is that it provides you the opportunity to analyse and interpret, and one of the most powerful tools is manipulating data from one site to another.
“For example, if you bring your MSA data up and want to know everything that killed with a marble score of 3+, just click, drag with a mouse, and all data displays (carcase traits) will then represent only that selection.
“I don’t think people realise how effectively this resource can provide valuable, business-specific data. The thing I’d like to see next is benchmarking. I’d love to see Black Box Co used to enable benchmarking against other anonymous producers in the region or the state.”
