Black rules in Angus brands

Likewise, the third party verifier of Angus beef says Murray Grey is a breed in its own right, with a breed society separate to that of Angus, and hence cannot be accepted into a program making a raising claim to Angus.

Certified Angus Group’s chief executive officer Kate Brabin said the bottom line was Murray Greys were not Angus in name.

Based on the fact science is backing claims Murray Greys are a sub-population of the Angus genome, some Murray Grey studs have urged processors to open the doors in Angus programs to their breed and the wider beef industry to see the breed as the ‘light-coated Angus that they are.’

This growing group of Murray Grey breeders - who have been marketing their cattle as silver Angus - say the equivalent of a white Angus is being used with great success in northern Australia in the form of sleek-coated silver Murray Greys.

Gunnedah’s Kate James, Wallawong Premium Beef, pointed to 2013 research into breed relatedness by Dr Bolormaa Sunduimijid, who was working with the then Victorian Department of Primary Industries, which effectively places the Murray Grey breed within Angus.

She said the research had not been highly-publicised by Murray Grey breeders to date because there had been a desire to differentiate.

However, that was changing.

“Many of us understand the two breeds are the same product, with a simple genetic variation in coat colour, and wish for them to be treated the same in the marketplace,” she said.

Some Murray Grey and Angus breeders, led by Southern Highlands breeder Dr Roger Houghton, Rogialyn Murray Greys and Platinum Angus, have invested heavily in testing Murray Grey cattle against the Angus genome.

This has been done through gene sequencing and single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) studies of a sample of related animals (Murray Greys with and without recent Angus infusion in the pedigree) at laboratories in the US.

Dr Houghton said the testing found the essential difference between Murray Greys and Angus was in the coat colour modifier gene.

“The tests show Murray Greys are greater than 99 per cent pure Angus genome,” he said.

Chief Executive Officer of Angus Australia Peter Parnell said Murray Greys were a derivative of Angus and were treated as equivalent to Angus in the society’s breed plan.

“Essentially, we consider Murray Grey to be the same and see no hybrid vigour benefits of crossbreeding between the two,” he said.

However, Murray Grey are not eligible to be recorded in the Angus herd book register.

“The society has no problem with Angus grids including Murray Grey genetics but that is a decision for individual businesses.

“We do, however, acknowledge brands are based on market perception and there are certainly sectors of the market which consider Angus to be black.”

Australia’s most awarded brand of beef, Certified Australian Angus Beef (CAAB), operates to the industry-accepted standard that to qualify as Angus for an Angus program the animal must be 100 to 75 per cent Angus, according to Ms Brabin.

“That is that the sire must be Angus and the dam may be Angus or an Angus-cross. MG would be accepted in the dam cross,” she said.

Ms Brabin’s organisation promotes and markets CAAB, along with providing independent third party verification to many Australian and New Zealand processors, and restaurant giant McDonalds.

For all of those, that same industry-accepted definition was applied, she said.

PROCESSORS say while Murray Greys are recognised as producing very high quality beef, their Angus programs hinged on the link in the consumer’s mind with black Angus.

Don Mackay, Managing Director of Northern NSW operation Rangers Valley, which developed the premium Black Onyx brand, said: “Our customers expect that we use only pure black Angus cattle.”

Rangers Valley was using both Murray Grey and Angus some years ago and in fact once bred their own Murray Grey cattle, he said.

“As the business grew it was not possible to buy sufficient numbers of suitable Murray Grey cattle so it was always a mixture of the two breeds,” Mr Mackay said.

“We long feed our cattle and are pursuing a high level of marbling.

“We have established a database of information to ensure we secure the best Angus cattle that we know will marble.

“Our brand guarantees we only use verified pure black Angus cattle and we are independently audited.

“The Angus breed has established itself as the pre-eminent breed for marbling and meat quality and has the numbers to support large businesses like ours.”

He said Murray Grey cattle did have a genetic background including a substantial amount of Angus and they produced quality beef.

“They are however not Angus and as such do not fit into our pure black Angus brand,” Mr Mackay said.