Trig Farm Wagyu is undertaking net feed intake trials at Kerwee Feedlot to create an elite herd

Trig Farm is undertaking net feed intake trials with the Australian Wagyu Association and was recently awarded third place in the highest efficiency sire AWA awards.

Based in Kangaloon, Trig Farm Wagyu owners Stan and Kate Piggins first had Angus and entered the Wagyu game in the early nineties.

"We were reading up on the Wagyu breed and we were very interested in using a grass fed production system. That's where we made our first entry into the Wagyu but alas Australia wasn't ready for grass fed Wagyu," Mr Piggins said.

"[Consumers] couldn't be convinced of the health benefits of it and [feedlots] made approaches to us to buy our Wagyu so away we went with sending Wagyu to feedlots."

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The first of the herd were sourced from Westholme Genetics and purchased from Longford Station.

Mr Piggins hadn't ever registered the herd until consultant Jeremy Cooper came on board more than 10 years ago and has registered every animal on the farm and implemented operating procedures around reproduction, weaning and marketing - all improving the value of the herd.

"If the herd was to be marketed or liquidated it would have immense commercial value based on proven information, historical data and proven commercial acceptance," he said.

Now with 300 head, Trig Farm is looking at how to improve quality and Mr Cooper said basics are key.

"The significant traits are fertility and eating quality and everything else will just fold in," he said.

"Fertility is four times more profitable than any other trait regardless of breed."

Mr Cooper said once he had all the administration sorted and cows in calf with industry significant bulls the task at hand was looking at feed efficiency.

"When you are feeding Wagyu is a slow process," he said.

It's really important to identify the cattle that will give us that luxury outcome but it's also more significantly important today to try and identify the cattle that will do that on less feed.

"When we report all that data it positions us really well to make significant choices in the females that we elect to go forward with - to create this elite herd that Stan and Kate Piggins have entrusted me with the challenge of doing."

While feed efficiency is economical for the farm and its margins Mr Cooper said focusing on consumer demands was also a high priority.

"We have an obligation as producers of luxury protein products to produce this in a format or in a way in which the global consumers will be satisfied with," he said.

"We have to be producing this product as efficiently as we can, as environmentally friendly as we can, as sustainably as we can and being mindful that the modern consumer absolutely requires a direct line of vision from that steak that they're eating, whether it be in Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane or Singapore, Dubai, London or wherever, back to the producer."

Phoebe Jenkins, Genetic Improvement Officer from Stockyard Lot Feeders in Southern Queensland, where Trig Farm cattle are grain-fed at their Kerwee Feedlot, said limiting the impact to the environment is key for the beef industry as a whole to succeed moving forward.

"Ultimately the beef industry is consumer-driven and consumers are demanding a more sustainable product. So trials like this help feedlots like ours run more efficiently; our customers receive a more sustainably produced, consistent product; and we can share profits with producers who are excelling in this space," she said.

Ms Jenkins said the cattle are fed for 400 days with the trials aiming to choose the most efficient genetic line without impacting on quality.

The steers go in at feeder weight, about 400-500kg, and after a 14 day warm up period spend 70 valid trial days eating from separate bunks which monitor the amount of feed each individual animal consumes throughout the day.

In-pen scales have recently been installed at the water troughs which weigh the front half of the animal and an algorithm works out the overall weight each and every time the animal has a drink.

Ms Jenkins said the trial puts producers one step closer to being able to produce cattle that require potentially less feed but still achieving the same marbling and muscle size the Wagyu beef brands are renowned for.

"Having the data right at their fingertips helps producers shorten the time it takes to figure out which genetics are most sustainable, so they can cut out the under-performers sooner and identify genetic lines that hit the sweet-spot of high marbling, high growth and feed efficiency" she said.