Our points of difference

We are committed to shelter all our feedlot cattle in sheds. Ethically feeding our world needs investment in animal housing – starting right here, right now.

Housing - Sheds

Feed and flavour

Genetics

Big sheds make a big difference

“The sheds have proven to be an integral investment for us. They have positivley shaped the quality of meat we are producing today.”

“We have a unique story to share with our customers across the world. Our team is producing an article of meat that’s pushing industry standards of welfare and environmental impact.“

– Jack Shaw – Livestock Manager

ALWAYS A COOL BREEZE

The concave curved roof lines of our sheds pull warm moist air up and away from the cattle. This design uses the chimney effect to increase air exchanges by at least 20% per hour compared to traditional barns.

The open ridge and faster airflow pushes moist air up away from the ground.

At the same time a reliable flow of cool dry air is brought in at ground level. So, our cattle experience a clean and refreshing airflow year-round.

And when cold winter weather is here, the compost is warm, and so are our cattle.

Plus, we think they look pretty good.

GOOD BACTERIA IN THE BEDDING

Underfoot we use deep-litter compost pads which when well managed means zero odour. This is a soft sawdust-compost bedding routinely top-dressed with fresh shavings. The roof stops rain from destroying the deep sawdust layer.

Inoculating sawdust with an organic probiotic speeds things up to keep the surface clean and odour-free. The end result is a stable and valuable compost.

When we move our cattle onto sawdust in sheds we are continuously amazed that there is no odour.

Odour is complicated. We want to minimise it for our cattle and for our neighbors. As with composting toilets, sawdust works surprisingly well to ‘use up’ volatile organic compounds and gasses and break them down into a useful compost. We do it large-scale.

And to keep up we add the right microbes to the sawdust substrate. It is good for our cattle (in so many ways), good for the environment, and good for the neighbours.

Once spent the compost goes back into our soils to grow food for our cattle again. And composted sawdust-manure is a stabilised ‘slow release’ fertiliser and regenerative organic soil conditioner with less nutrient runoff than raw manure.

DRY FLOORS, DRY FEET, MORE WATER SAVED

In open feedlots rainfall runs through pens and mixes with nutrients and diseases – leaving a messy situation behind. Our system all but eliminates contaminated runoff and leaves our cattle’s feet dry.

And captured rainfall reduces water taken from the environment. Since we built our sheds we use less of our water allocation per unit of production – leaving more in the Murray-Darling Basin for the environment

So when it rains here it’s no big deal. Our cattle are left clean and dry and our fresh water dams fill up for drier days.

You are what you eat…eats

“The aroma of oranges our rations have – the cattle love it.”

“Never compromising on the quality of what our cattle eat, while using a resource that might have gone to waste – it’s good for the cattle and the environment.”

– Chris Shaw Jr. – Commodities Manager

CITRUS PULP IMPROVES MEAT QUALITY

We feed our cattle orange citrus pulp coupled with locally grown grains like wheat, barley, and corn. The inclusion of citrus pulp changes the final product. We notice improved palatability for the cattle and less feed required overall. Meanwhile our customers say they can taste a delicate orange tone in the meat.

Lab testing of citrus pulp rationing in cattle feedlots has shown a doubling or tripling of lipophilic antioxidants including α-tocopherol, an important E-vitamin and antioxidant in cattle and humans. Put simply meat is protected from lipid (fat) oxidation – so it stays a brighter colour for longer. In turn the human body uses vitamin E to manage oxidative stress-related disease conditions. And a plethora of studies have shown that food that is more nutritious also tastes better.

Genetics – this is the real deal

FULLBOOD AND PUREBRED F4 LINES DOMINATE

Our operation spans a range of properties, of over 4,000 hectares across Northern New South Wales and the Southern Downs of Queensland.

Having a varied portfolio of land is allowing our team to expand our Fullblood Wagyu and Purebred breeder herd. These genetic lines make up the vast majority of our stock. Soon we will produce and supply Fullblood and Purebred Wagyu only.

We supply globally and our high Wagyu percentage cannot be offered by everyone.

Who We Are

Family owned and operated; Elbow Valley Beef sells exclusively from the Canning Downs South operation. Canning Downs South is a property and business in the picturesque Elbow Valley on the Southern Downs of Queensland. Over time other properties in Queensland and New South Wales have been added to support the business through backgrounding, breeding, and cropping operations.