Technology can 'beef up earnings'

A NEW, hi-tech approach to grading beef carcases could provide better returns for producers, while giving far more information on meat quality to consumers.

That claim was made this week by Cameron Craigie, a research student looking into adding value to beef products.

"The grading system does not take either eating quality or product consistency into account," he said. "These are two key factors in a consumer's decision as to whether they will buy meat from the same source again."

Craigie said more use should be being made of new technology that can give more refined answers on meat quality.

He was speaking at the launch of Quality Meat Scotland's annual research report. His work is one of the 47 projects being supported by the red meat promotion body. Currently, all UK carcases are graded on the "Europ" grid, which differentiates on a number of physical factors such as fat cover, but Craigie's plan is to use high-technology, such as video image analysis.

This provides a much larger number of variables in assessing a carcase and, from test samples involving several hundred head of stock, he has identified a correlation between meat yield and the quality of saleable meat.

The technology is being used in Ireland and a similar type of carcase assessment is being used in Australia, but there has been no move by UK abattoirs to include either this or near infrared spectroscopy. Craigie hoped his work would help bring these options forward.