The Australian Lot Feeders’ Association (ALFA) launched its revamped Australian Feedlot of the Year Competition back in October 2020 and set out over a 12-month judging process to uncover Australia’s best National Feedlot Accreditation Scheme (NFAS) accredited feedlots.
The winners in each size category were announced at ALFA’s virtual Awards Ceremony tonight, attended by lot feeders and guests around the country.
The competition, established in 1991, is open to all NFAS accredited feedlots and focuses on driving best practice and uncovering feedlots that are truly exceeding the status quo.
The pillars of the competition relate to the five core NFAS principals, including a feedlot’s quality assurance culture; product integrity; environmental responsibility; animal welfare responsibility; and their business planning.
Areas explored by the independent judging panel included innovation, employer of choice, chain of responsibility, and community amenity and social accountability, which helped to set apart top performing feedlots.
From an initial entry pool of 35 feedlots across the nation, nine finalists vied for the top position of Australian Feedlot of the Year across the four size categories: Under 3,000 head; 3-000 – 8,000 head; 8,000 - 15,000 head; and Above 15,000 head.
The Australian Feedlot of the Year 2021 was awarded to the following feedlots per size category:
Under 3,000 head - Paradise Beef Feedlot, Western Australia
3,000 – 8,000 head - Gundamain Feedlot, New South Wales
8,000 – 15,000 head - Gunnee Feedlot, New South Wales
Above 15,000 head - Teys Australia Jindalee Feedlot, New South Wales
ALFA President, Bryce Camm commented “It truly is an award that showcases the pinnacle the feedlot industry has to offer.”
“All finalists in the competition this year should be commended for their efforts in striving to push the status quo and be the best they can be.”
“The winning feedlots are a proud reflection of the lot feeding sector’s strong commitment to operating within robust quality management systems, continual improvement and innovation,” Bryce said.
Each entrant receives valuable benchmarking feedback and winning provides feedlots the opportunity to take advantage of the considerable marketing benefits associated with winning the top industry award.
The Australian Feedlot of the Year Award 2021 is proudly supported by ALFA, AUS-MEAT and Integrity Systems Company.
Imagery for Media Use here: https://www.dropbox.com/t/1kl9CnWTKEsqiyCM
Media Contacts:
Bryce Camm
ALFA President info@feedlots.com.au
(02) 9290 3700
Madie Hamilton
General Manager - Communications & Engagement madeleine.hamilton@feedlots.com.au
0447 617 428
BACKGROUNDER ON WINNING FEEDLOTS
Paradise Beef Feedlot, Western Australia
Paradise Beef aim to be leaders in the community. They make a positive contribution to the feedlot industry by employing passionate people and providing them with opportunities to reach their full potential & goals.
They inspire their team to always think outside of the box on ways they can improve animal welfare, and how they can enhance the quality of the beef we produce and ensure a safe fulfilling workplace. They also encourage and support our staff to participate in further training to develop their careers.
Paradise Beef’s team strives to provide customers with high quality, innovative service, and a premium product and they attribute their success from working as a team; as one.
Gundamain Feedlot, New South Wales
Gundamain Pastoral Co’s vision is to continue to be a fully sustainable, adaptive, resilient, and intergenerational family agribusiness producing high quality food and fibre for domestic and export markets.
Gundamain Feedlot forms the core part of the operation and is run in conjunction with an extensive backgrounding program, a commercial Angus breeding herd, a fine wool merino property, a first cross ewe operation producing lambs and wool and a cropping and hay program. Gundamain Pastoral Co, operates two feedlot sites and 13,000 acres of grazing, cropping and native vegetation in central and southern New South Wales.
Gunnee Feedlot, New South Wales
The 2GR brand, of which Gunnee Feedlot belongs, has a vision to become the most recognised Wagyu brand in the world for delivering a product of a consistently high standard of both quality and service.
Animal Welfare is paramount to everything they do, they always operate in a Safety Culture when integrity and honesty are the core values that all team members live by. They strive to lead the industry in innovation.
Teys Australia Jindalee Feedlot, New South Wales
Teys Australia is a family business with family values delivering the best Australian product they can produce every time. This is why they have customers around the world who trust them with their protein requirements, bringing Teys into their homes as part of their meals, and into their family time.
Each year the business reviews its strategy and goals to ensure they are not just going to be successful in the coming year but for coming generations.
Teys says success will not just come from being good operationally, they have identified they must also be leaders in safety, animal welfare, environmental management, sustainability and social accountability as their licence to operate truly is valued above all.