King Island Angus steers triumph at RNA Paddock to Palate competition

The Raff family, comprising Andrew and Anna Raff alongside his parents, David and Jill Raff, relocated their operations from Mundibulanga, Drillham, nearly a decade ago.

With a focus on bull production and pasture fattening, Raff Angus entered six of their steers into the competition, which attracted a staggering 798 entries.

Their efforts were rewarded with a second-place finish in class 40A for the best weight gain among pen of six HGP free steers category.

Notably, one of their Angus steers also claimed first place in class 40A for Highest Individual Weight Gain, boasting a daily weight gain of 2.79 kilograms.

The Raff family currently manage 750-800 fully performance-recorded genomic retested stud cows on King Island.

While their base of operations is now on King Island, the Raffs currently sell between 100-150 bulls annually to clients in Queensland and New South Wales at their annual Drillham bull sale.

Andrew Raff commented on the significance of their first RNA Paddock to Palate event, labelling it as one of the premier feedlot competitions in the country.

"The RNA's Paddock to Palate event is one of the best feedlot competitions going," Mr Raff told the Queensland Country Life.

"This result is a credit to the organisers of this event and it's really nice to be competing against some really progressively minded seedstock and commercial producers, so to be able to compete, let alone go as well as we did is a real buzz for us."

Mr Raff said their six Angus steers entered into this year's comp were out of their autumn born group and they entered this trial at 13 months old.

"There was one steer that arrived with a foot abscess, so he dropped out of the seven," he said.

"They came from a group of about 45 steers and I just picked the steers that were smoothly made and as I said, growth and yield are our priorities, so I'm hoping the carcase is good, but the raw performance has been exceptional.

"It was about over a 2000 kilometres journey for them and these steers had to face the Bass Strait crossing, which is ironically one of the roughest straits in the world.

"From there, a livestock carrier met them at the boat and picked them up. They were in depot at Finley, NSW, for four weeks in the lead up to the entry time."

Mr Raff acknowledged their historical involvement in various carcase competition pursuits, from steer competitions in the oats-fed era to showcasing show steers..

"Our breeding objectives have been traditional carcase quality, not the extreme, with more emphasis on weight gain and carcase weight and yield," he said.

"Unlike the grass fed systems, where you have limited opportunities, particularly for yield, this will be really exciting to see how our steers yield.

"The feedlot industry is a big player in the Australian beef market and we need to see how genetics form in a feedlot environment."

Mr Raff said all of their steers are fully grass fattened on King Island property.

"We sell them around 18 to 26 months old and we average 370 - 380 kilogram carcase weight, so they're more milk tooth," he said.

"Both Greenham and JBS and have got branded products for the southern Australia, so we supply in both of those markets."

The journey of their cattle from King Island to Tasmania for processing underlines the logistical challenges and the meticulous care taken in their handling.

"Our cattle from King Island get sent across to Tasmania, where JBS Greenham have got two processing plants there," Mr Raff said.

"It's like an eight to 13 hour trip from King Island to Tasmania, depending on the weather and cattle are processed the following morning of departure.

"Instead of just staying on road, the double deck trailer will come on farm, cattle are then loaded into the trailer which is then un hooked on top deck of the boat. The trailer is then strapped down and across the Bass Strait to Tasmania, where it is reversed into the processing facility."

Despite the current severe drought conditions on King Island, which mark the worst season on record, Mr Raff said they've managed to sustain their operations effectively.

"Ironically, King Island is experiencing the worst season in 145 years and we've broken all records for lack of rain," he said.

"Its had very little impact to our stocking rates.

"If it was a such a drought up in Queensland for example, everyone would be in a real pickle and you wouldn't have an animal on the property, so it's all relative to the production system.

"We sold a few cattle into the feed market and we have been sensibly stocked since we moved down as we didn't want to have the pressure of this environment."

Mr Raff said their average yearly rainfall on King Island was 1200mm, of which 70pc is during winter.

"In June last year we had 200mm, while this year, we've only had 30mm to date," he said.

Looking forward, Mr Raff said they aim to explore further opportunities in the feedlot sector, potentially entering the HGP class next year to gauge performance variances.

"Next year, I anticipate if we've got the numbers to put something in the HGP class as well, just to see the performance variance," he said.

The prestigious supply chain competition offers almost $55,000 in prize money and attracted 798 head of cattle - up from 756 head in 2023.

RNA Beef Committee chair Gary Noller said producers performed really well this year.

"The Queensland contingent triumphed in the end but new exhibitors, such as Raff Angus from King Island in Bass Strait, had a very successful debut in this year's competition, winning the highest individual weight gain and their pen placing second in Class 40A," he said.

"Raff's win is quite extraordinary given they had to transport their cattle thousands of kilometres to compete against producers with a long track record in the competition."

Mr Noller said the 100-day Paddock to Palate Competition winners would exclusively go to the JBS Royal 100 Brand and the 70-day winning cattle will form part of the JBS Queenslander brand.

"There are retail outlets and wholesalers from across Queensland that will sell this award-winning beef this year,'' he said.

"The product is hotly sought after with JBS being inundated with demand, year after year.

"No other Australian supply chain competition has such a strong connection to the wholesale and retail market."

The RNA's Paddock to Palate Competition now moves into the second phase which is carcass judging.

Competition classes 37, 38 and 40 are three phased comprising best aggregate weight gain, carcass and MSA eating quality, while the Wagyu Challenge is four phased finishing in a beef taste off judged by some of Queensland's top chefs.

The exhibitors who poll the highest aggregate scores across all phases of the four classes will be awarded the overall prizes at the Paddock to Palate and Beef Industry Dinner at the Brisbane Showgrounds on August 8.

Read the full competitions results here.