NLIS the key to proving and improving your herd’s worth

Image caption: Matt, his wife Maree, their son Alexander and daughter Isabel, then Lisa’s daughter Harper, Lisa, and Lisa’s son, Mac.

For Rockhampton beef producer Matt Brown, NLIS tags provide the information he needs to not only verify but progress the genetics and eating quality of his herd for maximum profit.  

Together with business partner Lisa Lonsdale of Lonsdale Agribusiness, Matt and his wife Maree Bowen operate Heartline Grazing – a beef business with a herd of 300 crossbred and fullblood Wagyu cattle agisted across 10 properties near Rockhampton and Biloela in central Queensland. 

Ensuring their herd attracts high prices for their strong genetics and eating quality has long been a key goal of the business. Now, thanks to NLIS, Heartline now has the data that reveals their herd’s value to prospective buyers. 

Guaranteeing genetics 

In recent times, Heartline Grazing have placed a concerted focus on verifying the genetics of their herd to attract increased profit – something Matt said has only been made possible through NLIS.  

“If every animal we have is individually identified with NLIS tags, we can link each Wagyu’s DNA information to their tag,” Matt said.  

“This means as soon as we scan that tag, we can bring up the lifetime data for that animal – including what percentage Wagyu they are, who their mother and father is, and how their brothers or sisters have performed. 

“As a result, every Wagyu we have is DNA verified and we can go to people who want to buy our cattle and show them our herd’s genetic credentials.” 

Connecting the dots in carcase performance 

By having each animal identified by its NLIS tag, Matt said it was also possible to link carcase performance data back to individual animals within his herd.  

“We have recently sold a couple of lots of cattle to Smithfield Cattle Company and they have been generous enough to provide the carcase performance data of our animals back to us,” Matt said.  

“We have then been able to link that carcase data back to individual animals in our herd using the NLIS tag numbers.” 

According to Matt, the information this provides is key to making decisions that will pay dividends for his business. 

“If you can get that kill data back and relate it back to individual animals using the NLIS tag numbers, it can definitely help you make management decisions on your genetics and husbandry practices going forward,” Matt said.  

“The best way for us to improve our animals on the ground is to look at the carcase data and the characteristics of our herd.” 

Image caption: Heartline Grazing’s herd on one of the properties agisted by the business in central Queensland. 

Improving marbling scores 

Particularly, Matt hopes that by analysing the carcase data of each individual animal using NLIS, Heartline will be able to select for breeding stock that can produce beef with a higher marbling score. 

“For us, eating quality is a massive thing because we want to produce an environmentally sustainable product that tastes good,” Matt said. 

“This carcase data, when linked back to animals’ NLIS tags, provides us with the marbling score of individual animals from our herd – feedback which is key to improving the eating quality of our beef.” 

“We’ll use this information to inform a culling strategy for which females we’ll keep in the herd, and it will also give us direction on what bulls we AI or bring into our herd.” 

Staying ahead of the herd  

With their herd spread across 10 different properties on agistment, Matt said completing livestock transfers on and off properties (PICs) in the NLIS database was the best way for Heartline to keep up to date with herd movements.  

“Because we have cattle spread around so many properties, the NLIS database is the best way for us to keep track of where they are and what’s going on,” Matt said.  

Matt encourages other producers to own and operate a NLIS account if they don’t have one already to not only take advantage of the data it can provide, but also ensure they are meeting their requirements under the NLIS program. 

“It’s very important – you need to know what cattle are where, and so does our industry to make sure livestock can be traced through their life in case there’s a food safety issue.” 

“If you’ve got to use the NLIS database, there are opportunities to embrace that technology and use it to your advantage. 

“You have to get the best value for money and always look for ways to improve – if you’re going to collect that data, make it work for your business going forward.” 

“Without data, it’s just ego."

Image caption: Matt, Maree and Lisa.