MEDIA RELEASE
Wellard’s Beaufort River Meat hits the half million mark
April 21, 2014
Wellard has processed its 500,000th head of livestock through its Woodanilling abattoir, Beaufort River Meats (BRM).
The company hit the milestone with a 19.3 kilogram mutton carcase, which has been broken and frozen for export to Taiwan.
More than two thirds of the half a million animals processed at BRM have been mutton sheep and one quarter have been lambs. The remainder of the throughput included rams, goats and some deer.
Previously BRM only supplied frozen product, however since it was purchased by Wellard it has developed a large, vibrant air freight chilled carcase trade to the Middle East. Smaller mutton carcases are predominantly used for 6-way product and the larger animals are allocated to the frozen whole carcase market.
Markets BRM is supplying to include all of the Middle East, Taiwan, the United States of America, Canada, West Indies, Jordan, Israel, Hong Kong, Vietnam, Japan and Singapore. In recent weeks BRM received approval to export processed sheep, goats and deer to China.
BRM General Manager David Jarvie said the BRM operation was going from strength to strength with a co-ordinated buying program; committed abattoir staff and management; and an expanding market penetration created by the trading staff of Wellard.
“Importantly, the change from seasonal operations to year-round processing has enabled BRM to attract and retain high quality staff, which is crucial in the food business. In my 30 years in the industry I have never been in an abattoir with such a great, productive atmosphere,” he said.
Beaufort River Meats has operated continually and seamlessly since November 2012, when Wellard purchased the facility from the Macri family, who remain integrally involved with the abattoir’s day to day operations.
“With robust forward orders, we expect operations to keep going at full speed until a routine maintenance period in winter, said Mr Jarvie.
In addition to purchasing smallstock from throughout Western Australia, Wellard has also been able to use its Baldivis feedlot to grow out store lambs to weights and grades suitable for processing at Beaufort River Meats.
“This integrated model provides extra efficiencies and utilisation of Wellard assets and marketing opportunities for store sheep producers,” Mr Jarvie said.
ENDS
For further information or high resolution version of photograph below please contact:
Cameron Morse
Phone: + 61 8 9485 8888
Mobile: +61 (0) 433 886 871
Website: www.wellard.com.au
Ken Dickson (Slaughter Floor contractor) and Laurence Macri (Operations Manager)
Background – Wellard
Wellard is a world leader in the production and distribution of livestock and grain.
Its two largest subsidiaries are Wellard Rural Exports, Australia’s largest livestock exporter and ship owner, and Wellard Agri, a large mixed farming land owner and operator specialising in the production of grains, legumes and livestock.
Wellard Rural Exports has supplied quality dairy and beef cattle and sheep and goats to the world for more than 30 years, and its investment in the live export industry is without peer. Based in Fremantle, Western Australia, the company’s operations cover every aspect of the export chain, including feed milling, livestock aggregation, road transport, feedlot facilities throughout Australia and modern shipping.
The company’s flagship carrier, the MV Ocean Drover (formerly the MV Becrux), is a purpose-built livestock carrier capable of carrying 75,000 sheep or 18,000 cattle to major markets around the globe. She was commissioned in 2002.
Two new, technologically advanced, purpose-built vessels, the MV Ocean Swagman and the MV Ocean Outback, were launched in 2010. They offer unparalleled levels of safety for the livestock, crew and vessel, and can transport 7000 cattle, 25,000 sheep, or a combination of both.
Wellard’s abattoir, Beaufort River Meats, processes up to 2500 sheep and lambs a day, enabling Wellard to meet customer demand for both livestock and chilled meat.
Wellard Agri owns and operates eight farms covering 35,700 hectares across three principal agri-hubs. The two northern hubs are located at Dongara and Watheroo in Western Australia’s central midlands and one is located at Kojonup in the Great Southern region of WA.
The Dongara hub is home to The Grange, a 14,500 hectare property which is considered one of Western Australia’s blue chip farming properties.
The remaining landholding being more than 21,500 hectares, in total planting 23,500 hectares to a variety of grains and legumes. The other 6,100ha is devoted to sheep and cattle production, including the Hyfield Poll Merino stud at Kojonup. In addition, Wellard leases an additional 13,500ha for livestock and grain production.
Wellard Agri also has operations in the farm machinery sector, through management of the CLAAS Harvest Centres at Esperance, Katanning, Wongan Hills and Geraldton for the Landpower range of farm machinery.
Visit www.wellard.com.au