QLD COUNTRY LIFE - March 2009

By Fiona Cameron

Central Western Queensland graziers, George and Anna Hetherington, have created an on-farm business that belies the tyranny of distance. They live over 1000 kilometres from the families who sit down to enjoy lamb roasts and hearty steaks delivered from the paddocks of Muyong, the Hetherington’s sheep and cattle enterprise north of Longreach, to their customer’s plates in the State’s south east. Successful partnerships with other Central Western businesses and the family’s passionate belief in its product has turned an innovative concept into a reality and created a truly outback business with an urban clientele.

George and Anna established Mitchell Grass Meats (MGM) in March 2007. The family-run venture supplies lamb and beef to a niche market, using direct sales to by-pass the traditional systems for selling meat in Australia. Their customers order bulk meat packs via the MGM website and the Hetheringtons produce all the meat for this venture from first cross Merino/Suffolk sheep and Brahman/Angus yearlings grown on their 9713 hectare property. The live animals are regularly transported to Blackall to be processed by the Barcoo Butchery. Emerald Freighters then trucks the meat packs overnight to Toowoomba, Brisbane, and the Sunshine and Gold Coasts, where Mr Organics’ Murray Griffiths  distribute the packs directly to customers.

Looking to maximise returns from their property, the Hetheringtons began crossing meat sheep over their Merino ewes in 1997. They trialled several meat sheep breeds before settling on black faced Suffolks, which they felt were best suited to Western Queensland Conditions, exhibiting more vigour and producing a stronger, more resilient lamb in the conditions.

The Hetheringtons’ decision to market their meat directly to consumers through their on-line business was fuelled by several factors. They were frustrated by the challenges associated with other available markets and having beef and lamb prices dictated to them by meat wholesalers through saleyard and paddock selling systems. The family also wanted to see improved return from their country by value adding their products.

“We passionately love producing beautiful Merino wool,” Anna said. “But Muyong is a small property for this area and we could see that we needed to do something in addition to that to make better and more efficient use of the land.”

 They became aware that a growing number of health conscious people were looking to buy 100 percent grass fed, chemical free beef and lamb. Anna and George felt that there was no connection between these consumers and producers and decided to create their own pathway for this market.

“We lived at the Sunshine Coast for a period of time and realised how hard it was to get hold of good quality, clean protein in that environment,” Anna said.

“We could see that there was a big gap between what the consumer wants and what the producer is producing. We thought there must be a way to get our meat to these people.”

Anna said that the decision to target individuals, not retailers or wholesalers, was the right one for MGM. The Hetheringtons value the close contact with their customers and the feedback they receive directly from the end user of their product. They created the MGM website as an information centre for their customers and have found that many of them enjoy learning about the land and livestock management practises, the seasons and the lifestyle through the site and e-newsletters. It has also enabled the Hetheringtons to take a proactive approach towards issues in the meat and livestock industries, by using their website to communicate their views on a variety of topics.

MGM is a unique meat supply business in that it is passionately focused on the health giving properties of its products and several health practitioners now recommend the meat to their patients. Anna has suffered from fibromyalgia, chronic fatigue, and mercury poisoning for a number of years. As part of her journey, she studied the toxic effects of chemicals from the environment and the food chain and that knowledge has become a driving force in the Hetheringtons’ enterprise. There are no chemical pesticides, super phosphates, herbicides, fertilizers, antibiotics, growth hormones or grain feed used in the production of their animals and they want to share the benefits of that with their customers. While they grow a chemical free product, George and Anna feel that it is possible to produce and market their meat without linking in with the organics industry.

“Once my health problems started, we discovered how much chemical is in the food chain and we didn’t want to be consuming that ourselves. We’ve had to come up with some very creative solutions to normal problems encountered out in this country, when the most obvious thing would be to use chemicals,” Anna said.

The family uses sustainable land management practices on Muyong, including splitting paddocks into smaller sizes, with effective positioning of troughs to ensure animals graze and use the country evenly. Fly traps are used to attract and control blow fly populations and the Hetheringtons practise low stress handling techniques with their stock.

“We came to realise that there were other people in the world who wanted to eat food the way we were already producing it. We didn’t feel that becoming certified organic would do anything to change our management practices, so we decided to ask our customers to trust us and we honour that trust,” Anna said.

Much of what the Hetheringtons do in their business includes education on how to prepare, store and cook healthy protein. They also focus on the environmental importance of eating all parts of the animal, not just the popular cuts. This is reflected in the meat packs available to their customers, which ensure that nearly all the animal is used, with minimal wastage.

“We decided to prepare our packs in a way that worked from our point of view, as producers, instead of allowing customers to choose what meat they got, for example all steak or all chops. They have the choice of a whole lamb and we divide a beast six ways,” Anna said.

The Hetheringtons have built close, positive relationships with the other businesses that are integral to MGM’s success.

“Those partnerships are vital. Initially, there were challenges in getting the cold goods from Blackall to Brisbane but the freight company and delivery businesses that we work with are marvellous,” Anna said.

“And we couldn’t do this without Barcoo Butchery. They run a very efficient and professional family operation and do a magnificent job preparing and packaging our meat. We’ve gone for very simple packaging, so that our customers aren’t paying more, but the preparation that Barcoo puts into the packs has a real ‘wow’ factor.”

 At times, dry seasons have made finishing animals a challenge for the Hetheringtons and coping with the ups and downs of seasonal conditions is an ongoing consideration. But, George and Anna have managed to balance the demands of their business with the daily running of the property and home-schooling of their daughters.

Muyong currently produces around 2000 crossbred lambs a year for the meat market and the Hetheringtons would ultimately like to see all their animals sold through MGM. The frequency of the meat loads has increased from monthly to fortnightly, with weekly loads in peak periods, and demand is rising steadily.

As testament to their achievements to date, the Hetherington’s venture has been shortlisted for the Central West Industry Excellence Awards in Agribusiness. Anna said it was exciting to be recognised by an initiative that encourages people to strive for excellence in their chosen industry.

The family’s approach to their own enterprise combines an ethos built from their honesty and integrity with a commitment to producing a quality product and open communication with consumers who share their values. It is a deceptively simple recipe for success.

“When we first sat down and looked at doing this, we decided we couldn’t be anything other than what we are ourselves and we wouldn’t promise anything that we can’t deliver,” Anna said.

“We value the 100 percent control that we have over our products, from paddock to plate, and we have seen the rebuilding of the connection between farmer and consumer. The fact that this business has the potential to change the value of what we do here at Muyong, to make a small property more viable and enable our lifestyle here, is wonderful.”

 

Longreach Leader July 2009

By Amy Wilson 

PRODUCING chemical free, grass fed sheep in an arid area is a tough gig, especially given the current season, but George and Anna Hetherington are seeing the benefits of sticking to their principals.

‘Mitchell Grass Meats’ lamb and beef, from crossbred Merinos and Angus/Brahman cattle, has been a hit with customers on the coast and south east, and is now available to the Hetherington’s local region of the central west.

Over the past 18 months, the Hetheringtons have been delivering bulk meat packs direct and fresh to Toowoomba, Brisbane, the Sunshine and Gold Coasts. The biggest drawcards for customers have been the nutritional value, quality and flavour of grass-fed, chemical free meat, especially those with conditions or allergies to chemicals and grains used in conventional meat production.
Around five years ago, Mr and Mrs Hetherington started looking into the ways chemical-free protein in the diet could have great health benefits. Not long after, they decided to change the direction of farming on Muyong, aiming to provide for what has become quite a popular niche in the health food market.

Although operations at Muyong were virtually organic, the Hetheringtons chose not to be certified as organic, because the badge was applied to such a wide range of foods these days. Instead, they chose to market their product simply and it seems to have worked.

But it was not all smooth sailing, running such an operation, Mrs Hetherington said.

“It’s a tough line to do what we are doing, especially with the seasonal variation out here,” she said.

At one stage recently, the season dropped around Muyong, and the lambs started to lose condition. At that point, conventional producers would grain feed, she said. Instead, they had to be more prepared and tenacious.

“It is hard, growing grass-fed animals in an arid area, relying on rain, but we just have to remember the principles we are passionate about – caring for our land and producing clean, chemical free protein. And our customers appreciate that we do.”

Sadly, the current climate of the wool industry has pushed the Hetheringtons to start winding back wool production on Muyong, which has a long history. But with Mitchell Grass Meats sales buoyant and growing, the Hetheringtons were inspired by the property’s new focus.

 

The Central West Qld Industry Excellence Awards held at a Gala Dinner in Longreach on Saturday 14th March 2009. We were honoured to receive the following for our efforts in producing 100% grass fed, chemical free meat through Mitchell Grass Meats:

 

Our thanks to Desert Channels Qld & Rabobank for their wonderful support and encouragement of our endeavours.