The figure represents 46 per cent of the national adult cattle slaughter and an increase of three per cent points on the previous year.
It’s the highest number of cattle graded in a year since MSA’s inception in 1998, according to the 2019-20 MSA Annual Outcomes Report.
Victoria showed the greatest growth with an increase of 17 per cent of cattle being MSA graded.
By volume, Queensland continued to process the greatest number of MSA-graded cattle with 1.8 million head, while South Australia had the greatest MSA proportion of the state slaughter with 90 per cent MSA graded.
In 2019-20, 4.3 million sheep followed MSA pathways, representing 22 per cent of the national lamb slaughter and a 2.5 per cent point increase from 2018-19.
A total of 64 per cent of these lambs went into MSA trademarked brands.
By volume, South Australia processed the greatest number of MSA lambs at 1.7 million head and had the greatest proportion of the state lamb slaughter following MSA pathways at 78 per cent.
MSA program manager David Packer, said MSA has delivered an estimated $172 million in additional farm gate returns to MSA beef producers in 2019-20.
“In 2019-20, the average price differential for young non-feedlot MSA cattle was 27 cents per kilogram hot standard carcase weight, compared to the same non-MSA graded cattle according to over-the-hook NLRS reports,” Mr Packer said.
“Based on the average carcase weight of 279kg of MSA cattle in 2019-20, MSA beef producers potentially received an estimated $75 per head in additional returns for young, non-grainfed cattle and $35 per head for cattle that met grainfed specifications.
“Non-feedlot cattle represented 38 per cent of MSA graded cattle, and feedlot cattle represented 62 per cent of MSA graded cattle.”
Mr Packer said the commitment of producers to education and adopting on-farm practices to achieve outstanding eating quality in their livestock saw the national average compliance to MSA minimum requirements for beef lift to 94.4 per cent, up from 93.8 per cent in 2018-19.
“This commitment is also reflected in the national MSA Index, which increased to a record 58.03, an increase of 0.55 Index points on the previous year,” he said.
“This increase in eating quality is commendable given the challenging climatic conditions experienced around Australia over the past 12 months.
“The MSA Index is a single number and standard national measure of the predicted eating quality of a carcase.
“It provides meaningful producer feedback to benchmark performance and reflects the on-farm impacts on eating quality.
“The benefits of the MSA program continued to attract producers, with 2900 beef and sheepmeat producers becoming MSA registered in 2019-20.”
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