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Organic Obe Beef a market winner
24 May 2004
When four graziers gathered for a workshop in far western Queensland at Thargomindah to hone their business skills, the idea was floated to adopt certified organic production. A second workshop saw 30 graziers form the Obe Beef operation, which now runs up to 95,000 head of cattle on 26 properties, covering seven million hectares. Its organic niche market is now 6,000 head a year with the potential to grow to 20,000 a year.
Scott Fraser, an instigator of the original workshop, is now a director of Obe Beef. His Nooyeah Station turns off 500 to 800 steers a year from his santa gertrudis/short horn herd. He says the conversion to organic production has paid off for producers, yielding price premiums of up to 30 per cent.
Obe is accredited by the National Association for Sustainable Agriculture Australia and Biological Farmers Australia. It now exports to Japan and the US, and in Australia sells to Coles and Woolworths. Obe's next goal is to sell chilled and processed whole cuts of boxed beef into the European Union.
The Courier-Mail, 24/5/04.
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