Oxton Park takes home top prize at Gundagai Lamb’s annual Producer Awards, for second year running, as six lamb producers receive honours.
Oxton Park has been named Producer of the Year at the 2024 Gundagai Lamb Producer Awards in front of invited guests including producers, livestock agents and Gundagai Lamb team members at the Gundagai Golf Club last night.
Gundagai Lamb CEO Will Barton, who welcomed guests early in the evening, said the awards are an important way to recognise producers for their innovation and commitment to improving consistent lamb quality.
“Gundagai Lamb was built on the idea that there is a better, cleaner, healthier way to eat lamb and a lot of that comes down to consistency in delivering a quality product,” Will said.
“Oxton Park receiving this award two years running is testament that, as producers, they live and breathe that commitment to consistent quality.
“We are very fortunate to work with high calibre, dedicated producers so the bar is set very high and this year’s award winners continue to raise that bar.”
The awards recognise Gundagai Lamb producers and partners across six (6) categories including awards focused on GLQ scores that grade every individual lamb for intramuscular fat, lean meat yield and animal welfare, with Supply Chain Manager Michelle Henry on hand to present the winners.
Other award winners announced on the night were:
- Grid Compliance Award – DJ Graham Trust
- GLQ Score Award for the highest average GLQ score – Tallawong Pastoral Co.
- GLQ Score for Age Award – Barclay
- Pioneer’s Award, awarded in acknowledgment of an individual or organisation who have gone above and beyond to assist with the growth and development of the brand – Alex Hardie and James Corcoran
- Agent of the Year – Dean Bourlet
Guests of the event heard from Gundagai Lamb team members who outlined the year in review and future plans while dining on Gundagai Lamb GLQ5+ lamb cutlets, slow roasted minted lamb shoulder spring rolls, Massaman Lamb Curry and Lamb Ragu with locally made pasta.
YEAR IN REVIEW
Once again, Gundagai Lamb team members Jake Bourlet and Claire Marriott ran through the year in review revealing that 237 producers had consigned a combined 135,000 lambs to the brand in its third year, supporting the ongoing growth and development of the brand. The average distance travelled to the plant was 140 kilometres, down 20km on the prior year, with 98% of lamb coming from within 400km of the plant.
TWO EXCITING NEW DEVELOPMENTS
Further to the awards, during the evening Gundagai Lamb’s Will Barton also shared two exciting new developments, including the upcoming release of a new producer portal that will allow producers and agents to more dynamically review carcase data from Gundagai Lamb. Following a successful pilot of the portal, producers will be invited to log in and start using it from next week.
In recognition of Gundagai Lamb’s continued commitment to innovation including improvements in traceability, data collection and use of advanced feedback platforms, Will Barton also announced Meat and Livestock Australia’s (MLA) support of a 5-year long-term practice change program, which includes ongoing support for producer and agent engagement.
In addition, the program will allow Gundagai Lamb to embed Meat Standards Australia (MSA) Grading functionality into their systems, paving the way for MSA carcase grading. MLA’s acknowledgement of Gundagai Lamb’s proactive approach, and commitment to a long-term program provides certainty and stability for the initiatives to continue, and be enhanced, over the coming years.
