The Meat Sciences Team at Murdoch University has a focus on improving industry while bringing relevant information and training to students.

Article by Storm Mackenzie (Agricultural Science student)

As a leader in the development of meat measuring technologies being developed in the ALMTech program, the Meat Science Team make important contributions to MSA eating quality system for lamb and beef.

The Meat Science team at Murdoch are highly relevant in industry and an excellent resource for students interested in careers in the meat industry. 

The Meat Sciences Team has a goal of improving the Australian red meat industry by:

• Increasing productivity and profitability
• Reducing value-chain wastage
• Enhancing the industry’s ability to respond to consumer demands

The team has had national impacts by identifying consumer needs, developing the MSA eating quality systems for lamb and beef, introducing new trade values (intramuscular fat and percentage meat of carcass) and the devices to measure these factors. 

By finding what traits consumers prefer when purchasing and consuming Australian meat products, it becomes possible to select for these traits using a variety of measurement technologies.

Such measurements enable the creation of a national trading system with values that directly link from animals on-farm to meat quality on the plate. These values enable producers to predict quality and the amount of final product throughout the production system: identifying new breeding values, improving production systems on farm, and improving abattoir processes and meat storage leading to sale of cuts on the market.

 

Students interested in meat sciences pathways should focus their studies on:

• Animal Systems Units; biochemistry and physiology. Core anatomy knowledge is also beneficial.
• Meat judging competitions are an excellent opportunity for students interested in this field.
• Statistics and Modelling skills are highly sought after in meat science research and industry roles
• Business and economics knowledge will set you up for a range of careers and set you apart from your cohort.
  
• To specialise, consider a year in a meat science honours to hone your focus.