Meat Standards Australia (MSA)
Meat Standards Australia (MSA) is the world’s leading eating quality grading program for beef (and sheepmeat), developed to improve the eating quality and consistency of red meat.
MSA was developed with a total consumer focus, and the system now incorporates more than 1.8 million consumer taste tests by more than 250,000 consumers from 13 countries and takes into account the factors that affect eating quality from paddock-to-plate.
Beginning in 1998, MSA has enabled more than 30 years of research and development through commercial outcomes, and involves participation along the entire Australian red meat supply chain. This means consumer taste tests represent beef which has been produced over a wide range of cattle breeds, management practices, processing systems, ageing periods and cooking methods across all cuts of meat.
The MSA system grades each muscle (cut) on eating quality, with regards to tenderness, juiciness, flavour and overall liking. MSA product must meet consumer set standards at one of three quality levels: MSA 3-star (good everyday), MSA 4-star (better than everyday) and MSA 5-star (premium). This removes the need for consumer to have specialist beef knowledge.
Processors who wish to participate in the MSA program, must be MSA licensed and ensure all their quality management systems comply with MSA program requirements. The key factors include pre-slaughter handling, processing treatments, monitoring of the pH/temperature decline window, carcase grading by a MSA certified grader, product identification and traceability, and product labelling.
MSA Grading
MSA-accredited graders collate information provided from the cattle supplier, through the MSA vendor declaration, with processor information and MSA grading data. This is all entered into a handheld computer that uses the MSA program to predict the eating quality of each muscle, across each applicable cooking method, and covering ageing periods from 5–50 days. To obtain MSA grading details, the MSA grader assesses each individual carcase for a number of attributes, using a uniform set of standards. Traits that are assessed include, but are not limited to: marbling score, pH, ossification, hump height and rib fat.
Producing MSA beef
All producers are eligible to participate in the MSA program but must first be LPA-Accredited and be registered as an MSA producer, consigning cattle to an MSA licensed processor, to be slaughtered within the required timeframes.
To register as a MSA producer log on to your my MLA account here: myMLA or contact msaenquiries@mla.com.au or 1800 111 672.
An MSA Vendor declaration and a Livestock Production Assurance National Vendor Declaration (LPA NVD) must accompany every consignment to the MSA licensed processor.
The on-property or feedlot management of beef cattle is a critical element contributing to the eating quality performance of beef. The long period of care and investment in producing an animal with high eating quality potential is most at risk in the two weeks pre-slaughter and the first few hours post-slaughter. The best meat cuts can be reduced to a low quality, unacceptable product by inappropriate action in this period.
For this reason, MSA has produced guidelines to help optimise the eating quality potential, so producers can meet certain standards and requirements when producing MSA beef.
Key requirements by the producer for MSA cattle consigned to slaughter which must be met:
- All cattle must reside on the property of dispatch for a minimum of 30 days prior to consignment/dispatch.
- Do not consign entire males or male cattle exhibiting secondary sexual characteristics.
- Do not consign any cattle of poor temperament or with signs of severe stress.
- Do not consign sick or injured cattle or cattle within a withholding period for any treatment.
- Cattle which have been delivered via direct consignment must be processed within 48 hours from dispatch to slaughter; with a maximum of 36 hours in road transport (which can also include a rest period of up to 12 hours)
- Cattle transported by sea or rail are processed no later than day after dispatch
- Cattle sold through an MSA accredited saleyard must be processed within 48 hours of dispatch from farm.
Key recommendations to optimise the eating quality of beef include:
- Cattle are handled and mustered quietly to reduce stress.
- Cattle have free access to water outside of transport.
- Do not mix cattle from different mobs or pens on the property within two weeks of dispatch.
- Be continually grazed or fed rations to a level that is adequate for growth for a minimum period of one month prior to dispatch.
- Have free access to feed until dispatch, other than a minimum period required for preparation through cattle yards.
- Load cattle quietly, preferably with no use of goads and electric prodders.
- Load cattle at the recommended densities as set out in the trucking industry code of practice.
To be eligible for MSA grading cattle consigned must also meet any applicable company specifications for grading that may be implemented by the MSA licensed processor. Examples of these specifications include weight, dentition and P8 fat depth parameters. As a producer, ensure you are aware of any processor requirements that apply when consigning cattle. All breeds are eligible for MSA grading, however high tropical breed content can have a negative impact on eating quality and therefore, the level of grading achieved.
MSA Carcase feedback
The MSA Index is a single number, and standard national measure, of the predicted eating quality and potential merit of a carcase. It is a tool that producers and lot feeders can use to benchmark the impact of genetic and management interventions on eating quality, across time periods.
Producers can access MSA Index values for carcases in the online feedback system, myMSA. In addition to accessing individual carcase feedback reports as soon as the grader has uploaded data, producers also have access to a suite of sophisticated reports and tools.
myMSA offers producers the ability to:
- access MSA graphs for key grading attributes
- access MSA non-compliance and company specification non-compliance reports
- create customisable reports to look at grading performance and compliance over time and/or for multiple datasets
- download data to use in excel, or import into farm software programs
- use the MSA Index calculator to determine the potential change in eating quality with on-farm management changes
- benchmark the performance of consignments against the average of your region, state or nationally and by selecting for feed type, hormonal growth promotant (HGP) status, sex and ossification score.
Strategies to improve MSA compliance rates
Compliance rates vary throughout the production regions of Australia, and are influenced by factors such as seasonal conditions. There are several minimum requirements which each individual carcase must meet in order to be compliant to the MSA program requirements.
Reasons for non-compliance include the following:
- pH above 5.70
- Less than 3mm of rib fat
- Inadequate fat distribution
- Miscellaneous (e.g. bad bruising)
It’s important to note that an individual carcase(s) can fail to meet MSA requirements, and be considered non-compliant for multiple attributes.
As a producer, monitoring your compliance rates is a critical element in understanding your overall eating quality performance, and it is important to note any common factors in non-compliant carcases.
For example, if most of the carcases failed to meet the rib fat requirements, the cattle require improved nutrition and/or more days on feed. If ossification levels are high, but the carcase weights and rib-fat measurements are ample, the cattle may be better turned off earlier.
Compare each consignment with the one previous, particularly where production changes have been made in an effort to improve compliance. A small management change can significantly improve compliance.
The following are some of the examples of management strategies that can be used to improve MSA grading results:
- avoid holding cattle overnight in the yards before trucking (to reduce stress and high non-compliance due to pH)
- do not mix strange mobs of cattle before trucking (draft cattle a fortnight before and hold separately where possible)
- do not consign animals with poor temperament alongside quieter cattle in a consignment intended for MSA grading
- apply best practice stock handling in the month before and in preparation for transport to reduce stress
- provide the best available nutrition (and ensure it is a rising plane) to animals soon to be processed
- assess stocking rates for efficiency and manage paddock nutrition to ensure adequate growth rates leading up to slaughter
- increase lifetime growth rates to reduce age at turnoff at sale and improve ossification (maturity) through targeted supplementation
- increase growth rate and reduce age of turnoff through genetic improvement
- increase rump fat, rib fat cover and marbling through genetic improvement.
The Meat Standards Australia website also includes an MSA Index Calculator that can be used by registered MSA producers and is found under ‘Resources & Tools’ on the myMSA website. The calculator allows you to compare differences in attributes and gives an indication of the MSA Index based on the traits entered. The calculator is also useful in determining the potential change in eating quality with on-farm management changes.
Further information on MSA can be found at:
Long-distance MSA transport
More cattle producers will be able to cash-in on MSA premiums following recent changes to the grading system’s transport protocols. In this webinar you will learn about:
- the new MSA transport protocol and how it can be applied
- the findings from the research project in relation to extended transport time on eating quality and stress levels, and the impact of spelling on eating quality and stress
- how the new MSA transport protocol is likely to benefit producers in more remote areas that currently cannot access MSA premiums.
Hear from MSA pathways coordinator Rod Polkinghorne and far western Queensland beef producer Cameron Daley, with hosts Jon Condon (Beef Central) and John James (FutureBeef).
They will outline the findings of the recent MLA-funded research; the conditions that apply under the new transport protocol; and offer some insight as to how the new standard may be applied under commercial conditions for remote producers.
Join our presenters as they discuss these topics in this webinar recording. For your convenience, here are the webinar presentation slides (PDF, 924KB). 50:00 minutes published 30 July 2013 by FutureBeefAu.