Duane Woodham, Head of Livestock, Kilcoy Global Foods. Image Kim Woods
Australian cattle producers are faced with fulfilling growing demand in expanding domestic grain fed programs as a processing powerhouse emerges in southern Australia.
New processing facilities are being built with capacity, improvements and refurbishment at Cootamundra, Murray Bridge, Lance Creek, Moe and Tongala.
According to Kilcoy Global Food’s Head of Livestock, Duane Woodham, Sunshine Coast, Qld, the increased capacity in southern Australia will be driven by grain fed cattle.
“We will see more grain fed cattle in the mix with more demand from feedlotters. We need to start thinking about how we supply that capacity,” Mr Woodham said.
He was a keynote speaker at the Pasture Agronomy Service conference in Wagga Wagga in March.
“More processors are putting grain fed cattle in their mix to achieve a consistent supply, consistent product and continuity for their workforce,” Mr Woodham said.
However, feedlot capacity in southern Australia is stagnant and he signalled the need for greater investment.
“We would like to see more investment by companies or individuals to increase feedlot capacity in the southern area,” he said.
Exporting to more than 50 countries, Kilcoy Global Foods process 500 grain fed cattle a day from feedlots in Victoria, South Australia and southern and central NSW at their Lance Creek facility in Victoria.
At their Hardwicks plant at Kyneton, Victoria, 600 pasture raised cattle are processed a day, and all are purchased either direct or from saleyards in Queensland, NSW, Victoria, and South Australia.
In 2022, Kilcoy purchased the cow manufacturing Tabro Meat plant at Lance Creek, investing significant capital to produce premium grass and grain fed beef, chilled and frozen primal cuts, offal and co-products.
The Lance Creek facility has ramped up from a daily kill of 60 grain fed cattle in 2024 to 500 head this year.
“That is just the start of the journey as our southern processing capabilities grow,” Mr Woodham said.
“We want cattle that will perform on a 100-day grain fed program, and with EBV’s at and above average for 600-day weight and IMF. There is demand there for a variety of marble scores. The higher the marble score in some instances, the better revenue we can write but there is a market for all marble scores,” Mr Woodham said.
Pasture raised cattle are sourced as lighter domestic carcases of 180-240kg for processing at Hardwick, Kyneton, for the domestic markets in Sydney, Adelaide, Melbourne and regional butcher shops. Grass fed or grain assisted heavier cattle weighing 260-360kg HSCW are also processed.
Australian feedlots turned off 3.6 million cattle in 2025 or an increase of 500,000 head on 2024.
An integrated supply chain from paddock to plate, Kilcoy has five state-of-the-art facilities processing more than one million cattle, three million small stock and 50,000 tonnes of value-add solutions a year.
In the year 2000, Kilcoy processed 80,000 mainly grassfed cattle but the shifting industry dynamics of grass to grain fed resulted in the company processing 541,000 grain fed cattle in 2025.
In 2024, Kilcoy purchased the Coominya facility in Queensland to deliver chilled and frozen food solutions specialising in burger patties. The plant supplies major quick service restaurants and retail channels in local and export markets.
Coominya has the capacity to produce 3 million hamburger patties a day and is currently producing two million daily for Australian and Southeast Asian markets.
Kilcoy Cuisine Solutions at Bells Creek, Qld, is a valued added facility delivering multi-protein raw and cooked food solutions specialising in retail and food service channels. Ready-to-cook and ready-to-heat products are supplied to local and export markets.
Co-products include chilled and frozen offal, hide, tallow, meat and bone meal and nutrition. Nutrition is a newer part of the business whereby beef, liver and heart products are processed into dried powder.
Based on a platform of industry global standards and accreditation, Kilcoy’s ready to cook solutions range from burgers and meat balls to wet marinade, stir fry, mince, sear and bar marked beef, raw cuts and tallow.
Kilcoy’s retail range called Few & Far empowers home cooks to create restaurant quality meals from value added solutions including premium burgers, rump steaks, mince and beef strips. Few & Far Food Professionals provides high quality, innovative products for the food service industry.
