Grass is gold for Pemberton couple

Lake Janis Grassfed was born from the couple's desire to have a vertically-integrated supply chain for gourmet Jersey beef and UltraWhite lamb from their picturesque paddocks at Pemberton, in the Southern Forests region, through to the butcher, retailer and restaurant trade.

The Ryans farm 350 hectares in a 1000 millimetre annual rainfall zone, with mostly karri loam soils.

They take a regenerative farming approach, using a system of biological techniques based on remineralised fermented compost for their multi-species, irrigated pastures that consist of perennial ryegrass, clovers, kikuyu, chicory and plantain.

"Every production decision we make revolves around maximising the nutrient density in our produce, which improves human health," Mr Ryan said.

"We want to change the mindset of consumers from buying produce purely on cosmetic appearance and price to instead choosing for nutrient density and flavour."

Mr Ryan has been farming in Pemberton his whole life and Ms Ryan hails from Sydney.

The pair became interested in Jersey cattle several years ago, when talking to a farmer in Northcliffe who was rearing calves from the dairy sector.

"He had a big Jersey steer there and said it was the best beef you could get in terms of tenderness and marbling," Mr Ryan said.

He said the breed had been given a bad rap in the past because of its yellow fat, which many people associated with an old cow and tough meat.

"It was traditionally unwanted beef and mainly went into the manufacturing trade," he said.

"But we talked to a lot of dairy farmers and discovered Jersey beef is actually superior to many other beef breeds.

"The taste was incredible and the meat marbled extremely well."

The Ryans purchased some Jersey steers and took the carcases direct to several butchers, who provided overwhelmingly positive feedback about the meat quality, appearance, texture and taste.

The pair decided to set up a centre pivot for irrigated pastures as the foundation for a Jersey beef enterprise.

They now buy-in about 300 one and two-year-olds annually through saleyards and direct from dairy operations to run on the irrigated pastures.

These are grown out on grass only and are sold as three and four-year-olds and at carcase weights of 300-380 kilograms.

A group is turned-off every fortnight and more are bought in as these are cleared out.

"They are late maturing and slow growing, so they do take longer to get to saleable weights and high marbling in the meat," Mr Ryan said.

"But it is worth the wait, as they rival Wagyu for their marbling."

Mr Ryan said the main advantage of Jersey beef was it did not need grain feeding to reach a high marbling score, unlike Wagyu.

He said Jersey steers might be slower growing than other breeds, but they were more profitable due to the meat quality, flavour and texture.

"We have had beef with marbling scores of eight and nine through the Meat Standards Australia system, which is as high as you can get," he said.

"The yellow fat is high in beta-carotene, vitamin D and healthy omega-3 fats.

"We are achieving great results with the Jersey cattle - and all with grass feeding."

In just a few years of experimenting with the Jersey beef, the Ryans' product is now sought after by gourmet butchers across Perth and the South West and features on the menu at high-end restaurants, including UMA at the Pan Pacific Perth for the first time this year.

Closer to home, the Two Little Blackbirds cafe in Manjimup takes half a carcase every month and the Pemberton Hotel is serving the Jersey beef on its specials menu.

The Pemberton IGA is also stocking the Jersey beef and grassfed lamb.

Because pastures are irrigated during the summer months, the Ryans can supply their Jersey grassfed beef year-round and the bulk of the carcases go to the butcher trade.

Mr Ryan said even the secondary cuts from Jersey beef carcases were very good.

"Our butchers are getting good feedback from their customers, and we see it on social media, there are photos of people cooking up the steaks and smoking the slow cuts," he said.

"You can do anything with it.

"The mince is creamy and we cook a lot of casseroles and curries with the secondary cuts.

"We smoked a brisket for about 10 hours once and it was delicious."

The Ryans diversified into UltraWhite sheep three years ago to create a grassfed lamb brand that would complement their Lake Janis Farm Grassfed Beef.

One of the main advantages of the sheep is that they are tackling a consistent wild radish weed problem.

"Our property is originally an old potato farm and we get a lot of weeds," Mr Ryan said.

"The sheep are great for eating down the grass in the organic avocado orchard."

Mr Ryan said they chose UltraWhites because they had heard the meat was top quality and the sheep were low maintenance.

UltraWhites do not need shearing or mulesing, and the lamb meat has fat with a lower melting point than other breeds - eliminating the 'fuzzy mouth' feeling when eating it.

The breed has been developed in Western Australia over the past two decades by the Bradford family.

Selection has been based on good lamb growth, strong structure, maternal ability, marbling, shedding of fleece and quiet temperament.

The Bradfords say UltraWhite lambs can reach carcase weights of 23-24 kilograms at 16 to 20-weeks-old.

The Ryans run 400 UltraWhite ewes and produce about 800 lambs each year.

This is achieved by having a lambing three times every two years.

"It means we have lambs dropping at different times of the year, helping us supply product to butchers year-round," Mr Ryan said.

"We were also finding the ewes were just getting too fat with just one lambing each year."

Lambs are born on to and grown out on the irrigated pasture.

"We don't need fertilisers with this mix of species," Mr Ryan said.

"It is lucky we have a strong phosphorus base in the soil from the potato plantings of years ago."

The Ryans turn-off their lambs at five to six-months-old to produce a 23-24kg dressed weight carcase.

Mr Ryan said the lower fat melting point was the main differentiating feature of the UltraWhite meat.

"You can see the difference in the meat cuts from grainfed lamb and one butcher describes the meat as outstanding," he said.

The Ryans sell direct to the butcher trade, mostly in Perth, and market the lamb as Lake Janis Grassfed Lamb.

Mr Ryan said using a grassfed system was a key goal for the health attributes and taste of the meat, as well as providing provenance and marketing opportunities.

As a side hussle, the Ryans have planted 2000 avocado trees and sell them through an organic wholesaler to the Eastern States.

"The WA organic market is too small and it is a lot easier to send a big consignment to the east," Mr Ryan said.

The trees are irrigated and harvest occurs from November to February.

Mr Ryan said, for some years, the writing had been on the wall for supplies of avocados to outstrip demand for the fruit in WA, causing prices to contract.

"For this reason, we went down the organic path to provide a differentiated product to the market," he said.

"We needed a point of difference so that we wouldn't be price takers."

The family's latest venture is the production of four hectares of golden kiwifruit, using the Dori variety from Italy.

They are one of the first growers to bring the golden variety to WA and are in their third harvesting season.

"The fruit is yellowy-gold inside, instead of the traditional lime green-yellow colour," Mr Ryan said.

"Gold kiwifruit is hairless and a lot sweeter than the green variety.

"Again, this is another point of difference for our produce."

Mr Ryan said the learning curve for the kiwifruit had been steep.

He said it was a very technical crop in terms of trellising and pruning management.

"I have never been an orchardist before, or had such a difficult crop to grow," he said.

"And because the labour costs are so high when picking it, you need to get it right the first time in terms of irrigation, bud thinning, flower and leaf thinning, pollination and the like.

"It is non-stop work, year-round, and any issues are expensive to fix."

For this reason, the Ryans are chasing a premium price when they sell the fruit through Perth's Market City.

Looking ahead, the Ryans said they were not taking on any other enterprises.

"Direct marketing of meat and re-educating consumers about the benefits of grass feeding is almost a full-time job, let alone producing it and the horticultural crops," Mr Ryan said.

"But the feedback we get on our produce is so positive that it makes it all worthwhile."

Stockists of the Lake Janis Grassfed products are listed on their Facebook and Instagram pages.

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