This achievement is not in isolation and has come from the continued commitment of the Australian sheep industry to improve the sustainability of operational practices through the supply chain.
 
In April of this year, Sheep Producers Australia and WoolProducers Australia, released the world first Australian Sheep Sustainability Framework (SSF). The role of the framework is to demonstrate sustainable practices, identify areas for improvement, and better communicate with customers and consumers through improved transparency and evidence-based reporting.
 
The Framework addresses 21 priorities across four themes – caring for our sheep; enhancing the environment and climate; looking after our people, our customers and the community; and ensuring a financially resilient industry.
 
Australian Sheep Sustainability Framework Steering Group Chair and Holbrook wool and prime lamb producer, Professor Bruce Allworth, said that the vision of the framework is to sustainably produce the world’s best sheep meat and wool, now and into the future – but acknowledges opportunity is not without challenge.
 
 
 

“For the industry to seize opportunities, we need to ensure we address challenges such as ensuring businesses are financially sustainable, avoiding land degradation and biodiversity loss, managing climate risk and water scarcity, meeting expectations on animal welfare, and protecting human rights in the global supply chain.”

“Across the 21 priorities, there are relevant indicators and metrics so we can measure and track industry performance year on year. This evidence base will help ensure continued access to markets for Australian sheep businesses. It will also support continuous improvement across the industry,” Allworth said.
 
 
 

By balancing environment, animal welfare, people and long-term financial sustainability, the Sheep Sustainability Framework shines a light on the crucial work of producers and supply chains, while cementing Australia’s position as sustainable producers of the worlds’ best sheep meat and wool, now and into the future.

 
 
 
Elsewhere in the supply chain, these ideals of conscious production and consumption are being reflected – and now recognised with the launch in October 2020 of the Eat Easy Awards that seek to find and reward producers, restaurants and chefs making a difference through good food and responsible practice.
 
The inaugural winner of the Eat Easy Best Red Meat Producer was Cherry Tree Downs, located 165 kilometres from Melbourne in picturesque South Gippsland.
 
As one of Australia’s earliest organic meat producers, the Blundy family transitioned Cherry Tree Downs to organic farming in the early 1990s and have been organically certified for the last 25 years.

“We were one of the first farmers to put down a carbon base. In January we will be tested again and then we’ll be able to see where we sit and how much carbon we’ve sequestered, and I believe we will be carbon neutral. When you’ve got healthy soils and a good plant structure, that will take the carbon dioxide out of the atmosphere. If we all farmed in that manner, the carbon dioxide wouldn’t be a problem,” Blundy said.
 
12 years ago, the family purchased a butcher shop in outer suburban Beaconsfield to control organic certification through the entire supply chain – guaranteeing organically certified beef and lamb from paddock to plate. They send beef and lamb off twice a week from the farm to Radfords, a local organically certified abattoir in Warragul VIC. After processing it is transported to Cherry Tree Organics Butcher Shop where the carcases are further processed.
 
Cherry Tree Organics have direct sales to the public from the butcher shop and from there they also cut, pack and supply numerous organic outlets and other shops. General turnover is about 2,000 lamb and 750 beef carcases a year which Blundy says isn’t without its challenges.
 
“We’re trying to breed low maintenance animals that are adept to being grass fed and finished. It’s not an easy ask to have product ready to go 52 weeks of the year but we’re getting there, and we feel we’re getting better over time,” he said.

Blundy says that he would like to “live to 140” but is knowledgeable enough about the laws of nature to realise that what he has built is for the generations that follow.
 
 
 

“We’re only here for a short time so I’m hoping that I’m leaving the place in a far better condition than what I found it. I don’t think there’s many people in the world can get up every morning and go to work and say that they are enhancing their life, their family’s life and other people’s lives,” Blundy said.

Chef and restauranteur Todd Garratt has headed up some of Sydney’s more memorable establishments like Woollahra’s Buzo, The Wine Library and Balcón by Tapavino. Previously engaged as a consultant to the Royal Richmond, Garratt made the move to Richmond in September 2020 to take on the role of executive chef and general manager.
 
After so many years at the stove, Garratt was ready for a change of pace and the challenges of running a tiered venue like the Royal Richmond. Here he saw an opportunity to use his decades of experience to elevate the food offering and finally have the economies of scale to explore his passion for nose to tail.
 
Conscious of the Royal’s broad and loyal customer base – Garratt recognised that the age-old pub traditions of good food and cold beer were the engine room of the Royal’s trade. However, with access to abundant produce from the region, he also saw an opportunity to break away from the standard bar offering.

“The farm to table concept is a huge part of the story we are trying to tell and allows us to contribute in some small way to the environment and the community. Being able to offer the blokes at the bar better food at an affordable price is incredibly important to me.”
 
 
 

“It is about introducing items to the menu that reflect what is coming out of the ground or from the river at that moment and making a feature of the product whilst it is available. We are very fortunate to be in an area that offers such a broad range of products,” Garratt said.

 
 
 
At the core of Garratt’s farm to table approach is his relationship with Western Sydney University – sourcing beef and lamb for the pub via the farm management program at its Hawkesbury Campus.
 
“We are very fortunate to have forged a strong relationship with Joe Kavacic who oversees the farm management program at Hawkesbury campus. We are able to feature local Western Sydney University beef and lamb that has been raised within a kilometre or two of the pub, processed at Wilberforce and delivered to our kitchen within a day or two.”

With the help of butcher Darren O’Rourke, Garratt established an in-house butchery and dry ageing program to take full advantage of the abundance of quality beef in the local area. The Royal has made it a point from day one to feature the purpose-built dry ageing section within the bistro dining room for guests to see and select cuts based on provenance.
 
 
 

“When we have a whole animal processed from WSU we receive the primal cuts for dry ageing and the remaining secondary cuts are incorporated into the menu by way of daily additions and specials. Every effort is made to repurpose any waste for use in other preparations including sausages, terrines, pates and cured products.”

 
 
 
“Being a pub means that the quality of our steak offering needs to be uncompromising. We go to great lengths to maintain the consistency of the core product and a quality dry ageing program is essential for us to achieve that,” Garratt said.

One of the biggest challenges for Garratt has been recruiting and nurturing his young workforce and providing opportunities for local chefs. He believes it is his responsibility to pass down knowledge to the young chefs in charge and sees the dry ageing and butchery programs as key to keeping the craft alive and upskilling his team for a better future.
 
“We are striving to be the employer of choice for chefs in the area. I believe that the lengths we are going to source quality produce and provide in-house skills like butchery and dry ageing will be the difference in attracting aspiring local chefs. We hire on attitude and train them for the future with crafts and skills that will serve them well.”
 
 
 

“Butchery is not about opening boxes. Teaching them these skills gives them respect for the animal and for themselves,” Garratt said.

To celebrate the unique work of the WSU livestock program and the relationship between the two – the Royal Richmond hosts dinners that connect the community through paddock to plate and celebrate the animal from nose to tail.
 
“The first dinner featured an 18-month Black Angus and most recently a lamb dinner that utilised two Black Faced Suffolk lambs that were awarded first and second place at the Hawkesbury Show. On both occasions we have incorporated as many parts of the animal as possible into the menu,” Garratt said.
 
The Royal Richmond has always held the local community at its heart from the third generation market gardeners and turf farmers to the horse trainers and local heroes of the SES, CWA and RFS. It is a two way street where locals support locals and in doing so forge lasting bonds and a sense of belonging.
 
“We have a diverse demographic of locals and it is refreshing to find such salt of the earth people at the gateway to the city. The venue speaks in turn to all our varied customers and we do our best to offer support and assistance wherever possible by working closely with our local network of producers and growers and supporting local community and sporting groups,” Garratt said.

“Over the years the herd grew but with only a small herd supplying a milk company was not viable. We began rearing our own dairy bull calves and purchasing additional bull calves from local dairy farms to raise as veal and marketing them into Sydney butcheries,” Jess said.

 
 
 
Their Jersey cows usually retire between 8-14 years depending on the production capabilities and traits of the individual cows. With the help of Vic’s Meats head butcher, Darren O’Rourke, they identified an opportunity to value-add to the retired cows and together with Darren developed their ‘retired’ dairy cow line of beef.

The first time Darren experienced aged beef was in the UK about seven or eight years ago.
 
 
 

“It was between Spain and Sweden where I first saw the whole concept of letting an animal live longer. Seeing what they did with their old dairy cows, particularly in the Nordic countries – that sort of lit the fire for me and I wanted to try and understand how and why they did it.”

 
 
 
“I actually knew Luke and Jess through selling their pasture and milk fed Camden Valley Veal. After the success of their veal and the relationship I had developed with them – I finally had someone that I could talk to about this concept of aged beef and the program started from there,” Darren said.
 
The first cow they trialed was 10-12 years old and had just finished milking – neither Luke nor Darren understood the importance of the pasture conditioning process at the time and Darren recalls the first mouthful reflecting the general perception of old cow – tough.

Vintage Beef Co’s farmers turn retired breeding cattle out to pasture where they feed only on grass. The cows further mature in the paddock and are not processed until they are at least five years of age – more than twice the age of regular beef cattle.
 
 
 

“Traditionally older meat has been viewed as lower quality. The MSA grading system allowed us to identify older cows that grade well under the MSA model and market it as the high eating quality product that it is. Because the cows are older, the meat has a rich, developed grass fed flavour alongside superb marbling,” Jelena Radisic said.

 
 
 
Husband and wife team Josh Butt and Jyoti Blencowe manage 150 acres of land in South Gippsland where they run a herd of around 60 primarily dual-purpose heritage breed cows. The wanted to pursue a beef operation that was interesting and unique as well as one that felt ethical and environmentally conscious.

The drought and 2020 fire-storm showed that there are challenges to establishing such an ethos and it is about fitting into the seasons and the natural production cycle. Ingram’s vineyard manager tells him when the lambs are ready and he fits in around that.
 
“It’s not really up to me, he’ll tell me that there’s some lambs going to the abattoirs next week and so I’ll need to be ready to break them down and get them onto a plate.”
 
The lambs are taken from Margan to the abattoir in Kurri Kurri where they are processed and chilled down overnight. Ingram’s butcher then picks them up in a food grade truck and brings them back.
 
“We’ll generally hang them for anywhere from seven to 10 days in our custom built dry ageing room and from there we can begin to break it down as we need it and hang some things longer. We use a combination of primary and secondary cuts and try to get a good amount of each part of the animal through the dish.”
 
When asked about the viability of their paddock to plate model – Lisa says it is more about the fact that it suits their operation and they have the space to do it.
 
“Paddock to plate isn’t going to be for everyone and it is hard to say that we do it for a cost advantage. I think it’s more a break even proposition but it suits us and it is more about the customer being able to connect with that story and to enjoy estate-reared lamb alongside estate-grown produce and wines,” Margan concludes.

“In most breweries, these products are considered waste products but we consider them a major part of our cattle’s lifecycle which keeps them as healthy as they can be. This relationship between the brewery and the cattle helps manage our carbon footprint associated with traditional grazing practices and beer production. The happier and healthier we can keep the cattle and their gut, the happier we can keep ours.”
 
 
 

“Growing our own beef gives us greater clarity in the processes, enabling us to have more control of the end product. We know what they are fed, where they roam and have a very clear insight into a supply chain that has minimal impact on the animal. At this time, we cannot process our cattle on site so therefore we cannot deliver the true paddock to plate ethos, although this is in the plans for the future,” Locke said.

 
 
 
Beerfarm purchase their cattle as weaners, generally running around 70 head at a time at different age and weight groups for a consistent rotation of supply for the farm and their butcher.
 
“We aim for each animal to be between 300-350 kg on average when they go to be processed. This weight allows enough time to get the necessary fat and consistency in the size of cuts we use. It also minimises wastage as once the animal gets too big, there is a significant amount of extra trim that can’t be used.”

Once at weight, the cattle are sent to the abattoir and then to Bullsbrook Gourmet Butchers where they are hung and aged for a minimum of two weeks. Currently they send four animals per fortnight to cater for the growing demand. Burnt Ends receives the prime cuts – including a 13 week aged prime rib – and secondary cuts as well as four different types of sausages alongside mince and bones for stock and jus.
 
Pitmaster Nathan Booth says one of the biggest challenges for the team is utilising the whole animal. To offset this and in line with their commitment to reducing waste, they have established a relationship with their butcher who is able to utilise much of the trim and secondary cuts for small goods.
 
 
 

“We strive to use many of the secondary cuts within our three menus however due to the varied demographic that visits our venue this can often be extremely challenging. Day to day in our current menu we utilise bolar blade and chuck in one of our favourite dishes – smoked chopped beef tostadas. The mince is also used for our Angus burgers, alongside the trim from our briskets and beef ribs before they are smoked.”

Located 60km from Tumut in NSW, the homestead sits just below two springs that feed Yaven Creek. The storied Snowy Mountains cattle country climbs 300 metres up out of the valley to a plateau where you can see Mt Kosiosko. Covered year round in pasture and with snow in winter – it can be both abundant and harsh.
 
Betty’s father and uncle purchased the original property in 1934 where they ran Merino sheep on the briar covered, unimproved pastures. Later, the brothers divided the property along the steep ridge splitting it in half and her father purchased an adjacent property, increasing his land size to 3,000 acres.
 
 
 

“They had to clear the briars to build the original house, a four room fibro cottage – they were as thick as the hairs on a dog’s back. They would cut them with an axe, throw them into heaps and burn them. My job was to paint the stumps with Round-Up,” Betty said.

 
 
 
Betty’s mother was ‘totally crippled’ with rheumatoid arthritis and died when she was 18 – as a result Betty also took on much of the domestic load of life at Arden. I ask her if it was a tough life for her and she responds with her firmness of purpose.
 
“I don’t know. You don’t really think about it and you don’t know any different. Lots of people say to ‘go back to good old days’ – no way, they weren’t good. We didn’t have power here – we had a kerosene fridge that we kept on the veranda because every now and then it would let fly with a belch of black smoke or catch fire. Once I kept a canary in the refrigerator box and a brown snake got in the box somehow – I went out and it had that canary halfway down its neck.”
 
Out of habit and necessity, she still keeps a bolt action .22 and a long handled shovel near the back door – ‘snake relocators’ she calls them.

Maria Roche, Betty’s daughter, returned home to take over the management of Arden when Betty became ill in July 2019. She had always wanted to come home but Betty encouraged her to have a career off the property.
 
“Mum said I had to get a career off the land and so I went nursing and worked throughout Australia then came back and worked in the local area, managing a number of hospitals. When mum became unwell, I took leave from my job to look after her and the property. So really, my dream has always been to be here.”
 
 
 

“I’ve watched mum and her ambition and dream of achieving the perfect breed – which you’ll never achieve but always strive towards. My aim is the same, to achieve that perfect cow or the perfect bull. I also aim to not be able to breed enough bulls for the demand,” Maria said.

 
 
 
 
Over the years, Betty has built a reputation as an operator who purchases the best genetics – and often at a high cost. In doing so, she has managed to build confidence in her customers because they know that at Arden, the quality is guaranteed.
 
In 2019, Maria and Betty outbid everyone at a packed auction to purchase Milwillah stud bull Nardoo N155 for $62,500 – smashing previous auction records. The bull and his genetics take Arden to the next step in their bull-breeding program.
 
“We loved his balance and great temperament. He’s flat on the back, he’s got good legs, looks neat, tidy and he’s well-muscled. That’s what you aim to breed. It’s about experience and intuition and you either have an eye for it or you don’t. You have your perfect animal in your mind and you let that inform you,” Betty said.

Maria says bulls like Nardoo, whilst coming at a large cost to the business, help build confidence amongst commercial breeders and push them towards their business goals.
 
“The objective of our business here is to provide top quality stud-grade Angus bulls to commercial breeders. The genetics we have here would equal many of the studs within NSW and what we are trying to do is make some of the best genetics in beef production more widely available.”
 
Investing in a bull like Nardoo would generally see a return on investment in two years once the first of his progeny have been born, raised and sold. However, in January 2020, tragedy struck at Arden when the property was devastated by fire. Tears well up in Maria’s eyes as she recalls the trauma.
 
“One of the biggest challenges that we faced here at Arden has been the bushfires. The Dunn’s Road fire burnt the entire property except for the houses and a small section around the front. We lost 208 head of cattle and 146km of fencing.”
 
 
 

“It’s that realisation of just how close to death we came. How at any moment we could have become really unstuck. It was quite a frightening experience but at the time we were running so hard you didn’t really realise. It wasn’t until later when you looked back and saw the devastation.”

 
 
 
“We still live it every day here. You go out and there are burnt trees, burnt fence lines, animals that have been burned that you find that you have missed. I suppose working on my own doesn’t help you work through that process as well as it should,” Maria said.
 
Maria planted oak trees where she buried the 208 cattle lost in the fire – a gesture that in years to come will resonate long after the evidence of the fires has disappeared.

In agricultural terms, sustainability is the pursuit of economic growth without depletion of environmental resources. It is also, in a holistic sense, about the human factor. It is about the ongoing ability for farmers to provide for our very existence; an ability under threat from the degradation of arable land through human activity that continues to deplete our most valuable resource; the soil.
 
The twentieth century saw increased pressure of population growth and the implementation of post-war industrial agricultural. Practices like fertilisation and use of pesticides; monoculture cropping and intensive livestock production; urbanisation, deforestation and increasing use of fossil fuels – designed to feed and fuel a growing world – have stressed the world’s arable lands to the point of failure.
 
 
 

The World Economic Forum’s top five long-term global risks are all environment-related. With that, sustainable agriculture, and perhaps more pertinently regenerative agriculture, is set to take centre stage. The concept of sustainable agriculture is not new – but it is the essential ingredient in feeding the world.

 
 
 
Regenerative agriculture is a set of farmland management practices that go beyond sustainable farming to rebuild soil health, a key solution to combating climate change and recapturing carbon. There is a broad agreement that weather patterns are changing and that agricultural systems must evolve to meet the challenges of an increasingly volatile climate.

Flinders Island Meat was established by the Madden family in 2010 in the middle of Bass Straight. Now called Finders + Co, the multi brand meat-company supplies some of the best chefs and retailers in the country – along with the bold claim of being carbon neutral. On 1 December 2018, Flinders + Co became the first meat company in the world to fully offset all carbon emissions.
 
“We are about more than just meat, we want to ask the hard questions and tackle the big issues. Issues of sustainability, ethics and the environment. Questions of provenance, health and humanity. Ever since the advent of agriculture, humans have been rewarded when they work hand in hand with their environment. Equally, they are punished when they have not balanced the environmental ledger and caused damage to their own habitat,” said Managing Director James Madden.

“I believe the more we explore solutions with an open mind, the more likely we are to become more and more economically viable. Sometimes farmers can be cynical of new strategies or approaches – I know this first hand having grown up on a farm. Even if there is a more efficient, better suited approach to doing something, sometimes they are more comfortable continuing to do things the old way.”
 
 
 

“It is important that we continue to demonstrate that regenerative principles can drive greater profitability on farm. I think it is very important that we don’t characterise regenerative agriculture as a single mode of operation or a single set of rules. It is the principles that are important and everyone should be encouraged to pick and choose as many of them that suit their individual situation,” Madden said.

 
 
 
While yield has been the traditional metric for farmers and graziers it does not tell the entire story. Regenerative agriculture can increase profitability through a significant decrease in the cost of external inputs, such as fertilisers, chemical inputs and fuel costs, and an increased end market value. Increasing the value of the land asset at the same time is the financial cream on top.
 
Beef is big business. Australia is one of the world’s largest exporters and most efficient producers of beef – and was the world’s most valuable beef exporter in 2019 with total exports generating AUD $10.8 billion. However, producer profits tend to be low, affecting the ability to withstand unexpected shocks such as drought. Coupled with a range of social and environmental pressures – the Australian beef industry recognised a need to evolve the world-leading Australian Beef Sustainability Framework was established.
 
“As a major land user, the beef industry has a close relationship with the environment and is particularly exposed to environmental risks such as climate variability. The industry prospers through maintaining a healthy environment and thriving ecosystem, including soil, vegetation, water and air. The beef industry is committed to enhancing the ecosystems that foster productivity, while fulfilling its role as environmental stewards,’ part of the Framework reads.
 
While strict regenerative criteria may be challenging for large scale producers, the Framework does highlight the same issues and a similar response. The industry needs to adapt to the changing environment by improving land management practices through the mitigation of nutrient and sediment loss and efficient use of water as a means to mitigating and managing climate change risk.

“Grass-fed beef from sustainably grazed pastures reduces top soil erosion and decreases the emission of methane and greenhouse gasses, while removing carbon dioxide from the atmospheres. Our brand Cape Grim uses only cattle sourced from Tasmanian farms, which operate in a very sustainable environment with 80% of the islands energy requirements coming from renewable sources.”
 
 
 

“In essence, to regenerate is to renew or to restore. In beef production, our farmers are continually restoring their land and increasing welfare practices as this is fundamental to producing high quality grass-fed beef and ultimately their business productivity,” said Marketing Manager Jelena Radisic.

 
 
 
Provenir’s Jayne Newgreen is pragmatic that no matter how ‘sustainable’ a beef brand is, it will count for nothing if the eating quality is not there to back up sustainable practices. Jayne says that consumers will not sacrifice quality over the notion of sustainability.
 
“Consumers are looking for more than just a catchphrase and ‘sustainable’ is not a clear definition. The restauranteurs and customers that Provenir supplies are incredibly savvy, they want more and deserve more than a catchphrase. We give customers knowledge and empower them to make up their own mind as to how our vision of sustainability and regenerative farming fits into their ethos of sustainable beef,” she said.

James Madden believes there is a financial imperative to sustainable Australian beef and an opportunity to transform the market.
 
“Developed markets such as the US, Europe, Japan and Singapore are increasingly placing a higher and higher importance on the sustainability attributes of products. If we are able to differentiate ourselves within these markets, then it is just another step for our industry to continue to transform from a commodity based market to a branded product based market, with better premiums to match,” he said.
 
At the Wilmot Cattle Co in NSW’s New England Tablelands, manager Stuart Austin has a long held passion for holistic management and regenerative agriculture.
 
 
 

“We know that diversity in our system is critical and we have a commitment to the ecological improvement of our land. There is a symbiotic relationship between soil, plants and animals and our role is to enable that to ensure that our soil is active, functioning and healthy.”

 
 
 
“It is a constant learning journey what we are doing. I want to share with others for their betterment and for the betterment of our industry and fundamentally for the betterment of our world. We know that the more of our industry that can uptake regenerative agriculture principles that will put more carbon in our soils across Australia and across the world. And we will be contributing to the reversal of climate change,” Stuart said.
 
With leading brands and producers like these – and an industry committed to the continual improvement of itself across a suite of sustainability indicators – what does sustainability taste like?
 
It tastes like hope for the future.

With a swathe of Australia’s best chefs coming up through the Tetsuya’s ranks including Martin Benn, Darren Robertson, Clayton Wells, Luke Powell and many more – Josh recognises he has big shoes to fill. But as they say, if the shoe fits, wear it – and the boy from Oxfordshire is certainly wearing it well.
 
We visited Josh at Tetsuya’s for a behind-the-scenes look into one of Sydney’s most well-regarded kitchens and the role Australian beef plays on the intricate and exquisite eight-course degustation-only menu.