Involved in beef research for more than 40 years, Professor Thompson was a driving force behind the development of Australia’s unique meat grading scheme known as Meat Standards Australia (MSA) that is based on consumer perceptions of beef quality.

Beef CRC CEO, Dr Heather Burrow said much of the research conducted by Professor Thompson and his colleagues at the Beef CRC underpins MSA.

“Beef consumption was in decline in the early 1990s as a result of inconsistent and unpredictable product,” she said.

“John was a member of a core group of four people who pushed for the Beef CRC to be established to undertake research on the genetic and non-genetic factors which influence beef quality.”

Dr Burrow said Professor Thompson proved there were a number of production and processing factors that affect the final quality of beef.

“These include the breed of the animal, its growth path, how the animal is treated in lairage, chiller conditions, hanging, ageing and finally how the meat is cooked.”

Dr Burrow said some one million carcasses are now graded under the MSA system every year.

“It just shows that Australian consumers want value for money. MSA guarantees that every piece of beef they buy

is tender,” she said.

Professor Thompson said the growing popularity of MSA would not have been possible without the continued support from people right along the supply chain.

“From the producers and lot feeders right through to the processors there were a lot of people who believed there

was value in this technology and adopted it,” he said. “Without them, all the science would have stayed in a

laboratory somewhere.”

Professor Thompson said incorporating DNA Markers into MSA will be the next exciting step for the MSA program.

“DNA Markers really are the new frontier. We’ve already proved that cattle carrying favourable markers for tenderness do produce meat which is more tender, as measured by shear force,” he said.

“If we can incorporate that information into MSA, the benefits for producers, processors and consumers will be considerable,” Professor Thompson said.