01

Results at a Glance

• Contaminated runoff all but eliminated through the covered pen system

• Rainfall captured from the roof is reused on site, reducing fresh water drawn from the environment

• Improvement in marbling scores

• Airflow increased by at least 20% per hour compared to traditional barn designs
  

02

Client Overview

The Shaw family has run Canning Downs South since 1998, a pastoral property in the Warwick region of Queensland with more than 180 years of history. What began as a 999-head feedlot licence in 2005 has evolved into one of Australia's most distinctive Wagyu operations. By 2019, the feedlot had expanded to 9,400 head capacity with Fullblood, Purebred and F4 Wagyu lines feeding under the Elbow Valley Beef and Sir Harry Wagyu brands.

Long-fed Wagyu in southern Queensland demands precision across every variable. Summer temperatures push past 35 degrees, adding pressure to water temperature, intake, and the energy available for growth. Winters bring the opposite challenge, with the full daily ration needed just to maintain weight. For a business positioning Wagyu as a luxury, export-grade product for customers in China and across Asia, the Shaws required infrastructure that reflected the calibre of the cattle and the brand they had built.

03

Key Outcomes

Entegra's involvement began with the business case, not the construction. Working directly with Chris Shaw and the family, the team delivered Australia's first fully covered feedlot.

The site now features a network of Ridgeback® structures, including a 440-metre long structure, with a total covered area of more than 94,000m². The concave curved roof lines draw warm, moist air upward through a chimney effect, increasing air exchanges by at least 20% per hour compared to traditional barn designs. On a 35-degree day with no wind in the surrounding trees, a measurable cool breeze still passes through the pens.

Each pen is built around the animal's daily routine. Feed bunks and water troughs sit on either side so no animal walks more than 15 metres to access either. Bedding is deep litter compost over a probiotic base of sawdust, shavings and bark chip. The pad stays dry, produces near-zero odour, and generates a stabilised compost that returns to the property's soils.

The covered system has all but eliminated contaminated runoff. The Shaw family uses less of its water allocation per unit of production than before the Ridgeback® structures were built, leaving more in the Murray-Darling Basin for the environment.

Marbling scores have improved since the covered system was introduced. For Elbow Valley Beef's export customers in China and across Asia, the Ridgeback® structures are part of what they are buying.