01

Results at a Glance

• Higher hot-dressed weights and improved average daily gain

• Increased stocking density to 6m² per animal

• Significant odour reduction during wet winter periods

• Approximately 20% of cattle drinking water captured from roof
  

• Reduced reliance on horse-based labour, cattle now worked on foot

02

Client Overview

Teys Australia is a prominent meat-processing company established in 1946 by the Teys family. It is the second-largest beef processor and exporter in Australia, with operations across multiple states and employing around 4,700 people. At the time of the project, the Charlton feedlot was operated as a joint venture between Teys Australia and Cargill, a global agricultural, financial and industry products and services business.

The feedlot operates in a region where wet winters and variable seasonal conditions make it hard on cattle performance and pen maintenance. Mud levels during winter had been an ongoing challenge, causing restrictions on stock density and more maintenance to clean the pen floors and the cattle.

Operationally, Teys sought to increase the number of animals on feed without expanding the feedlot's footprint.

03

Key Outcomes

Teys installed a 200-metre by 36-metre Ridgeback® structure over the pens, delivering 7,200m² of covered pen area. The fully roofed design provides continuous protection from sun and rainfall, helps maintain drier pen surfaces through winter, and supports more consistent conditions year-round. The patented roof profile promotes airflow beneath the structure, assisting with heat management during warmer periods.

The layout was developed around the operational requirements of the site. Almost half of the covered area is allocated to hospital pens, providing the Charlton team with closer monitoring capability and improved recovery conditions for cattle requiring treatment.

Cattle under the Ridgeback® are managed at a higher density of approximately 6m² per animal, compared with open pens elsewhere on site. This has created the capacity to increase numbers on feed without expanding the feedlot footprint.

Three years in, the Charlton team had not incurred any pen floor maintenance costs under the covered area. Teys also commissioned independent odour modelling at the site. Feedlots General Manager Grant Garey confirmed a measurable reduction in odour beneath the structure during wet winter periods, even with twice as many cattle under the roof as in equivalent wet outdoor pens. Performance data recorded higher hot dressed weights and improved average daily gain from cattle fed under the Ridgeback®, with no reduction in feed intake.

The roof also captures approximately 20% of the drinking water supplied to cattle in the covered pens, and the team is now able to work cattle on foot rather than relying on horse-based labour.