For more than a decade, Gate 2 Plate has challenged and educated WA producers and high school students with a budding interest in beef.
Story Kate Newsome Photo courtesy Harvey Beef Gate 2 Plate Challenge
A group of cattle-industry friends started the Harvey Beef Gate 2 Plate Challenge in Albany, WA as a way of getting feedback on their produce. Wayne Mitchell, Gate 2 Plate committee president and an Elders sales agent, recalls, “There was a whole heap of people saying, ‘We sell cattle to a feedlot every year and we’ve got no idea whether they do good, bad or indifferent. We never get any feedback. We never see how they process them.’”
And so, they decided to begin their own carcase competition in 2015 as a kind of ‘beef supply chain challenge’.
In Gate 2 Plate, more than 50 teams enter beef cattle that are fed for 85 days between January and April, then sent to the feedlot. Entrants receive data on how their cattle performed and the value of their carcases – with the chance to take out a trophy and a $5000 cash prize.
This story excerpt is from Issue #158
Outback Magazine: December/January 2025
