South West’s Lake Janis Farm named as finalist in national award for best From the Paddock meat

A South West farm has been named as a long-running prestigious national produce awards finalist, with their jersey beef in the spotlight.

Quinninup’s Lake Janis Farm has been named as one of 29 national finalists in the 2024 delicious. Harvey Norman Produce Awards, as a nominee in the From The Paddock category for their grass-fed Jersey beef.

The Produce Awards, in their 19th year, focus on Australia’s best producers and select the national finalists through expert judging panels hosted by top chefs in the country, with finalists being named across four categories: From The Dairy, From The Earth, From The Paddock and From The Sea.

Lake Janis co-owner and manager Julia Ryan said she was “thrilled” about the farm being recognised.

“The taste of our meat has shone through and the awards are all about the taste of the different produce,” she said.

“The panel had chefs tasting the produce and meat, and the paddock category was about different meats and ours shone through to the chefs.

“We got a surprise email one day that our Jersey beef had been nominated, and if we’d like to participate and send a sample of our beef through.

“It was exciting to get nominated, and it means people have been tasting the meat and believing it was worthy of being nominated for the award.”

Her husband and farm co-owner Dean Ryan previously told the Manjimup-Bridgetown Times the Jersey beef got its delicious taste from the meat’s yellow marbling.

“It’s the intramuscular fat, the connected tissue in the muscle, and it’s even healthier than the outside fat,” he said.

“It also releases a bit of fat into the meat, and makes it more tender and tastier when you’re cooking it as well.”

The 2024 trophy winners and Producer of the Year Award will be announced on August 22 at the delicious. Harvey Norman Produce Awards event in Sydney.