The meat processor’s corporate and industry affairs manager John Langbridge said in Albury on Wednesday Teys’ grading grid was not perfect and the price offered to farmers needed to include how much was paid for offal and other byproducts.

“I think we can move from what have been fairly complicated grids into some more indicators of correct value,” Mr Langbridge said at the Border Beef Conference.

"A lot of the time with the grid, what that tends to represent is an average value for a group of animals … it's as consistent as a human system can be but nonetheless there is still natural human variation in that.

"So we think we need to investigate technologies that will more accurately and consistently measure quality parameters and therefore give a closer idea of what the real value of that carcass is.”

North East cattle breeder Loretta Carroll believed the change of stance was triggered by Senate and ACCC studies into the red meat industry.

“They have recognised they need to make some serious changes,” she said.

“They realise they, and everyone, needs to be more confident and they need to show more confidence in the farmer, and clear price transparency would help to do that.

“Mandatory price transparency would be the ideal because everyone would know what their stock was worth.”

Mr Langbridge said the price of offal and byproducts was factored into the price of the meat but developing technology would help accurately measure it.

“We do believe we have to put down the value of the byproducts because that sends the right price signal and helps farmers … we will go to that in time," he said.

Meat and Livestock Australia managing director Richard Norton on Friday outlined a multi-million dollar plan to develop technology in the red meat industry.

“There is an increasing need for an integrated platform that provides more ways for value chain partners to share and mine data to benefit their business,” Mr Norton said in Launceston.