CHAIR of the 2018 WoolPoll panel, South Australian Merino breeder Sydney Lawrie has urged fellow producers to have their say when voting opens on September 17.
Mr Lawrie says it’s very important for producers to see what marketing and research investments have been made from their levy.
“WoolPoll is an important time for this industry, perhaps even more so right now given the market conditions,” he said.
“We are the only ag industry in Australia that gets the opportunity to vote every three years on how much levy we want to invest - we’re really lucky to have that process and we all need to be a part of it.
“Having input into what Australian Wool Innovation is going to do in the future can have a big effect on your business and the type of industry we leave the next generation.”
Exec churn at NTCA
NORTHERN Territory Cattlemen’s Association executive officer Tom Ryan has also hung up his hat with the producer organisation.
Mr Ryan’s resignation follows that of chief executive officer Paul Burke last week.
Mr Ryan had been with NTCA for four years.
New president Chris Nott thanked Mr Ryan and wished him well.
Recruiting for a new CEO is underway and the executive officer role should be filled this week, he said.
Mr Nott said the organisation was fortunate to have competent staff in both Alice Springs and the Darwin office.
NTCA life member, and former CEO, Tracey Hayes would also be providing advice and support where necessary.
Mr Nott said the NTCA was working through a number of critical issues facing the industry at present and ensured members the focus had not wavered.
Australia a global leader on beef market intel
AUSTRALIA is a world leader in the field of collecting consumer insight and market intelligence on beef, segmenting markets and implementing strategies based on that data.
In response to producer questions on whether our beef competitors spend what we do on market intelligence at a recent Meat and Livestock Australia global markets forum, the organisation’s chief marketing and communications officer Lisa Sharp said probably not.
“To the extent we are so export orientated, we devote significant resources not just to understanding the supply dynamics but the demand dynamics,” she said.
“MLA then works closely with commercial players because this information is only valuable to this industry if brand owners can use it to support their own marketing efforts.”
Beefing up animal health
Agri-tech company Agersens has appointed animal health and wellbeing expert Dr Cameron Ralph as Manager, Production Science to support the development and roll out of eShepherd, a smart collar system enabling farmers to create virtual “fences” and remotely monitor, muster and move cattle.
Dr Ralph was formerly the Deputy Director of the Animal Welfare Science Centre, and was a member of Meat and Livestock Australia’s strategic partnership in animal welfare.
Currently being sold for use in cattle, eShepherd has the potential to be applied in other animals, and for additional functionality and data collection to be added.
