April CEO Round Up
Published 14 April 2023
It’s been a busy month in the Beef Australia office, with Trade Fair applications opening, the 2024 National Beef Carcase Competition opening, and the 2023/2024 Graeme Acton Beef Connections cohort announced. Beef Australia have also been proud sponsors of the annual Northern ICMJ industry event, taking place in Rockhampton between the 12th and 15th April.
Trade Fair applications are open
Last week saw the opening of applications for our Trade Fair at Beef2024, and, oh boy, have they been flowing in with over 160 applications received already! The prospectus outlines several changes that have been made to the layout of the grounds aimed at improving both navigation and traffic flow.
One major change is that the entire event will be split into precincts, each with a different theme, allowing visitors a much easier way to plan their days and find their way around Beef.
Exhibitors will be grouped into the Cattle Precinct (breed societies and individual seed stock producers); the Lifestyle Precinct (clothing and other retailers); the Machinery and Equipment Precinct (everything you need to run your property); the Ken Coombe OAM Tech Yards (the latest and greatest develops in Ag – applications open May 10); Carbon Corner (businesses involved in the carbon and sustainability sector – applications open May 10); as well as the traditional indoor trade fair sites.
There is a separate application process for charities seeking to have a subsidised site.
We have also included a couple of pages of FAQs which will answer many of your questions about the process.
Make sure you get your application in before the 3rd of July to be a part of the largest Beef specific event in the Southern hemisphere.
2024 National Carcase Competition opens
Feedback on how you are progressing against your peers is an integral part of business improvement, and there is no better way for beef producers to benchmark their product against the best than by entering the 2024 National Beef Carcase Competition.
If you are not familiar with carcase competitions, lots of three carcasses are judged against the Meat Standards Australia (MSA) quality index using the latest camera technology.
The MSA standards have been developed over many years as an objective way of measuring eating quality aimed at giving consumers confidence that what you buy will deliver a tender and tasty product – I am sure most of you will have seen the “MSA Graded” round green and yellow sticker on beef at your local butchers.
This year’s competition debuts an unrestricted feeding category to cater for the growing highly marbled beef market.
Entrants receive a comprehensive report on each carcase, allowing them to use the insights gained to improve their production methods.
I encourage all producers to consider competing – the full schedule is available now.
2023/2024 Graeme Acton Beef Connections participants named
Congratulations to the 10 future ag leaders selected to participate in the Beef Australia Graeme Acton Beef Connections program for 2024.
This was a really difficult process with so many worthy applicants, and I would certainly encourage anyone who missed out this time to reapply in 2026 for the 2026/2027 program.
The successful participants are:
- Abbey Collins, Kilcoy Global Foods, Mount Archer, Queensland
- Isobel Heffernan, NT Cattlemen’s Association, Darwin, Northern Territory
- Jean Liebenberg, JBS Australia, Brisbane, Queensland
- Lauren Angus, Signature Beef, Clermont, Queensland
- Xavier McCluskey, Greenstock, Tamworth, New South Wales
- Emily McNair, AACo, Wellesley, Queensland
- Liam Cameron, Te Mania Angus, Hexham, Victoria
- Amy Wicks, Wicks and Co Enterprises, Murgon, Queensland
- Georgia Dale, Black Box Co., Capella, Queensland
- Lachlan Smith, Redland Park & Brodie Agencies, Julia Creek, Queensland
I wish them well on their leadership journey with the 2023/2024 Graeme Acton Beef Connections Program.
Welcome aboard!
With Beef2024 just around the corner, I’d also like to welcome aboard some new faces to the office; Julie Johnson, Trade Fair Coordinator and Amy Wallace, Venue Manager.
Until next time.
Cheers,
Simon.
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