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Beef Central publishes an occasional summary of appointments, departures and achievements occurring across the red meat and livestock supply chain. Send details for entries toadmin@beefcentral.com

Australias Chief Veterinary Officer Dr Mark Schipp has recently completed his three-year term as President of the World Organisation for Animal Health (OIE).

Mark Schipp

Dr Schipp last month represented Australia at the 88th general session (virtual) of the OIE, his last official function as president.

Secretary of the Federal Department of Agriculture, Water and the Environment, Andrew Metcalfe, said Dr Schipps leadership as OIE President had reinforced Australias global influence on a large range of issues related to animal health and welfare. Australias leading role in setting international standards around animal health and welfare has been strengthened by his important work, Mr Metcalfe said.

Dr Schipp said the challenges of the COVID pandemic had highlighted the importance of the work that the OIE does.

It also presents an important opportunity for OIE members to strengthen relationships under the One Health frameworkthe interconnection between humans, animals and our shared environment, he said.

Despite the physical distance that may separate us through our collaborative, approach, we continue to address the many important global issues related to animal health and welfare.

With wildlife the source of many emerging and zoonotic diseases, during Dr Schipps term as OIE President he oversaw the development of a Wildlife Health Framework by the OIE Working Group on Wildlife to create new approaches to wildlife health management.

He also achieved increased OIE member engagement and participation in international standard setting, through strong advocacy and Australian funding for international workshops on implementation of standards related to animal health and welfare.

Under Dr Schipps leadership, the OIE also implemented the OIE Observatory, which is collecting data on the relevance and impact of the OIEs standards to members, allowing this information to support more effective solutions to global animal health and welfare challenges.

As a veterinarian, I am very aware of the need for global animal health and veterinary services to be strong, influential and effective contributors to addressing the global animal health challenges that we face, such as antimicrobial resistance, food insecurity and identification of future pandemics at their source, Dr Schipp said.

The Australian Agricultural Co has promoted David Harris as the companys new chief operating officer, following the recent departure of former COO, Anna Speer.

Ms Speer left AA Co in late April to take up a new role as head of Woolworths new Greenstock red meat supply chain business.

In March 2020, Mr Harris was appointed to the role of AA Cos COO supply chain. Prior to this he was working with AA Co from 2016 in a contracted capacity reporting to the CEO and Board to improve operational aspects of the business.

Since Anna Speers departure, Mr Harris has taken over her previous COO responsibility for Pastoral Operations, as well as his original role as supply chain COO.

Earlier in his career he worked in the lotfeeding sector, holding executive positions with Stanbroke, Smithfield Cattle Co and running his own private agricultural consultancy business and family farming operations in central western New South Wales. He holds a Bachelor of Rural Science from the University of New England specialising in ruminant nutrition and meat science.

In other recent AA Co appointments and promotions, AA Cos experienced pastoral operations manager Michael Johnson has been promoted to the new position of head of pastoral operations.

Previously he managed AA Cos Barkly Group and Brunette Downs station. He originally joined AA Co in 2010 as manager of Avon and Austral Downs, having previously worked with Stanbroke Pastoral Co where he gained extensive experience in the cattle industry, progressing his career from stockman into management roles across a number of enterprises throughout Northern Australia.

He currently sits as an executive of the Northern Territory Cattlemens Association and chairs the Barkly Regional Advisory Council. He will continue to operate out of Brunette Downs.

In other recent AA Co appointments, the new role of head of supply chain operations has been filled by Patrick Vialle, who has had extensive supply chain management experience in the corporate food sector with global giants, Nestle, Retail Food Group and Parmalat.

Mr Vialle, who joined the AA Co business last September before the recent promotion, will oversee supply chain operations, based out of AA Cos Brisbane office.

Meat & Livestock Australia has made a series of recent appointments in middle and upper management roles, both here and in overseas offices.

Scott Cameron has been appointed Group Industry Insights & Strategy Manager, in the Marketing & Insights team.

Scott Cameron

He starts in his new role today, 23 June, following the recent departure of Natalie Isaac. Prior to joining MLA, Mr Cameron already had a depth of experience across marketing, insights and strategy roles in the corporate world, including roles with Nestle, Coca-Cola, and Frucor Suntory.

In his 18 months with MLA, he has been a champion for collaboration across business units and the industry. Working closely with the Insights and International Markets teams, Mr Cameron has contributed to the Category Growth Driver projects for Japan, Korea, and Australia. In addition, he has played a significant role with the Sustainability Discovery Sprint.

He has led strategic engagement with major retailers, with a focus on evolving their approach to Shopper Activation and Category Management, as well as building strong networks amongst brand owners and the processing sector.

Meanwhile, former global industry insights & strategy manager Natalie Isaac finished up with the industry service delivery company yesterday, after five years with MLA. She has accepted a new role with Huon Aquaculture in Tasmania.

Across a range of projects from Data Transformation to the Category Growth Drivers, Ms Isaac connected and engaged effectively with teams including ISC, MSA, Genetics, and Science & Innovation that previously had limited interaction with the marketing & insights team.

She played a key role in the development of MLAs global markets strategy, which then led to the development of market classification. This has been widely used both internally and externally by commercial stakeholders to make better decisions identifying high value growth opportunities.

In other recent MLA appointments:

The man responsible for the smooth operations behind last months hugely successful Beef Australia 2021 event in Rockhampton has moved on.

Beef 2021 CEO Ian Mill

Ian Mill has accepted a position from August, as acting chief executive of the Rockhampton Jockey Club, an organisation he has served as a board member for since 2018. Mr Mill led a team of 80 staff and more than 200 volunteers to deliver Beef 2021, which attracted 115,866 people across the week-long internationally recognised beef industry exposition.

Horse racing has been a passion of mine for a long time, both as a volunteer on the local board, as well as having shares in racehorses albeit on somewhat of a social scale, Mr Mill said.

The Thoroughbred industry has always been something I have followed keenly, so when the opportunity arose to step into this role, and with my contract at Beef Australia coming to an end, I jumped at the chance.

Beef Australia board chairman Bryce Camm acknowledged his contribution.

We greatly appreciate Ians contribution to Beef 2021 which despite the challenges and unknowns associated with Covid has been hailed an overwhelming success by all, from our tens of thousands of visitors and participants through to our stakeholders, Mr Camm said. Many of Ians management skills and abilities displayed in delivering Beef 2021 will serve him and the Rockhampton Jockey Club well in his new role. We thank Ian for his service and wish him continued success in serving the Rockhampton community which he is so passionate about.

After spending the past three years working as Chief Scientist on secondment from the University of New England, the Food Agility CRC has announce that Professor David Lamb will now join the CRC full time.

In addition to continuing his role as Chief Scientist overseeing research across the entire program of CRC activities, Professor Lamb will be heading the Food Agility CRCs newGlobal Digital Farminitiative. He continues his ongoing contribution to academia, through both research and teaching, as an Adjunct Professor of UNE.

Specialist rural property agency JLL has appointed Jock Grimshaw to join JLLs Agribusiness team based in Melbourne.

Jock Grimshaw

Formerly working with Colliers International, he will report to JLLs Director of Agribusiness, Clayton Smith, and will focus on campaigns across southern markets including Victoria, New South Wales and South Australia.

Following the boom in the Australian rural market, JLL had recorded more than $160 million in sales for the first quarter of 2021, the company said in a statement supporting Mr Grimshaws appointment.

Jocks experience and reputation in the marketplace will provide us with access to a broad cross-section of clients and asset types, and his knowledge will greatly benefit our clients, Clayton Smith said.

The Australian agribusiness market continues to assert its position as a secure and stable asset class. The market is currently the strongest it has been in ten years, and sales activity is not predicted to slow as family, private, institutional and non-traditional buyers look to the rural sector for investment longevity and stability.

Growing our Agribusiness team is a clear indicator of the strength of this sector and shows the confidence we have in strengthening our service offering in southern markets as Melbourne recovers from the COVID-19 pandemic, Mr Smith said.

Experienced bull breeder Ian Durkin has been elected chairman of the Herefords Australia board.

In line with past practice, all Herefords Australia board positions are declared open in the first board meeting after the breed societys annual general meeting.

Both Trish Worth and Ian Durkin were nominated for the position of chairman, with Ian Durkin duly elected by HAL directors.

Mr Durkin was first elected to the board in May 2020 and held the position of member liaison representative. He owns and manages a mixed farming operation near Coolatai with his wife Shelley and three children.

The position of chairman is an important one, but I believe it is the combination of the diverse skills and experience of all directors that makes for an effective board, he said. I will be drawing on this team to ensure we have sound policies in place to support the advancement of the breed and good governance in place to strengthen the company.

I also understand members want to better understand the strategic direction for the breed. I look forward to the development of the next plan and the role the board plays in monitoring progress and reporting to members outcomes of our investments and activities.

Mr Durkin replaces Trish Worth, who served as chair for the past 12 months. Ms Worth continues her tenure as Herefords Australia director and has been appointed to the finance, audit and risk committee. In other HAL board appointments, Geoff Birchnell was elected as member liaison representative and Michael Crowley elected to the marketing committee.

The 2021 Herefords Australia Board comprises Ian Durkin (chair), Marc Greening (deputy chair), Mark Baker (company secretary), Sam Becker, Geoff Birchnell, Michael Crowley, Ian Durkin, Mark Duthie, Alex Sparkes, Trish Worth.

Smarter farming systems that thrive through drought are among the agricultural innovations recognised at the annual awards of the Australian Academy of Technology and Engineering (ATSE).

ATSEs prestigious annual ICM Agrifood Award is bestowed on applied scientists who have made significant contributions to the agriculture sector.

One of the 2021 winners was Dr Lindsay Bell, Farming Systems Scientist at CSIRO, for world-leading research helping dryland crop and livestock farmers manage climate variability.

Dr Bells research focuses on redesigning cropping systems and re-integrating crops and livestock to more efficiently use highly variable rainfall to increase profitability and reduce losses during droughts. He has been instrumental in developing dual-purpose canola that works both as a crop and a feedstock, and designing protocols to help farmers graze their crops at a time that reduces the risk of grain yield losses.

Growing up on a farm in western Queensland I have firsthand experience with many of the challenges facing agriculture, Dr Bell said.

This has driven me to try to identify practices, technology and markets that help farmers become more viable in the short and long term.

ATSE President Professor Hugh Bradlow congratulated the winners, saying the ICM Agrifood Awards recognise the vital role of R&D in advancing Australias strength as an agricultural powerhouse.

The Graham Centre for Agricultural Innovation has celebrated the achievements of PhD graduates during formal ceremonies at Charles Sturt University recently.

The graduates from the Centre, an alliance between Charles Sturt and the NSW Department of Primary Industries, were among the 600 graduates who attended the Universitys ceremonies in Wagga Wagga, which were postponed last year due to COVID-19.

Dr Cara Wilson and Dr Thomas Williams celebrate graduation at Charles Sturt University.

Charles Sturt University PhD graduate Dr Cara Wilsons PhD research through the Graham Centre examined the impact of hydatid disease on the beef industry in eastern Australia. As part of her research, Dr Wilson examined data from 1.1 million cattle slaughtered at a focus abattoir from 2010 to 2018.

She found the geographic distribution of hydatid-infected cattle was wider than previously thought, with losses to the abattoir from 2011 to 2017 of more than $650,000 in downgraded carcases.

Hydatid disease in beef cattle has important epidemiological and economic impacts on the Australian beef industry, she said. Improved knowledge and awareness of hydatid disease among Australian beef producers is required, and practical and cost-effective control measures need to be identified.

Dr Sajid Latifs research has given new insight on how annual pasture legumes can be used to suppress weeds in south eastern Australian farming systems.

His research examined legumes species such as biserrula, serradella, gland, bladder and arrow-leaf clover established as monocultures and as mixed stands.

Looking at both the above-ground competitive traits and the chemical interactions in the soil rhizosphere Dr Latif looked at the suppression of common annual weeds. He found the choice of pasture species impacted stand establishment, yearly regeneration and weed suppression in pastures, with arrow-leaf clover and biserrula suppressing annual weeds effectively.

Biomass accumulation in pasture species was found to contribute significantly to the reduction of weed biomass for the majority of species followed by light interception at the base of the canopy, Dr Latif said. The results also suggest that plant produced chemical interference is one of the key mechanisms of weed suppression in some of those species, including biserrula and serradella, he said.

Dr Jane Kelly has been awarded her PhD for research examining the prevalence, management and economic impact of seed contamination in sheep carcasses by barley grass.

The findings show the value of proactive and accurately timed integrated weed management strategies for influencing legume pasture composition, reducing barley grass populations and mitigating losses associated with seed contamination in grazing sheep in southern Australia.

Dr Thomas Williams PhD was focused on gastrointestinal nematodes in water buffalo, comparing production systems in Australia and Pakistan.

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People on the Move: Appointments, retirements, achievements - Beef Central

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