NABRC Regional Beef Research Committee Chairs Rob Pearce, Mernoo Station, Ilfracombe, Catriona Pearce, ‘Bannockburn’, Morinish; and Richard Cox, Cracow Station, Cracow, will be at the CQU stand at Beef Australia from 2-3pm, Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday to hear from producers.

THE North Australia Beef Research Council (NABRC) and CQUniversity are teaming up at Beef Australia 2024 to provide producers the opportunity to help shape the direction of future R&D investments for the livestock industry.

Representatives from several NABRC Regional Beef Research Committees (RBRCs) will be at the CQUniversity stand in the Robert Schwarten Pavilion, from 2-3pm on Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday, as part of CQU’s ‘Ask an Expert’ sessions.

Cattle producer and Central Qld RBRC chair Catriona Pearce, of ‘Bannockburn’, Morinish, said NABRC was designed to enable producers to set the agenda for what research needs to be done for a prosperous and sustainable beef industry in Northern Australia.

“I’m really looking forward to hearing about the challenges that producers are currently facing and what their research needs are,” Mrs Pearce said.

“As Regional Beef Research Committees, it’s our job to listen to producers and prioritise these challenges so that we can get the research funding directed to projects of greatest impact.”

Mrs Pearce, Central Queensland RBRC chair, will be on the CQU stand to meet with producers on Monday at 2-3pm; Richard Cox, South East Queensland RBRC chair, will be there at 2-3pm Tuesday; and Rob Pearce, Western Queensland RBRC chair, will be available at 2-3pm on Wednesday.

CQUniversity will also have several leading scientists available at the same time to answer questions about current research projects underway in Australia and across the globe that might be relevant to northern beef producers.

“Researchers from CQUniversity work really closely with NABRC to make sure that the projects we are working on closely align with where the industry wants to go,” CQU Professor Mark Trotter said.

“NABRC sets the agenda for where the industry levy funds are spent so it’s important for us to work with them and listen to the needs of producers, but the relationship is about much more than just this.

“A couple of years ago we worked with the Western Queensland RBRC to run a ‘Young Researcher Tour’ which took several young scientists from across Australia out to meet producers from Longreach, Barky and into the Channel Country. The tour put into context the research needs in these remote areas and connected young scientists with these real-world challenges.

“It’s activities like this that help develop the next generation of researchers that makes NABRC so valuable.”

The NABRC sessions are part of CQU’s ‘Ask An Expert’ program which will see leading researchers and educators from many fields at CQU, from methane mitigation, new feeding systems, ruminant nutrition, smart sensors through to education and training opportunities, available at the CQUniversity trade stand at site R22 in the Schwarten Pavilion.The Ask An Expert program is available at www.cqu.edu.au/beef24

Source: NABRC/CQU