Beef Central occasionally publishes lists of recent appointments, departures or achievements occurring across the red meat supply chain. Details for submissions for future listings are provided at the bottom of this article….

 

• NTLEA appoints new CEO
• Connolly takes Tipperary role
• ACC appoints Opal Creek feedlot manager
• New management lineup for Woolworths
• Peak vet body welcomes new president
• New Secretary of the Department of Agriculture
• Experienced valuer joins CBRE
• Property agency RWR appoints director
• Australian vice-president for World Organisation for Animal Health
• Victorian named as national ag student award winner
• New chair for Food Safety Information Council

 

NTLEA appoints new CEO

The Northern Territory Livestock Exporters Association has appointed Stuart Kemp to the role of CEO, based in Darwin NT, following a lengthy recruitment campaign.

The NLTEA said Mr Kemp has actively been pursuing a role with the Livestock Export Industry and recently completed a Bachelor of Agricultural Business Management at Charles Sturt University, Wagga Wagga NSW.

Mr Kemp’s previous experience includes roles in beef and livestock administration with AACo based at Brisbane, management of Cotswald Station, Condamine QLD for GP Cattle Pty Ltd, and Kirks Bridge Farm, Bearami NSW for the Briscoe Group.

During the mid-nineties Mr Kemp completed a season working for Carabao Exports based in Darwin. Mr Kemp will commence in the role from next Wednesday, July 1.

Connolly takes Tipperary role

 

Experienced agribusiness manager David Connolly has taken a new position as group general manager of the Tipperary Group of Stations in the NT.

The portfolio, owned by high profile Melbourne QC, Alan Myers, involves 2000sq km Tipperary, a portion of the original Douglas Station and Litchfield Station. Several other original portions of the Myers portfolio have recently been sold. Tipperary was previously leased by AA Co, but that deal came to a close last month.

Mr Connolly was previously general manager of UK-controlled Thames Pastoral Co, the major assets of which are Tanambirini and Forrest Hill stations in the NT. Thames Pastoral is the operating entity for Insight Global Farmland Fund, which plans to raise further capital for land acquisitions in Australia over the next 12 months, Beef Central understands. Mr Connolly’s four-year contact with Thames Pastoral finished a month or two ago. He will be based at Tipperary Station, south of Darwin.

Mr Connolly takes over the reins at Tipperary from former NTCA president David Warriner, who acted as consultant to the Tipperary Group since 2006, but who has now moved-on to concentrate on his Agricon consultancy out of Darwin. Agricon specialises in agribusiness and property management services, business administration, project management, human resource management, and workplace health and safety.

 

ACC appoints Roger Elliott to Opal Creek feedlot role

Australian Country Choice has appointed experienced feedlot operations manager Roger Elliott to manage its newly-acquired Opal Creek feedlot near Cecil Plains on the Darling Downs.

As outlined in this earlier article on Beef Central, ACC has plans to develop the yard from its current operating capacity around 5800 head to 30,000 head over the next nine months. On completion, it will rank as the equal fourth largest feedlot site in the country, delivering 120,000 fed yearlings each year to ACC’s northern supply chain.

Mr Elliott has more than 20 years’ experience in commercial feedlot operations, having been appointed manager when Stanbroke Pastoral Co established its new 10,000 head Bottletree feedlot near Chinchilla back in 1994. That experience will stand him  in good stead managing the cattle inventory at Opal Creek, which will also include cattle with some Indicus content.

For a period after leaving Stanbroke he worked at Teys Condamine, before moving south in 2012 to accept a position managing the 30,000 head Charlton feedlot – firstly for Elders, and since last year’s change of ownership, for new owners Teys Australia.

As part of the succession plan following Mr Elliott’s departure, Teys Australia has promoted Ashley Sheahan, formerly operations manager at the company’s Jindalee feedlot, to become general manager at Charlton. Livestock team member Tom Green has in turn been promoted to become operations manager at Jindalee.

 

New management lineup for Woolworths

Woolworths has announced a “simplified, streamlined” senior management structure as part of a recent corporate overhaul, which has seen the recent departure of chief executive Grant O’Brien, who retired last week after four years in the job. His departure comes just weeks after he outlined a plan to revitalise Woolworths’s core food and liquor business by slashing capital expenditure and costs and pouring the savings into lowering prices.

Australian and NZ supermarkets have been streamlined into a single division which will be called Woolworths Food Division, which comes under the managing directorship of Brad Banducci.

Appointed as director, Woolworths supermarkets is Dave Chambers, while Steve Donohue is now director, Countdown Supermarkets. Steve Greentree will be director, Woolworths FoodCo, while Michael James is now director, Woolworths Small Stores division, including Thomas Dux.

 

Peak veterinary body welcomes new president

Dr Robert Johnson has been elected national president of the Australian Veterinary Association, which represents more than 8000 vets and veterinary students throughout Australia.

Dr Johnson has practiced vet science since 1977, originally working in a practice in Blacktown in western Sydney, before relocating to Springwood, and most recently in 2003 to Penrith. He was also a clinical veterinarian at Taronga Wildlife Hospital from 2005 to 2012.

He has held various board and consultancy positions including the Australian Biosecurity Information Network, official vet for the Royal Agricultural Society of NSW, and served as a member of the animal ethics committee at the NSW Department of Environment, Climate Change and Water.

He has been an industry leader in policy development, having served on the AVA policy advisory council for the last ten years, including a recent term as chairman.

He said he looked forward to working with the board, the dedicated staff and AVA members to find solutions to AVA’s strategic agenda items including professional development, antimicrobial resistance, graduate support and animal welfare.

 

New Secretary for Department of Agriculture

The Federal Government recently appointed Daryl Quinlivan as its new secretary of the Department of Agriculture.

“Among a number of career notches in his belt, Mr Quinlivan brings with him 11 years of previous experience in the Agriculture Department, and more recently the Productivity Commission,” Ag minister Barnaby Joyce said at the time of his appointment.

“Mr Quinlivan’s experience and knowledge of the agriculture portfolio and the broader public sector will be invaluable,” Mr Joyce said.

He takes over from acting secretary Phillip Glyde, who served in the role over the past three months, capably overseeing the passing of the Biosecurity Bill and progression of the Agricultural Competitiveness White Paper, Mr Joyce said.

 

Australian elected vice-president of World Organisation for Animal Health

Australia’s chief veterinary officer, Dr Mark Schipp, has recently been appointed as vice-president of the World Assembly of the Organisation for Animal Health (OIE).

The OIE plays a crucial role in setting health standards for international trade in animals and other products through its expertise in animal health and disease control measures. Dr Schipp’s appointment reflects Australia’s significant international contribution in this area, a recent statement said.

 

 Experienced valuer joins CBRE

Experienced and widely respected rural land value Peter Honnef has joined large property agency CBRE as the company’s director of agribusiness valuations. Mr Honnef will be based in Townsville, concentrating on delivering growth to CBRE’s Northern Australia business.

He previously operated a private valuation practice and before that was managing director of the Townsville Herron Todd White branch office.  He acquired an interest in HTW in 1997 and exited that business in 2008, just prior to the GFC taking grip of the Australian property sector.

Mr Honnef started his career in 1990 with the then Land Administration Commission as a Land Inspector, administering state lands. His appointment comes at an exciting time for Australian agriculture and the northern pastoral industry in particular. He is a director of the Australian Property Institute.

 

RWR appoints new director

In other property sector ‘people’ news, Ray White Rural Queensland has announced that Jez McNamara‘s has become a director of the company.

RWR’s Bruce Douglas welcomed Mr McNamara as a partner in the business. “He is a talented and driven property marketer and his rural background has been the secret to his success – tenacity, resourcefulness, sheer hard work and country ethics,” he said. “Since 2009 Jez has proven to be a talented rural property marketer with an impeccable track record in converting listings into sales.”

Before joining RWR in 2009 Mr McNamara spent his early years jackarooing on Wellshot Station, Longreach, before managing cattle properties on the Darling Downs and the Brisbane Valley. He later spent time in London, working for a multinational firm with interests across various categories including a global rural portfolio.

 

Victorian named as national ag student award winner

Victorian Ellen Versteegen was announced as the 2015 National Student Award winner at the recent Ag Institute Australia national conference in Brisbane.

The prestigious AEV Richardson Memorial National Student Award is competed-for annually by undergraduate students who have completed an Honours research project as part of an agricultural science or related degrees.

Miss Versteegen, pictured, from Benalla, presented the findings of her La Trobe University honours project into reproductive performance and the nutritional quality of colostrum to delegates at the AIA conference. Each AIA state division selects a finalist to compete nationally with a written submission on the background of their project and a 15-minute presentation on the outcomes to a selection panel. In a tight contest, this year’s runner-up was Belinda Worland (QLD), with Tori Percival (TAS) third. People’s Choice Award went to Emily Buddle (SA).

AIA is the pre-eminent organisation representing agricultural professionals across the country.

 

New chair for Food Safety Information Council

The National Food Safety Information Council has elected Rachelle Williams as its new chair. She takes over from outgoing chairman, Professor Michael Eyles.

Ms Williams has been an active member of the Council for the past eight years and has considerable food safety knowledge from running her own business as a food safety and sustainability coach for more than 15 years, Prof Eyles said.

She is a professional member of Australian Institute of Food Science and Technology as well as a member of the Food Industries Association of Queensland, the Australian Association of Food Protection, the Food Safety Centre, the International Society of Sustainability Professionals, and the Association of Sustainability in Business. Ms Williams holds a Bachelor of Applied Science in Food Technology.

 

Send your significant industry personnel movements, milestones or achievements for inclusion in this occasional column to: cath@beefcentral.com