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

• Inaugural board appointed to head CRC for Zero Net Emissions from Ag
• New chairman takes the reins at Angus Australia
• Herefords Australia elects new chairman
• Downs Wagyu breeder new chair of AWA
• New president for Teys USA
• Bovine reproduction company appoints CEO
• NT cattle vet named 2024 Young Beef Ambassador

Inaugural board appointed to head CRC for Zero Net Emissions from Ag

Australia’s largest Cooperative Research Centre will be overseen by a diverse board of directors with plenty of experience.

The Zero Net Emissions Agriculture Cooperative Research Centre (ZNE-AgCRC) has announced its inaugural Board, following a rigorous process to identify experienced and qualified industry experts.

The ZNE-Ag CRC is an initiative brokered by The University of Queensland and Queensland Department of Agriculture and involves a consortium of 74 partners across industry, education and government. It aims to catalyse industry, community, and government action to achieve Zero Net Emissions from agriculture from 2040, and below zero net emissions by 2050.

Four new directors were appointed this week, joining three directors continuing from the CRC’s establishment phase.

Chair and founding director, Dr Deb Cousins said each member was an exceptionally accomplished individual and expert in their field, and included representation from the family farm right through to internationally-recognised experts in the global agribusiness and technology sectors.

Elected this week are:

• Dr Nick Austin – a globally recognised expert in agriculture and natural resources with extensive experience accelerating technology translation through his input on high-profile boards.
• Dr Kat Giles, a veterinarian and leader in agriculture, who brings with her a wealth of experience working in collaborative research environments, as well as red meat production, supply chain and broadacre cropping.
• Melinee Leather, (pictured below) who runs a progressive, family-owned beef cattle operation in Central Queensland, is focussed on ongoing R&D across sustainability, global food security and climate action
• Chris Murphy is a respected advisor, specialising in commercial agribusiness, with expertise in the dairy, meat and livestock, forestry, grains and horticulture industries across Australia, New Zealand, and the United Kingdom.

The newly elected directors will join continuing directors from the CRC’s Establishment Committee:

• Dr Deb Cousins – Chair. Deb has extensive experience working at the interface of government, universities and industry in agriculture and food, biosecurity, and public health. Her strengths include high-level policy development, strategic and creative thinking, stakeholder engagement, governance, and risk and project management. Deb has significant experience in senior executive leadership roles including in the Australian Biosecurity CRC for Emerging Infectious Diseases, in Primary Industry Departments in WA and Victoria and in the five years prior to her retirement in 2022, providing high level policy advice to government in support of industry development. She grew up in the WA wheatbelt and stays connected to agriculture through family farming businesses involving broadacre crops, sheep and horticulture.
• Tony Lee is a descendant of the Yawuru people with Asian heritage, hailing from his birthplace and hometown, Broome.
• Tress Walmsley has been CEO of InterGrain, a national cereal breeding business, since 2012, playing an integral role in building the company. She has an extensive understanding of plant breeding and over 25 years of agribusiness experience. She previously worked at DPIRD for ten years.

The new CRC commences operations on 1 July.

 

New chairman takes the reins at Angus Australia

New South Wales bull breeder Sinclair Munro has been elected Angus Australia’s new board chairman and president, taking over the reins from outgoing president Erica Halliday.

Appointed at the recent Angus Australia board meeting held in Albury, Mr Munro is a fifth generation Angus breeder from Bingara, where he and his family operate Booroomooka Angus. The beginnings of Booroomooka Angus trace back to 1926 and now consists of 4500 Angus commercial and seedstock cattle, selling up to 200 bulls each year.

Both his father and grandfather were past AA presidents. Mr Munro will be supported by newly appointed incoming vice-president Peter Collins, Merridale Angus, Tennyson, VIC. Two new directors joining the nine-member board are Simon Falkiner and Ed Archer.

“2025 will be a massive year with the World Angus Forum to be held next May,” Mr Munro said.

“It is also the time that we need to have increased collaboration with other Angus breed societies around the world. Most importantly are our people in our society. We need to continue to attract, develop, and retain talented staff, and to encourage member engagement through affiliated groups and consultative committees,” he said.

“Most importantly, as Angus producers, we need to interact with our customers, identify their needs, and satisfy their requirements. In order to increase the profit of our members, our core business is to provide and improve genetic improvement tools for our members to use. We also work to ensure market-based Angus premiums and to create efficiency in member services and IT.”

 

New chairman for Herefords Australia

Fostering domestic and international collaboration, and equipping members with tools to increase productivity and profitability are among the aims of incoming Herefords Australia Chairman Marc Greening.

Mr Greening was announced as the organisation’s new chairman, replacing the outgoing chair Ian Durkin at the board meeting held the day after the Herefords Australia annual general meeting recently in Wodonga.

Mr Greening is principal of the southern NSW based Injemira Beef Genetics, one of the nation’s leading Hereford seedstock and commercial operations. He has served on the Herefords Australia board as a director and deputy chairman for four years.

He paid tribute to Ian Durkin for stabilising the organisation, having a united team, focusing on financial fundamentals and placing the breed in the commercial world.

“Our board is focusing behind the scenes on developing the professional manner of the organisation, and much has been achieved by our chief executive officers Lisa Sharp and Michael Crowley,” Mr Greening said.  “In the last 15 months Michael identified the commercial industry and processing sector we need to engage with and build our understanding of what our customers want. It was certainly a great privilege to work with Michael on the strategy.

Mr Greening said Herefords Australia was positioning itself long-term to assist members, pointing to the Breed Forum held at Wodonga on May 14 as an educational tool for commercial producers to hear about the latest innovations in genetics, genomics, ag tech, carbon sequestration and the supply chain.

He said Herefords Australia was collaborating with domestic commercial partners and internationally with the American Hereford Association.

Herefords Australia hosted the American Hereford Association executive vice president Jack Ward and chief operating officer Shane Bedwell at Beef Australia 2024 and at the breed’s 2024 National Show and Sale.

Mr Crowley recently took up his new position as managing director at Meat & Livestock Australia. Herefords Australia has started a recruitment process to appoint his successor.

 

Downs Wagyu breeder new chair of AWA

In the third in a sequence of recent breed society elections, Darling Downs Wagyu bull breeder Laird Morgan has been elected the Australian Wagyu Association’s new board chairman.

He follows northern NSW Wagyu breeder Charlie Perry in the role.

Mr Morgan has sat on the AWA board for the past three years. Other new AWA boardmembers elected recently included Hamish McIntyre from St George (treasurer) and Jeremy Cooper.

Mr Morgan is a fourth-generation cattle producer from Condamine on Queensland’s western downs, who with his wife Sonia has rapidly built a 3500-strong Fullblood Wagyu breeding herd since attending their first Wagyu conference in 2015.

In other Wagyu news, the Australian Wagyu Association has opened an International Membership Services Office in Texas USA. The Texas office was officially opened last month to deliver improved services to AWA’s 450 international members from 30 different countries, including the UK, EU, US and Canada.

 

New president for Teys USA

Teys USA, a joint venture between Teys Australia and Cargill, has appointed Raven Kropf as the trading company’s new president. Ms Kropf succeeds Brent Wolke, who retired on June 1.

Both spent long careers with Cargill and Teys in the US.

Ms Kropf brings 23 years of experience in the protein industry having spent 20 years at Cargill before joining Teys USA in 2021 as senior vice president. Prior to joining Teys, she held roles in procurement, commercial management, category management and sales while at Cargill.

Brent Wolke spent 37 years in the beef industry, serving as president of Teys USA for the last seven years before retirement, playing a pivotal role in guiding the company’s growth.

Teys USA is a producer of high quality grass and grainfed Australian beef that is sold across North and South America.

 

New bovine reproduction company, Wise Repro appoints CEO

Newly-formed cattle reproduction company Wise Repro has appointed Aline Teixeira as the company’s inaugural chief executive officer.

Dr Teixeira, who holds degrees in both veterinary science and accounting, previously worked for two decades with global consulting firm FTI as managing director, agribusiness, where she led projects in business transformation, performance improvement and interim management in agribusiness in Australia and across the world.

Recently launched Wise Repro will be the nucleus of a suite of bovine artificial reproduction services previously operating under different company names. The new name and entity have been established to provide a collaboration across the range of services delivered by the group.

The establishment of Wise Repro represents the life’s work of Dr Ced Wise, who through this new venture, will offer a full suite of bovine reproduction services, built around facilitating advancements through genetic gain.

The services include donor flushing, embryo transfer, artificial insemination, semen collection and bull breeding soundness examinations. Dr Wise was one of the pioneers of Multiple Ovulation Embryo Transfer in Australia in the 1980s and has continued to expand the assisted reproduction services, across different technologies, offered throughout the businesses across Australia and abroad.

The companies brought together under Wise Repro include Ced Wise AB Services, Rocky Repro, Wise Breeding Services and Glenisa Angus.

Ced Wise AB Services delivers cattle reproduction services including donor flushing, embryo transfer, artificial insemination, semen collection and bull breeding soundness examinations using custom-built mobile laboratories or at the company’s headquarters at Glen Aplin, Queensland.

Rocky Repro, located at Alton Downs near Rockhampton, is well known for being a leader in bovine semen processing. The facility is export accredited, where genetics are collected and stored onsite to be marketed and shipped globally. Recently Wise Repro acquired the remainder equity and the full ownership of Rocky Repro from co-founders, business partners and industry identities, Tim and Sally North.

Wise Breeding Services manages a large recipient herd, providing a complete ET calf production service. Embryos are transferred into Wise Breeding Services recipient females and upon weaning the calves are returned to the client.

The company also has under its corporate umbrella, Glenisa Angus. Established in 1994 and owned by Ced Wise and family, the stud maintains a high-quality breeding program by careful selection of genetic material focusing on the production of profitable, low maintenance cattle. The Glenisa prefix conducts an Annual On-Property Bull Sale on the first Thursday of September.

Under the new Wise Repro banner, following Aline Teixeira’s appointment as CEO, Ced Wise will assume the title of chairman and chief Veterinarian for the group.

The role of senior veterinarian will be filled by Dr Adam Wise. After graduating with a Bachelor of Applied Science (Production Animals), Adam completed his Veterinary Science degree at James Cook University in 2012. He spent four years working at an intensive dairy practice in Cobden, Victoria before returning to the family business in 2016.

Chief Financial Officer and Chief Operating Officer roles will be the responsibility of Aaron Wise. Involved in bovine biotechnology business operations across different entities and technologies over the past 15 years, Aaron has been instrumental for the business management leading innovative changes for business growth including, implementation of new IT systems and technologies, HR reform, marketing and research and development projects.

 

NT cattle vet named 2024 Young Beef Ambassador

Specialist cattle veterinarian Charles Vaughan has been recognised for his leadership in the beef industry being named 2024 Rabobank Young Beef Ambassador during the Beef 2024 event in Rockhampton last month.

Dr Vaughan, 30, from Darwin, was presented with the award in front of more than 700 guests at the Rabobank Beef Industry Awards Dinner in Rockhampton.

The award – presented every three years at the Beef Australia event – recognises young, forward-thinking and high-achieving people working in the beef sector.

Rabobank Australia CEO Mark Wiessing said Charles Vaughan’s leadership and vision extended beyond his own animal health business (Charles Vaughan Vet Services) servicing the pastoral and export sectors across northern Australia, and included his role at Australian Cattle Enterprises, an integrated cattle company based in Darwin, as well as biosecurity projects undertaken in South East Asia.

“Successfully managing multiple roles across a large and geographically-challenging area shows how proactive and effective Charles is as a leader,” Mr Wiessing said. “And considering his impressive track record so far, it will be fascinating to witness his journey into the future.”

Mr Wiessing said Dr Vaughan was also fast becoming a strong industry advocate – in 2023 representing the NT Live Exporters Association in Vietnam at the Australian Beef Cattle Symposium.

Dr Vaughan is currently assisting in the management, procurement, operational support and logistics for ACE’s 18,000-head backgrounding program on the NT floodplains. This program focuses on procurement of cattle during times of high supply and diminishing nutrition and staging them across three properties that give access to pastures allowing fattening in the northern dry season before they go onto South East Asian feedlots.

Dr Vaughan spends much of his time sourcing cattle – travelling from Fremantle in Western Australia to the Barkly Tablelands in the NT and Central Queensland. Internationally, he works with Indonesian, Vietnamese, Thai, Philippine, East and West Malaysian and Brunei feedlots and livestock businesses.

In the past year, the company has transported 60,000 Australian cattle to South-East Asian markets. His role with ACE sees him involved in everything from selecting cattle that meet export specifications to handling the mountains of paperwork, organising stockmen, fodder and veterinary kits on vessels, and physically loading the boat at the port.

Recently, Dr Vaughan has been heavily involved in protecting Australian agriculture from exotic animal disease incursions, where he developed biosecurity plans and assisted in FMD management in Indonesian feedlots during the 2022 outbreaks and also completed a self-directed volume of testing to ensure Australia’s freedom from Lumpy Skin Disease last year during trade disruptions.

Dr Vaughan believes there is still room for the Australian beef sector to improve – either through efficiencies, welfare practices, nutrition and land management or consumer satisfaction.

“I would like to see continued conversations and promotion of industry best practice to ensure the best animal welfare outcomes and best economic return for all beef industry stakeholders,” he said.

“All stakeholders, from first-year ringers working on stations through to Australian butchers and Vietnamese feedlot workers, should make it their duty to be animal advocates and focus on promoting the great story Australian beef production has to tell.”