ALFA life member and former president Jim Cudmore introducing the Young Lot Feeder of the Year award presentation in Tamworth last night.
What do you call group of lot feeders?
A crush? A pen? An average daily gain? An induction?
We’re not sure either, and, until someone can come up with a more eloquent collective noun, we’re settling for now on the most simple one we can think of: A ‘lot’ of lot feeders.
That was certainly the case last night at Tamworth when 350 lot feeders and people involved in the industry from across Australia gathered in the country music capital to mark the opening of the Australian Lot Feeder’s Association’s SmartBeef conference.
Where Golden Guitar Awards are presented to the cream of the country music crop each year, accolades for the stars of the Australian lot feeding industry were awarded last night, with Whyalla Beef livestock operations manager Tim Brennan named 2023 Australian Young Lot Feeder of the Year and Stockyard Beef recognised for its school education program with the industry’s Community Heroes award. (see today’s separate stories).
The conference group headed out to Elders’ Killlara feedlot today where technology and animal health were the order of the day to increase weight gain and feed intake for cattle – while a high protein ration of Osso Bucco and ribs were responsible for some impressive human feed intake performance.
The Longyard Hotel is scheduled in for tonight, the results from which might put some delegates in the hospital pen tomorrow.
Madie Urquhart (left) and Zoe McFarlan (right) from AuctionsPlus with Maddie Fryer, Rangers Valley.
Stewart Meatheringham from Zeotis and Ben McNamee from Lemontree Feedlot, Millmerran.
(Left to right)Brad Williamson, Gunnee Feedlot and Rangers Valley team members Chris Williamson, Ace Holliss, Daryl McGuire and Emily Angus.
Emily Litzow, ALFA; Kity Sheridan, assistant manager Killara Feedlot, and Rach Dunn, Farmbot.
Dallas Cody, Elders and Andrew Doljanin, Nutriment Health.
AustAsia team members Iain McGillivray, Liam Grantham, Paul Lloyd, Gerhard Oberholzer and Jason Hoey.
Jason Lister from Lallemand with Angus Creedon and Ciaran O’Gorman from StockCo.
Stephen Bonner and Robert Lawrence from Integrated Animal Production and Keeley WIlliams from Western Australia’s Cullulla Feedlot.
Smithfield’s Ryan Brown who presented a stock handling session and Mike Ryan from Eagle Direct.
University of Queensland’s Jasmine Beddows, with Jillian Burgess and Maddison Luke from University of Sydney, Central Queensland University’s Olivia Mullins and Shania Gough.
Graeme Morris, James Browning, Bec Lees and Scott Caithness from Nundle-based grazing and lotfeeding company Powerhouse Pastoral.
Tim Bagshaw and Kelly Nankivell from Thomas Food International.
Tom Keavney and Matt Luhrs from JBS Mungindi with Beef City manager Sean Sturgess.
Feed Central’s Anthony Blazer, Dave Clothier and Alex Smith.
I represent a wheat & barley breeding company that is constantly trying to breed new varieties that will have a benefit to Australian farmers with better yields & disease resistance. The only way that we get a return on our multimillion dollar investment is when the farmer sells his grain and the buyer of that grain deducts the nominated End Point Royalty (EPR) for that variety from the farmers proceeds. Unfortunately a large percentage of the purchases for grain going into the feedlot system does not deduct the relevant EPR’s hence depriving the seed breeding companies from their legitimate income, this loss of income is estimated to be in the Tens of Millon’s of dollars every year. Is there any way via your media platform that we can help educate the feedlot industry of the importance of EPR compliance ?
Regards,
John Shepherd
Your reader comment is a good start, John. Editor