Presidents Report
Erica Halliday, President and Board Chairperson I want to thank everyone for the kind messages and calls I have received since I was elected the 47th President of Angus Australia (and the second ever woman President after the amazing Libby Creek). It is both an honour and a privilege and I look forward to talking with members and working with Scott Wright, our excellent Board, and the wonderful team at Angus Australia to make the process of registering and marketing our cattle easier. I have always felt part of the Angus family, growing up through the show circuit with my parents, working for Don Nicol as both Project Officer and Youth Facilitator for Angus Australia before winning the Illinois Scholarship and going on to work on the broader beef industry. My husband Stu and I took over the reins of Ben Nevis in 2013. I am delighted to be on the Board with our newest board member Sinclair Munro of Booroomooka Angus. His grandfather and my father were together in Borneo in WW2 and that was where my father’s love of the Angus breed came about. Dad purchased his first cows from Bald Blair and Abington in 1947 and this year as we celebrated 75 years of Angus Australia membership, awarded at the time that both Abington and Bald Blair Angus celebrate their 100th. Coinciding with this, I take over the presidency from none other than Sam White of Bald Blair. All these events show to me what the Angus breed can be to members more than a place to register and record their cattle. It can be a way to connect, a place to find people who share your values and a place of friendship and camaraderie. To this end we have hit the road with Scott Wright, Angus Australia staff and board members reaching out to members across the country both across their kitchen tables and at the Have Your Say Workshops. The first question is “what regulation do you find the most annoying?,” and from there we go about identifying what bugs members the most and investigating how we can fix it, plus looking for new and great ideas to make the process better and easier. As always, our research and technical staff are keeping abreast of the latest science, and we plan to keep our momentum in this space. The Autumn bull sales were record-breaking, reflecting the demand for our breed as the national herd rebuilds after the drought. With the Spring bull selling season starting this month this trend shows no sign of abating, backed by the strength of the EYCI, good rains across the eastern seaboard and a buoyant mood in the market. Increased supply of bulls onto the market should dampen demand but it hasn’t happened yet. The important thing for Angus breeders to remember for future prosperity is that we will be judged by the ones that we didn’t cut - so sharpen those pocket knives people. A small team of us travelled to New Zealand in May to meet with New Zealand Angus as well as the AngusPro group. While not enjoying the same economic climate for beef that we are at the moment, the New Zealand 2-year-old sales currently underway are very solid. The competition for land-use in the face of climate action is a lesson for the Australian beef industry and as we work towards the MLA target of Carbon Neutral 2030, we need to look at methods
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of methane reduction, but more importantly the role of pasture in becoming a net synch of carbon. To date this space has been dominated by tree plantings but the New Zealand story tells us that we must find balance too or we threaten to overburden grazing businesses. It simply makes sense to take grass which is the most abundant plant on earth and upgrade it to beef, the most nutrient dense form of protein on the planet. We know this process when it’s well managed can not only be carbon neutral, but a net synch of carbon. This is a good story that only we can make happen. Congratulations to the Angus Youth Consultative Committee and Jake Phillips for the hugely successful GenAngus program, which was recently run in Adelaide. It was a leadership, business and technically savvy workshop attended by our “older youth,” targeting 20–40-year-olds. By all accounts it was an extremely creative and informative space with valuable networking opportunities and just plain, good old-fashioned fun with young people getting back together after COVID-19. I would like to take this opportunity to thank our retired past CEO Peter Parnell, and retired past President Sam White for their service to Angus Australia. Peter has left Angus Australia in such a strong financial position with sound investments into youth, research, data security as well as software development, all of which underpin the value of the Angus brand. His humble manner and strong leadership have left us in very good stead. We will greatly miss Sam White on the Board, I have often heard people say that if they had to go into the trenches, they would take Sam and I second that. Sam has always fought hard for our breed and its members in such a selfless fashion. We wish him all the best reconnecting back with his family and enjoying Bald Blairs 100th year of membership. Wishing everyone a successful bull selling and buying season ahead. Yours Erica Halliday The Angus Bulletin - Winter 2022
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