Protein sector all together

By Fiona Gowers

A capacity crowd of more than 230 people soaked up the Toowoomba and Surat Basin Enterprise (TSBE) Protein 2023 Conference at the Dalby Events Centre in March.

With a focus on sustainable food supply chains, the event brought together the region’s protein sectors with the view to share best practice and encourage collaboration across the sectors.

The program covered sustainable production systems, animal welfare, innovative energy solutions, on-farm production improvements, demystifying carbon markets and biosecurity.

While sessions were delivered via panels featuring industry leaders, attendees had the opportunity to participate in the conversation by submitting questions via an online platform.

“The interactive conference aimed to ignite the conversation around sustainability and highlight the important role farmers, processors, retailers, and consumers all play in adopting change to ensure we have a positive impact on the environment,” said TSBE food leaders Australia General Manager Justin Heaven.

“The conference certainly showcased the amazing work our world leading food producers are doing in developing sustainable food supply chains and the need for collaboration with all partners to drive innovative change that provides transparency and trust.”

Keynote speakers for this year’s conference was the Sustainability Consortium from the US, who provided a global overview of sustainability.

GOALSciences founder and director Peer Ederer discussed GOALSciences’ mission to research and communicate scientific evidence about the role of animals in the global food system.

Peer was integral in the Dublin Declaration of Scientists on the Societal Role of Meat Sustainability.

After the conference, attendees had the chance to tour Mort & Co’s feedlot and Grassdale fertiliser plant, a fully-integrated vertical supply chain that focuses on environmental change for the industry.