EQUIPPED with extensive educational qualifications, impressive experience for their age and a plethora of progressive and innovative ideas on how to take Australia’s beef industry forward, the next generation of cattle leaders also seem to have a few other things in common.
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They love mixing with the characters of the beef industry, being ‘on-the-ground’ and have no intention of only contributing from behind a desk.
The recipients of the Australian Beef Industry Foundation’s (ABIF) scholarships to the 2017 Marcus Oldham Rural Leadership Program have enormous faith in the future of the cattle business and big plans to be an influential part of that.
Thanks to sponsorship from Fairfax Agricultural Media, Future Farmers Network and the Centralian Beef Breeders Association, the ABIF will send seven young people to the intensive five-day program conducted on the college campus at Geelong.
They are: Tasmanian livestock buyer Aiden Coombe; livestock manager at Windy Station, Pine Ridge, Molly Van Hemert; manager with Pardoo Cattle Company in Victoria Glenn Paton; Minderoo Station, WA, operations analyst Katrina Weir; assistant manager at Hidden Valley Station, Katherine, Roley James; livestock buyer with Teys at Tamworth Jeremy Cummins and manager at The Garden Station, Alice Springs, Steve Hayes.
For Mr Cummins, it’s the ‘live’ nature of the job, the characters in the cattle game and the idea of playing a role at the production level that is attractive about the beef industry.
He has a Bachelors and Masters in agriculture economics but no desire to be involved from an office.
Mr Cummins grew up in a little northern NSW coastal town, Bonny Hills. His family ran a nursery but his uncle was a cattle buyer and he would spend school holidays following him around the saleyards.
A year spent jackarooing in the Northern Territory cemented his desire to work with cattle ‘on-the-ground’.
Today, he also runs a small farm at Somerton, trading cattle.
Cattle buying, he said, was a challenging but rewarding job.
“It’s a small community. It takes a while to earn respect but there have been some good teachers among those who have shown me the way,” he said.
The big thing, he says, is that no two days are the same.
“What makes it exciting is how live it is - all the different influences and how that filters down into cattle market,” Mr Cummins said.
One of the biggest challenges for the industry going forward, he believes, is getting everyone to work together.
“Australian beef is competing on international markets and we need to do it as one,” he said.
“It’s not farmer versus farmer or processor versus processor. It’s brand Australia.”
Life is similar for Roley James, assistant manager at Hidden Valley Station, near Katherine, in that every day brings something new.
Whether it’s mustering by helicopter, attending to machinery breakdowns or planning a major fencing program, Territory station life delivers rich diversity.
The 2800 square kilometres station runs 15,000 head and 24-year-old Mr James is generally the first port of call when something goes wrong.
He grew up on the back of a horse and started work at 14,
His first job was cleaning up yards and moving stock and since then he has done pretty much everything - from jackarooing to operating machinery to head stockmen to stepping into the top managerial job for a time.
Along the way he went back to study to complete the equivalent of year 12, gain a certificate III and IV in beef production and a Diploma of Agriculture.
There is a lot of satisfaction in working to improve the land and the best thing is not ever being locked into just one role, he said.
Tasmanian livestock buyer Mr Coombe, 22, who works for Greenhams Abattoir at Smithton, says the future of the beef game is very much about understanding and acknowledging what consumers want and meeting that demand.
Mr Coombe sources cattle for the prestigious Cape Grim brand, which hangs it hat on the natural tag.
“This industry has just gone through a boom period with beef cattle prices, but most people believe they will come back to a solid level and sustain that,” he said.
“That is a very good foundation but there is still a need to make sure farmers are improving efficiencies to lower overhead costs.
“And choosing to breed cattle that suit their environment and are genetically superior.
“There have been a lot of changes as far as markets are concerned in recent years and producers should be aware of aligning themselves with a premium market.”