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

• Changes in the senior management ranks at JBS Southern
• CPC makes key public affairs appointment
• Killara feedlot in the hunt for new GM, as Andrew Talbot steps down
• Former Nutrien head Rob Clayton joins Gallagher
• AA Co directors elected
• Changes at the top for global protein giant JBS
• New face on CA’s Regional Consultative Committee
• AuctionsPlus top assessors recognised
• New board for AFIA
• LAWD strengthens SA property footprint
• Stock agency expands with Roma business purchase
• Beef industry icon Terry Nolan honoured as 2026 Ekka Legend
• Renderer Bush’s builds capability for next phase of growth

Changes in senior management ranks at JBS Southern

There has been a series of changes in the senior management ranks at JBS’s Southern Division.

Sam McConnell, who has been JBS Southern’s chief operating officer since 2012, is taking extended leave, being replaced in the COO role by experienced processing operations manager Sean Naden.

Sean Naden

Mr Naden has spent the past 11 years as JBS Southern’s general manager of operations, responsible for both beef and lamb streams. Prior to that, he was sheepmeats operations manager, and before joining JBS in 2012, managed Ovation’s Gisborne and Feilding processing plants in his native New Zealand.

Sean Starling

Internally promoted to fill Mr Naden’s former role as JBS Southern general manager of operations is Sean Starling, who for the past five years has served as JBS Southern’s head of innovation and industrial engineering.

During his 14-year term heading JBS’s Southern Operations, Sam McConnell oversaw sweeping changes to the business targeted at efficiency, productivity and throughput. He also drove the development of the company’s Great Southern farm-assured beef program – arguably the largest and most successful certified grassfed program in the nation, if not the world.

CPC makes key public affairs appointment

Former Red Meat Advisory Council chief executive Alastair James has joined Consolidated Pastoral Co in a newly-created public affairs role.

Having forged his career in red meat industry advocacy, Mr James has joined CPC as Public Affairs Manager, bringing extensive policy, stakeholder and leadership experience to the business.

Alastair James

CPC’s growth not only cattle production, but also in cropping, sheep and wool, goats and natural capital has led to the development of this new role. Government relations and policy strategist Jack Lake will continue to advise CPC as he has done for over 15 years.

As a former CEO of RMAC, Mr James played a central role in shaping whole-of-supply-chain policy, overseeing the Red Meat 2030 strategy, and representing industry interests at the highest levels of government and media. He has also held senior leadership roles across the beef industry, including terms as CEO of Herefords Australia and deputy CEO of the Australian Livestock Exporters Council, building a reputation as a strategic thinker and effective advocate for Australia’s agricultural industries.

His career has spanned more than two decades across government, industry bodies and advisory roles, with a strong focus on policy development, regulatory reform and stakeholder engagement. Most recently, he has been working as a consultant supporting a range of peak bodies and industry organisations on strategic policy and market access initiatives.

In his new role, Mr James will lead CPC’s public affairs strategy, supporting the business to navigate an evolving policy landscape while strengthening its engagement with government, industry, and community stakeholders.

Killara feedlot in the hunt for new GM, as Andrew Talbot steps down

Experienced feedlot operations manager and ALFA board member Andrew Talbot has finished up at Killara feedlot near Quirindi in northern NSW, where he has worked for the past 24 years – including the past eight as general manager or divisional chief executive.

Andrew Talbot

Mr Talbot’s move follows Elders’ $196m sale of the Quirindi-based feedlot to Australian Meat Group in February, with AMG officially taking ownership at the end of June.

Beef Central understands Mr Talbot will continue in his current industry leadership roles, including as a board member of the Australian Lot Feeders Association.

As the manager of Killara, Mr Talbot was a prominent industry spokesperson and oversaw a series of developments and research projects that had a strong focus on the sustainability of lotfeeding. The yard built an extensive solar farm, covered housing, effluent irrigation systems and other trials like remote monitoring for Bovine Respiratory Disease and autogenous vaccines.

Australian Meat Group told Beef Central it had not yet made an appointment to replace Mr Talbot, but a process was underway.

Mr Talbot has not yet announced plans for his future career path, but Beef Central will keep readers updated.

Former Nutrien head Rob Clayton joins Gallagher

Diversified livestock management solutions provider Gallagher has appointed Rob Clayton as chief executive of the company’s global Animal Management business, leading the next stage of growth across key markets.

Rob Clayton

Mr Clayton grew up on a wheat, sheep and cattle farm near Coonamble in NSW, where his family continues to farm today. He spent 25 years with national agency network Nutrien, progressing into senior leadership roles in Australia including lengthy terms as managing director of Australian operations, and for the past three years, the United States.

Recently Gallagher Animal Management has expanded its agritech capability, made acquisitions in Europe and South Africa, and established Gallagher in Brazil.

“Rob brings global agribusiness experience, practical farming background and existing knowledge of Gallagher Animal Management solutions to help lead the business through this next phase,” the company said in a statement.

Gallagher group CEO Kahl Betham said Mr Clayton stepped into the role at an important time for Gallagher, as more farmers looked to technology to help run their businesses with greater confidence.

“We’re seeing strong farmer demand for connected, data-driven solutions that make life easier and improve their productivity, labour efficiency and animal performance. That creates a significant opportunity for Gallagher to grow its presence across global agritech markets,” he said.

“Rob brings international leadership experience and networks that will help drive market expansion, while staying focused on delivering real value for farmers.”

“Every time I am on farm – whether that’s in China, North or South America, Australia or Europe, I learn something new,” Mr Clayton said. “I can use that experience, combined with the power of Gallagher innovation, to bring new opportunity to farmers.”

“Agriculture is a game of inches. You have to find the advantages where you can. It’s not just about the products, but how those products drive efficiency and deliver real benefits for farmers.”

Mr Clayton succeeds Dr Lisbeth Jacobs, who led Gallagher Animal Management for the past four years. He will be based in Melbourne.

AA Co directors elected

Three directors were returned, or added to the board after the Australian Agricultural Co’s annual general meeting in Brisbane recently.

Chairman Don McGauchie was returned for another term as a director, attracting 96.99pc support from shareholders.

Also voted back onto the board was majority shareholder Joe Lewis’s Tavistock representative Josh Levy (99.41pc) and new director Zoe Kenneally (99.76pc). Mr Levy has strong experience in food and hospitality serving as a director of the UK’s Mitchells & Butlers, the country’s largest owner of managed pubs and restaurants, since 2015.

Ms Kenneally is an institutional investment professional with more than two decades of experience in finance, agribusiness and governance. Most recently, she served as managing director of assets at Laguna Bay Group, where she was responsible for the strategic management of a large portfolio of food and agriculture investments across Australia.

Changes at the top for global protein giant JBS

Global protein giant JBS recently announced that Wesley Batista Filho, will from January become global chief executive officer of the company. The appointment is part of a planned leadership transition, as Gilberto Tomazoni will step down after 14 years with JBS, including the past eight as global CEO.

Wesley Batista Filho

Mr Batista Filho began his career at JBS 15 years ago and has held leadership roles across the company’s global operations, including CEO of JBS Brazil, President of Seara (US value-added foods division) and since 2023, CEO of JBS USA.

Having led JBS through the most transformative period in JBS’s history, Gilberto Tomazoni will oversee the leadership transition over the next five months before assuming the role of Vice Chairman of the Board and Senior Advisor.

New face on CA’s Regional Consultative Committee

Cattle Australia recently welcomed Dr Melissa George as the newly elected representative for Region 15 on its Regional Consultative Committee, following the completion of a by-election.

Melissa George

Cattle Australia CEO Will Evans congratulated Dr George and thanked all candidates and producers who participated in the by-election.

“Melissa brings a wealth of knowledge and practical experience across the beef supply chain, and I look forward to the contribution she will make in representing producers across Region 15,” Mr Evans said.

Dr George is a beef producer, veterinarian and research scientist with more than 25 years of experience in the beef industry. She owns and operates cattle grazing properties in southeast Queensland with her husband Matt and runs Bovine Dynamics, a veterinary and nutritional consultancy supporting Australian cattle producers.

The RCC is an important part of Cattle Australia’s governance framework, ensuring grassfed cattle producers have a direct voice in the development of policy and industry representation priorities.

AuctionsPlus top assessors recognised

Accredited assessors and agencies who have driven throughput and innovation across the AuctionsPlus online livestock trading platform over the past 12 months have been saluted.

Presented annually since 2012, the AuctionsPlus Awards celebrate the agents and assessors who power Australia’s largest agricultural marketplace, with awards spanning cattle, sheep, machinery and combined livestock categories, along with special recognition awards for outstanding contribution to the AuctionsPlus network.

AuctionsPlus CEO Wyn Snyman said the awards were a genuine, data-driven measure of performance across the network.

“Our assessors are the most highly regarded in Australia, each having undertaken rigorous training, and these awards provide a valuable opportunity to recognise the best of the best,” he said. “It is particularly pleasing to see long-serving assessors represented on this year’s list alongside a number of outstanding newcomers. This reflects the strong depth within our assessor network and demonstrates that the next generation coming through is upholding the standards that AuctionsPlus has long been built on.”

Darryl Napper, Elders

Elders Kingston livestock agent Darryl Napper topped AuctionsPlus’s cattle throughput for 2025-26, after biggest year of his career.

has been assessing cattle for AuctionsPlus since the days of CALM, the platform’s predecessor, but stepped up a gear with his online listings in the past 12 months, earning him this year’s Top Throughput Cattle Assessor title. Mr Napper put through 8349 head across 106 assessments in FY26, more than his combined total from the rest of his assessing career. His lifetime tally now sits at 168 cattle assessments, meaning this year alone accounts for well over half of them.

“Timing helped,” he said. The district had come off a dry year with numbers held back, and conditions turned in his first season in the role. “Our season opened up here in March, and it sort of kept raining,” he said. “Prices lifted too, giving vendors confidence to sell rather than hold. We just went through and priced them right, where everyone’s getting something out of it.”

Davidson Cameron & Co claimed both the Top Throughput Cattle Agency and Top Throughput Combined Livestock Agency awards for FY26, in the NSW agency’s first year winning either category.

General manager Dean Taylor said the result was driven by dry conditions across the agency’s footprint in the first half of the financial year, which pushed more cattle onto the market earlier than usual.

“It’s been very dry here the first six months of the year,” Mr Taylor said. “We knew we’d sold a lot of cattle that normally sold later in the year.”

Mr Taylor said a lot of the cattle sold would typically have been held back and grown out and the dry conditions also prompted some producers to sell into their breeding herds. The agency’s 16 cattle assessors listed 14,167 head of cattle across 349 assessments in FY26.

New board for AFIA

The Australian Fodder Industry Association has elected its new board, following the celebration of its 30-year milestone last month.

AFIA’s two-day 30th Anniversary event in Melbourne brought together hay and silage producers from across the country. A gala dinner with more than 110 members, partners and industry leaders recognised the people behind AFIA’s growth, supported by major sponsor New Holland, event partners Krone and Massey Ferguson, and a Look Over the Farm Gate community grant.

At the AGM, following the departure of one director from the board, the constitution required two directors to stand for re-election. Both were successful, securing their seats through to 2027. Joining the board as a director is Shayne Eeles (VIC), a Rochester-based hay grower and farming and domestic sales manager with Balco. He brings hands-on experience across growing, processing and export hay supply chains. Directors Rob Anspach (WA), Darryl Boyd (NSW), Harry Divall (NSW), Mark Green (NSW), Mark Harrison (QLD) continue into 2027, working to progress current priorities across the industry.

AFIA also acknowledged the contribution of former chair Louis Kelly, who steps down after several years on the Board.  Returning AFIA Chairman, Gavin Schuster, said the support of members for another term meant AFIA can keep moving key priorities forward.

LAWD strengthens SA property footprint

National rural property, agribusiness and advisory firm LAWD has expanded its South Australian footprint, reinforcing its commitment to delivering specialist agribusiness property sales, valuation and advisory services across the state.

The enlarged team broadens LAWD’s service offering across the state, bringing additional experience and resources to support a diverse range of agricultural sectors and property types.

LAWD’s South Australian sales team is led by Sales Director Nigel Gosse, who has extensive experience across agricultural property transactions and longstanding relationships throughout South Australia’s agricultural sector.

The sales team is further strengthened by the relocation of Associate Director Nathan Cleeland from LAWD’s Melbourne office to Adelaide. Nathan brings experience across agricultural property sales, valuations and advisory services throughout Victoria and South Australia, having worked across a broad range of asset classes including grazing, irrigated agriculture, horticulture and institutional-scale farmland.

LAWD’s South Australian valuation practice is led by director Michael McNamara, a respected specialist in rural and agribusiness property valuations. Michael provides valuation services to a diverse client base, including financial institutions, family enterprises, corporate agriculture businesses and government organisations. Supporting the valuation team are Valuer Braden West and Assistant Valuer Jack Grundy.

Braden delivers valuation services across a broad range of agricultural property types, providing clients with market-based advice informed by local knowledge and national market intelligence. Jack assists the valuation team across inspections, analysis and reporting, supporting the continued growth of LAWD’s valuation services throughout South Australia.

“South Australia is one of Australia’s most important agricultural regions, with a diverse and highly productive farming sector that continues to attract strong interest from producers, investors and institutions alike,” LAWD chief executive Enda Foley said.

Stock agency expands with Roma business purchase

Dalby headquartered Kellco Rural Agencies has expanded its livestock and property agency business into Roma and the wider Maranoa region, following the acquisition of Murray Arthur Agencies Livestock and Property.

Kellco was started by Brendan Kelly and Andrew Cavanagh in 2017 and currently has branches in Dalby, Monto, Taroom, Wandoan and Biloela.

“This was the first time we had heard of an agency in Roma for sale, so we thought it would be a great idea as we’ve got a fair few clients in the region,” Mr Kelly said. “It also means a private agency will continue to be privately-owned and operated. Roma will become one of our key operating bases and selling centres alongside Dalby and Monto.

The experienced staff from MAA will remain in the business, now joining the Kellco Rural Agencies team.

MAA has been an established agency in Roma since 1988, but owned by Duncan McLeod since 2005, after he purchased it from Murray and Helen Arthur.

Mr McLeod is stepping away from the agency business to pursue other interests.

Feedlot procurement has been a major part of the Kellco business, with Mr Kelly buying for the Camm Agricultural Group for the past decade. Mr Kelly said the business planned to further expand across Queensland.

Future Farmers Network appoints CEO

The Future Farmers Network (FFN) has appointed Leah Dennis as the organisation’s chief executive officer.

As Australia’s only national, independent not-for-profit dedicated to supporting young people across all areas of agriculture, FFN plays a vital role in building the capability, networks, and leadership of the next generation through events, bursaries, resources, and industry engagement opportunities.

Mrs Dennis joins FFN with extensive leadership experience across agriculture and the not-for-profit sector. Most recently, she served as CEO of the Australian Mushroom Growers Association (AMGA), where she led significant organisational growth, securing substantial funding and expanding the organisation’s national research, development, and extension portfolio from two to more than 20 projects.

With a background spanning organisations including Cancer Council Queensland and the Sunshine Coast Hospital Foundation, Mrs Dennis brings expertise in strategic leadership, stakeholder engagement, and organisational growth, along with a strong commitment to supporting the next generation of agricultural leaders.

FFN Chair Lauren Roellgen said Mrs Dennis’ appointment marks an important milestone for the organisation as it continues to expand its reach and impact across the agricultural sector.

“FFN plays a vital role in connecting, developing and empowering the next generation of industry leaders,” Ms Dennis said. “I look forward to working with our members, partners and stakeholders to grow the organisation, expand opportunities for young people and ensure FFN continues to deliver meaningful support throughout every stage of their agricultural careers.”

“There has never been a more important time to invest in the next generation of agricultural leaders, and I am excited to help strengthen the pathways, networks and opportunities that support their success.”

Beef breeder to help the next generation

With a lifetime of involvement in the beef industry including breeding, showing and judging successes, Julie Pocock is perfectly placed to help the next generation of breeders.

Julie Pocock

Ms Pocock has joined Genetics Australia’s beef team at a good time for the industry and is keen to continue her passion for assisted reproduction.

She’s enthused about the outlook for the beef industry and the chance to be part of the growth in GA’s beef team where she will work in semen sales and supporting producers with their breeding programs in the field.

Based near Toowoomba, Ms Pocock runs Ellendale Simmentals with her husband Travis Iseppi, producing bulls for northern Australia. A vet nurse by trade, she has a genuine passion for assisted reproduction, whether through artificial insemination, embryo transfer or IVF.

“This job goes hand-in-hand with that,” she said. “The breadth of what Genetics Australia has to offer is exciting and I cross lots of different parts of the business, not just semen sales.”

She previously worked in sales with pharmaceutical and genetics companies and was keen to take the next step in her profession.

Beef industry icon Terry Nolan honoured as 2026 Ekka Legend

A champion of Queensland’s beef industry and a driving force behind the Ekka’s prestigious Led Steer Competition, Terry Nolan was recognised earlier this month with the RNA’s highest honour – the 2026 Ekka Legend Award.

The Nolan Meat Co director was presented with the honour by RNA President David Thomas at a reception held at the Royal Queensland Show.

For almost 50 years, Terry has played a vital role in the Ekka’s beef cattle competitions, particularly Led Steers, where he was instrumental in helping establish the competition in 1979.

He went on to judge his first Show in 1989 and has judged many Ekka competitions over the years, including Led Steers, Carcases, Junior Judges, Prime Cattle and various stud beef breeds. He features in Beef Central’s Weekly Grill podcast, posted last week (click here to access).

Impeccably dressed Ekka legend Terry Nolan with wife Jan, receiving his award during Brisbane show last week

Terry’s contribution to the Led Steer Competition has extended well beyond financial support through Nolan Meat Co.

He has played a key role in evolving and promoting the competition, helping transform it into a true showcase of cattle excellence and an important link between producers and the broader beef industry.

Drawing on his extensive industry expertise, Terry has strengthened the competition’s commercial relevance by aligning the judging criteria with real-world market specifications and processor requirements, enhancing the competition’s integrity, educational value and industry impact.

By connecting producers with processors and markets, he has further strengthened the competition’s role as a true paddock-to-plate showcase, reinforcing the Ekka’s relevance to the modern beef value chain.

A passionate advocate for the next generation of beef producers, Terry has also supported schools and young exhibitors, encouraging participation and helping foster a strong connection between young people and the beef industry.

RNA President David Thomas said Terry’s contribution represented the very essence of the Ekka Legend Award.

“Through his decades of involvement with the Ekka, Terry has made an outstanding contribution to the growth and success of the Led Steer Competition, while sharing his knowledge and expertise to support producers, exhibitors and the next generation of industry leaders,” he said.

“Across changing market conditions and industry cycles, Terry has remained a consistent advocate for the Ekka and its agricultural competitions, promoting their importance to Queensland’s rural sector.”

The Ekka Legend Award recognises individuals who have made a remarkable contribution to the Show. It was introduced in 2004 and just 19 people have since been awarded the RNA’s most prestigious honour.

MLA seeks nominations for Selection Committee

Meat & Livestock Australia is calling for nominations from eligible producer members to fill three positions on the MLA Selection Committee at the 2026 Annual General Meeting, to be held in Townsville, North Queensland on November 24.

The Selection Committee plays an important role in MLA’s governance framework, with responsibility for identifying and recommending suitably qualified candidates for election to the MLA Board.

MLA’s Selection Committee comprises producer representatives elected by MLA members, together with industry-appointed members and current MLA Board representatives. The committee supports MLA’s skills-based governance model by overseeing the selection process for prospective MLA directors.

Candidates may nominate for one producer class – cattle producers, sheep producers and lotfeeders.

Nominations close on Monday, 31 August. The nomination form and information about the election process are available on the MLA website: Election of producer representatives to the MLA Board Selection Committee.

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