It’s hard to imagine an agricultural conference starting on a higher note than the soul-stirring heights hit by Queensland soprano Nina Korbe in a unique and memorable opening to this morning’s 2024 BeefEx conference in Brisbane.
Just last night the young opera singer was enthralling audiences in Melbourne before travelling into the early hours of this morning to get to Brisbane to deliver two soaring arias to a crowd of 700 feedlot industry stakeholders, representing the biggest BeefEx conference on record.
Not so long ago Nina was working on the counter at the Andrew Meats butcher shop at Indooroopilly in Brisbane.
Her connections to the Australian cattle industry run even deeper.
She is from a first nations family originally from the Winton region in regional Queensland. Her family was moved to a mission at Cherbourg. Her great uncle Charlie Chambers left in search of a better life as a young man. His stockmanship skills led to him meeting Australian bush icon RM Williams. Charlie spent many years as RM’s head stockman at Rockybar Station near Eidsvold.
The high notes the Australian lot feeding industry is hitting also took centre stage at this morning’s conference.
ALFA chair Barb Madden said the Australian feedlot industry now has a capacity of 1.6 million head with 1.4 million cattle currently on feed.
The industry is this year celebrating the 30th anniversary of the National Feedlot Accreditation Scheme, a pioneering and visionary quality assurance scheme implemented in 1994, which the conference heard has helped the feedlot industry to build significant levels of broad community trust.
The BeefEx conference will continue for two days with expert speakers and award presentations, stay tuned to Beef Central for ongoing coverage in coming days and weeks.
See some of the pics from the first morning of the conference below:
Jasper White (centre), Merrimuka Pastoral Co, NSW with Vanessa and Roger Geldard, Roxborough Ag, Miles.
Christian Duff from Angus Australia catching up with Nicole Franklin and Prince Lo from the Western Downs Regional Council.
ALFA’s Jeff House and Christian Mulders and the NFAS’ Lee Monks preparing for a big two day conference ahead.
Lucy McGilvray and Emma Black from Black Box Co catching up with Lachlan Strohfeldt, Protein Production Vets.
Austrian political scientist Dr Ralph Schoellhammer
Bruce Gormley, Ausmeat and Grant Garey from Teys.
Conference MC Peter van Onselen
Beef Central’s Weekly Grill podcast host and Phillip Kelly from Elders.
BeefEx delegates from left, Craig Price from grainfed processor and exporter Kilcoy Global Foods, Phil Conaghan from Barmount feedlot, Central Queensland and Angus Creedon from livestock financier StockCo.
Delegates mingle in BeefEx’s trade exhibition area this morning
Mitchell Roth, operations manager at Sandalwood feedlot near Dalby, right, with David Jemmett from grain storage manufacturers Ahrens