Beef Central’s Jon Condon and James Nason receive the 2019 Howard Yelland Beef Industry Award from the Australian Beef Industry Foundation chair, John Gunthorpe and executive, Sam Inglis.
THE Australian Beef Industry Foundation (ABIF) has bestowed its 2019 Howard Yelland Beef Industry Award on Beef Central’s founders and publishers, Jon Condon and James Nason.
The award was presented during the NAB Agribusiness Industry Dinner at Marcus Oldham College near Geelong last night, marking the graduation of 39 fine young industry stakeholders from across Australia from Marcus Oldham’s 2019 Rural Leadership Program.
James Nason and Jon Condon left long careers in agricultural print media to launch the Beef Central industry news and information website in 2011. Since then the network has expanded to include the grains, wool, lamb, rural property, stud stock and ag-tech industries.
The ABIF has made the Howard Yelland award each year since 1987.
Previous recipients have come from a wide spectrum of industry activity, including progressive and example-setting beef producers, meat and livestock science, industry leadership and stewardship, ag economics and consultancy and supply chain management.
Just some of the 35 previous winners have included the late Graeme Acton, David Crombie, Robin Hart, the late Zanda McDonald, David Blackmore, Drs John Thompson and Dave Pethick, David McKinna, Rod Polkinghorne, John Webster and Don Story.
An acknowledgement of national industry significance, the Howard Yelland Beef Industry Award is named after Howard W Yelland, a pioneer in the industry through his championing of objective selection and performance-recording in cattle.*
The award seeks to recognise individuals who have given service to the beef industry ‘above and beyond’ what would be considered a normal role.
Selection criteria include:
- Extent of contribution to the Australian beef industry
- Recognition of this contribution both nationally and internationally
- Leadership role as change agents
- Contribution above and beyond normal role in the industry
In profiling this year’s award recipients, ABIF said that Messrs Condon and Nason were recognised for their provision of accurate and timely industry news and market intelligence for the beef industry through the electronic media.
The citation for this year’s award read:
“This award jointly recognises the insight and innovation in developing an online presence for news and commentary on our industry, and the extensions of it across the supply chain; and promoting open debate on topics of importance to the continued growth of many businesses active in red meat production.
“Through their initiative in developing and implementing the online information platform, Beef Central, James Nason and Jon Condon have ensured that access to relevant and timely information that assists in decision-making in both beef herds and red meat markets in Australia is a reality.”
“The Beef Central online news platform overcomes the tyranny of distance, providing timely and accurate information relating to the meat and livestock industry, to allow all industry stakeholders to make better and more informed business management decisions.” the dinner audience was told.
“Beef Central is well recognised as a reliable and unbiased source of information, both nationally and internationally, providing the basis for sound decision-making within the beef industry – exactly the same attributes that made Howard Yelland a leader in his field 108 years ago.”
“James Nason and Jon Condon have demonstrated a significant contribution to the Australian beef industry, are leaders in their role as change-agents, and have contributed above and beyond a normal role in this industry.”
The pair was nominated for the 2019 award by prominent Victorian seedstock producer, Don Lawson. Learn more about Mr Nason and Mr Condon’s personal and work history here.
* About Howard Yelland:
Howard Yelland’s Glentrevor Hereford stud was among the first beef herds in Australia to make selection and breeding decisions based on performance. He started objective selection in the early 1900’s, began weighing cattle in 1910 and his family started recording and selecting on the results in 1960. Howard Yelland would truck bulls to the local rail siding to use the railway weigh bridge to measure animal growth rates. All records were calculated and recorded manually and decisions for mating groups made on this data, a far cry from the vast data base of information which now underpins the objective selection of beef cattle in this country and around the world.
About the Australian Beef Industry Foundation:
The Australian Beef Industry Foundation (ABIF) is an independent industry organisation committed to investing in young people, education and information to develop a beef industry that is highly profitable, sustainable and supportive of rural communities and their needs.
ABIF is committed to investing in young people, education and information to arrest the exodus of people and therefore key skills from the industry, and attracting and retaining people in the industry ABIF is a stable, independent and innovative organisation that is growing rapidly through strong relationships with industry supporters and investors.
Congratulations, James and Jon. It is wonderful to see your hard work and dedication to the industry acknowledged. Well-deserved!
Congratulations Jon and James – wonderful recognition of your vision, hard work and journalistic integrity – please do not drop the reins!
Congratulations James and Jon well deserved, was a big gamble back in 2011 to start an online beef news website, well done.
Congratulations Jon and James, well deserved! We all think we know the effort you both put into such an informative and timely industry news feed, but the truth is we probably under estimate it by half. Keep up the great work.
Jon and James, this award is well deserved. Your dedication and professional journalism is second to none. Well done.
Jon and James
Congratulations to you both.
Vision, willingness to take the risk and an extraordinary amount of effort.
A very well deserved award.
Congratulations Jon & James, a well deserved accolade for all your risk and hard work creating an informative and timely news source for rural Australia.
Bravo Jon and James!!!! You deserve this award and recognition ten fold. Thank you for filling our email boxes with quality journalism, breaking news, well researched stories and balanced opinions in response to contentious issues. Congratulations.
Jon and James, a great recognition of your work and effort over the years. Your content, analysis and support of the Beef and broader ag sector via Beef, Sheep, Property and Genetics Central are first class, well done to you both.
Well Deserved
This award is small in recognizing the contribution you both have made to not only the meat industry and associated offshoots but to professional journalism. Keep up the good work !!!
Very well deserved recognition – Beef Central is essential reading if you are in the beef industry.
Congratulations Jon and James, great newsletter and good to work with.
Jon & James, its been a pleasure to watch as you nervously started what has since turned into a ‘must have’ timely daily report on all things Beef Industry (& Sheep & Grain……..). Congratulations on what you have achieved in just 8 years. It is terrific to see that your vision been rewarded. Keep up the great work.
I am well aware of the effort you put into making the daily publications so accurate and informative.
A great service to the industry.
Roger Halliwell
Congratulations Jon and James
great recognition for Quality reporting on a Quality Industry
Congratulations to you both in receiving this award as a small recognition of the giant impact in progressing information flow that beef central has delivered and achieved. BC has rightly become the encyclopaedia and go to for beef industry participants.
Congrats Jon & James – pioneers in rural online news and continue to break key beef industry stories. Well deserved recognition. Next step…more video on BC platform?
Congratulations Jon and James, so well deserved.
James and Jon
Congratulations on receiving the Howard Yelland award – suitable recognition for the impact you have made delivering quality journalism. We are very fortunate to have such thoughtful, diligent people providing a service like this to our industry. I hope you are able to keep up the good work for many years to come.
Congratulations
Keep up the good work
JR Geoff and Carol Richard
Well deserved Jon and James. Congratulations.
A wonderful contribution – and a greatly deserved recognition.
Well done
Congratulations Jon and James and deserved recognition for the work you have put into creating Australia’s leading source of news, commentary, analysis and information for Australia’s beef industry.
Well deserved Beef Central and good nomination Don Lawson.
Congratulations Jon and James. Your Howard Yelland Award is a well deserved recognition of your creative thinking and development of a system which provides us key information right when we need it.
Congratulations and best wishes with your today’s National recognition of your advanced Beef Central innovation constantly providing hot on the press market intelligence, news and R&D info to the world’s finger tips so freely available, concise, relevant, timely and accurate.
What a great contribution to the Beef Industry along with your other Centrals, do keep advancing for Australia’s benefit.
Attention Anthony Catalano: Are you reading this???
Congratulations Jon and James. You are the leaders in giving us independent up to the minute beef news at our fingertips. Great to see your hard work recognised.
Well done Jon and James. A wonderful contribution you both make to our industry.
Well done Jon and James – class journo’s combined with vision. Brilliant
Congrats gents, keep up the good work. The need for independently researched journalism has never been greater particularly into the effects of climate change. Irrespective of whether you believe increased greenhouse gases are a major cause, large parts of Australia are getting hotter and drier. Locally we are now in the lowest 10 % percentile for rainfall and pasture growth according to the Qld Govt’s Long Paddock website. The mining sector in Qld has “unlimited take” of our precious GAB water. This is environmental insanity in the world’s naturally driest continent. The beef industry is already being severely impacted by climate change. We need to protect our underground water bank. Even Beef Central ultimately depends on it.
Congratulations James & Jon well done.
Congratulations!………keep up the good work
Well done and deserved Jon and James, Beef Central has replaced print media with timely and a accurate report of industry events.
Congratulations James & Jon. A well deserved award for what gives us the most update and best agriculture news reporting in Australia.
Congratulations Jon & James! Well deserved.
Congratulations Jon and James
You saw an opportunity and chanced your luck. It has been for the betterment of the industry. Your bold move came ahead of the pack outside the square where I think you try to lead your readers.
Thanks for your foresight we look forward to being kept up to date with all the latest news ideas and directions of our industry.
Jim Cross
Congratulations James and Jon. Still read your publication each day even though I have left the beef industry. Still pass on to others when I think they would be interested.
Cheers
Margie Neill
Congratulations to Jon Condon and James Nason, the award is richly deserved. In fact I wonder how these fellows can provide so much information to our industry in such a timely manner. Best wishes John Griffith
Congratulations & very well done Jon & James, trust you both are being well-rewarded out of it as many of us look forward to your regular first with the rural news that really matters. CHEERS.
John, congratulations to both yourself & James. Well done
I was so pleased when Beef Central started. To have news & information immediately not having to wait for a week to get old news. What has really impressed me is every year it has got better the coverage and advertising more professional and not biased by the advertisers or for that matter anyone else.
Congratulations John & James you have created not only a great business to benefit our industry but to the whole of rural Australia.
Congratulations!
Very well deserved!
What a wonderful selection, I am so glad that James and Jon have been acknowledged for their enormous contribution to agriculture in all its forms. What they have created is a bible of connection and information for all those of us who choose to live
outside the grid
Congratulations Jon & James; well deserved!
Congratulations, well deserved
Congratulations Jon and James – well deserved. I love my daily BC read 🙂
A truly significant contribution
Well deserved boys