MLA corporate chef Sam Burke conducted an open flame barbecue cooking masterclass for hundreds of cattle producers at Dalby last night.

OUTSIDE of the triennial Beef Australia expos and some of the larger breed-specific events held around the country each year, the Australian beef industry has long lacked a truly national annual event that brings together producers from all corners of the country to discuss the big issues shaping their future.

It seems fair to say that gap is now being filled by Cattle Australia’s Cattle Connect conference, which has emerged as a standout fixture on the beef industry calendar.

The inaugural Cattle Connect event at AAM’s Bective Station at Tamworth last year was a major success, drawing more than 500 producers from across the country.

This week, the second instalment at Dalby on Queensland’s Western Downs has lifted the bar even higher, attracting even greater numbers and energy.

The inclusion of a campdraft at the Dalby Showgrounds – home of the famous annual Dalby Stockhorse Sale – and a cooking demonstration showcasing big steaks mastered over open flames by MLA’s Sam Burke and his team of expert chefs (above) added to the theatre and appeal of this week’s event.

Speakers from Australia and the US tackled headline issues including the cattle transaction levy review, the methane measurement and reduction challenge and the role of retailers and consumers in shaping beef’s future.

Federal Nationals Leader David Littleproud

Federal Nationals leader David Littleproud, who took a special interest when he was Federal Minister for Agriculture in helping to facilitate the process that led to the formation of Cattle Australia in 2022, told the gathering that with the size and economic weight of the beef sector, the formation of Cattle Australia had created a representative voice that “could now walk the halls of Canberra with power and authority and open those doors and have influence.”

Cattle Australia CEO Will Evans

In his opening address, Cattle Australia CEO Will Evans, who took on the job in July, said that in his short time with the organisation so far, its small team had taken on some enormous issues including:

• US beef imports
• Safeguarding land development nationally
• The NLIS uplift
• The EUDR implementation
• Advocacy against “organisations seeking to become quasi-regulators of our industry”
• An alliance of global beef industry associations writing to the UN on the need for a split gas accounting method for methane
• Advocacy against nutritional guidelines that attack the beef industry and its effect on the environment
• Continuing to advocate for equitable investment in Australia’s biosecurity and animal health programs
• The review of the red meat MOU
• And a review of the cattle transaction levy.

He said Cattle Australia “had not sought these issues out because they were easy but because they were hard”.

“We have put the nation on notice that Cattle Australia is a force on behalf of our industry and on behalf of our people.”

He drew attention to the fact that only a short distance from Dalby five years ago, hordes of animal activists invaded a family farming and lot feeding business.

More than 100 anti-meat activists invaded a Millmerran feedlot in 2019.

“Who could forget those scenes of hundreds of animal activists marching across the fields onto the lands, not just of a legal business, but of a family home.

“And why? Because they were breaking the law and committing massive crimes that required community intervention? No.

“Because they were part of a global conspiracy designed to inflict harm and hurt upon the community and good people? No.

“It was because they had the temerity to have a feedlot.

“Who can forget those scenes of stock hands and ringers desperately trying to deter these intruders, yelling and waving their arms at them to turn back, running headfirst into a hostile crowd without hesitation.

“And why? Not why did these activists emerge, but why did these farm workers step forward in the face of hatred? Many would have forgiven them for taking a step back. Why not run and hide?

“They did it to protect their cattle. They did it to protect the people they work with, to protect their families and their friends. They did it, perhaps without knowing it, to protect their way of life.

“I felt an enormous sense of rage that day, but after watching and rewatching that footage, this has shifted into an enormous sense of pride.

“I get to work in an industry with so many people whose values mirror on my own, whose courage surpasses it, and whose wisdom and generosity of spirit is profound.

“I am grateful for this, and it is this gratitude that fills my conviction and certainty of action on behalf of those I work. And days like that give me the push to keep going.”

He noted that the organisers of the protest received thousand-dollar fines, and only two arrests eventuated, because it was seen that their actions were undertaken without malice and did not inflict direct physical harm upon anybody.

He singled out recent moves by the National Health and Medical Research Council (NHMRC) to embed ideological views against red-meat consumption in Australia’s Nutritional Guidelines as a reflection of a deeper and more sinister sentiment emerging against the industry.

“We have raised this issue directly with the NHMRC, have a meeting with later this week.

“Our message today is that we are not going to let this go.

“We will not let individuals step egregiously outside of their jurisdiction, or the role they have been tasked with, and inflict personal belief based on flawed science on the community.

“This will not continue. If no one else will, then we will bring this practice to an end.”

MLA chair John Lloyd

In a discussion about the review of the cattle transaction levy, MLA chair John Lloyd also offered his personal perspective about the importance of an industry having a strong representative body.

“Can I just say I’ve been CEO of two different versions of one Research Corporation for nine years, I’ve been on the board of two other research corporations, and I’m now the board and Chair of MLA.

“…what I will say to you is that there is nothing worse than being in our position and having a lame duck representative organisation. There is nothing worse.

“Now you know we (MLA) are bound by legislation very tightly as to what we can do and what is eligible.

“But in this whole process of considering what the funding should be for Cattle Australia, do whatever you need to do to make sure you’ve got a good representative organisation, because I tell you what, it is hell when they’re lame ducks.”

See below some pictures from this week’s Cattle Connect event at Dalby:

Cattle Australia chair Garry Edwards and Sam Burke talk beef during Sam’s “Showstopping Steaks” barbecue cooking masterclass.

MLA board members Lachie Hart, Tess Herbet and John Lloyd.

Picanha on the open grill.

Harrison John opened the 2025 Cattle Connect conference with a stirring rendition of Advance Australia Fair.

Beef Central’s Jon Condon, keynote speaker Dr Sarah Klopatek from JBS USA and ABC Landline host and Cattle Connect conference MC Pip Courtney.

MLA’s Sam Burke and Doug Piper.

The crowd watching the Cattle Australia Cattle Connect conference in Dalby on Tuesday.

MLA Corporate Butcher Doug Piper.

Cattle Connect campdraft competitors pause to commemorate Remembrance Day on Tuesday.