EXPERIENCED red meat industry senior operations manager Michael Crowley is the new managing director of Meat & Livestock Australia.
His appointment, officially announced this morning, follows an extensive four-month recruitment process following the departure of former managing director Jason Strong, who announced his resignation in November.
Mick Crowley
Mr Crowley spent much of his earlier career in program management roles with MLA.
Her left the industry service delivery company, somewhat unexpectedly, in November 2022, taking up a role last March as chief executive officer with the Herefords Australia breed society.
Widely respected in industry circles, Mr Crowley was one of the people identified as a potential candidate for the MLA MD role in this Beef Central article, published last December.
Prior to his departure, Mr Crowley spent 14 years with MLA in a variety of important program management roles, and served as a member of the senior executive team for six years.
His most recent MLA role was as general manager of Research and Development, having previously held a range of senior operations positions including program manager of Meat Standards Australia and regional manager for Europe and Russia based in Brussels.
Personal interest in the Hereford breed, professional interest and family reasons were all factors in his decision to take on the challenge as CEO of Herefords Australia last year, he told Beef Central at the time.
Mr Crowley’s family runs a Poll Hereford Stud near Barraba, about two hours drive from his home in Armidale. He has also been a member of the Herefords Australia board for the past three years.
Meat & Livestock Australia chairman Alan Beckett said Mr Crowley came to the role with extensive experience with the industry domestically and internationally, including several senior roles previously with MLA.
“The MLA Board is thrilled to announce Michael as managing director,” Mr Beckett said. “His knowledge of the industry and of MLA’s functions will see him well-placed to ensure MLA continues to deliver high impact services and outcomes for industry.”
“MLA is about to begin consultation and development of a new five-year strategic plan and we look forward to Michael leading that process.”
Mr Crowley said he was excited by the opportunity and privilege to lead MLA as its next managing director.
“The Australian red meat and livestock sector is an exciting and dynamic industry,” he said. “MLA has a key role in driving that further through R&D, innovation, marketing, and much more.
“I look forward to working with the MLA team, its board, levy-payers, peak councils, government and all of our partners to deliver high impact outcomes for the industry.”
Mr Crowley will take up his appointment on 27 May.
Congratulations Mick. Herefords loss but our industry’s gain. Please stay close to the people MLA provide service through the red meat supply chain. We look forward to catching up.
Australian Cattle Industry Council
A compliment to the committee that put him on the top of the list.
Congratulations to Michael.
But let’s us if he the oil man that gets the political wheels in motion again.
We have confidence that he will deliver but we are a sort of in a hurry.
Present circumstances make trade between the EU and Australia very very complicated.
Editor’s note: Netherlands-based Patrick Burgers is a large importer of Australian beef into the EU/UK region. He first connected with Michael Crowley while Michael was Europe region manager for MLA.
A great appointment for this role. Congratulations Mick. Best wishes from all at Stockyard Beef.
The right man for the big job.
Gives me faith in the future of our MLA
Congratulations Mick.
Congratulations Mick. I big job but well within your capacity with all your experience and knowledge. Will be in touch in Armidale soon. Best regards Rick & Barb
Seems another good choice by MLA. All the best Mick!
Congratulations on your appointment.
I am a producer in Victoria. We join 20,000 ewes pa and footrot is a growing concern to not only ourselves but many sheep farmers across Australia. I hope you allocate a portion of your time as MD of MLA to footrot management – in my opinion starting with diagnostics. Last year MLA reported footrot costs our industry $85.7M. I believe this is a huge underestimate of the cost to our industry. Farmers don’t talk about footrot due to the stigma and therefore we have no real understanding of the true cost. I would appreciate your attention to this animal health challenge in our industry. It leads to animal welfare, loss of productivity and farmer fatigue ultimately leading to a loss of farmers from the sheep industry.
Rebecca Hamilton
I fully agree with Rebecca and James Hamilton on the footrot issue, its not a cattle problem but its still an industry issue. I have just spent time on a young farmers sheep property running 12000+ sheep and they have just got it. On a Sheep Connect article they claim 10% loss of production my investigations tell me its more like 20% and I reckon that pails into insignificance when I see the mental anguish that’s now going through the family. Please lets get the AWI and MLA together to fund a Footrot vaccine.