Key elements of the South Australian beef industry supply chain will be showcased at a Beef Producer Forum in Hahndorf on Thursday, 29 May. The forum will be jointly hosted by Cattle Council of Australia (CCA) and Livestock SA with support from Meat & Livestock Australia (MLA).

Cattle Council President, Andrew Ogilvie, said the program aims to deliver information from ‘Along the SA Beef Supply Chain’ with the feature presentation outlining what today’s consumer wants. We will also have guest speakers from the livestock export and the processing sectors.

“These forums are an opportunity for information exchange. We aim to provide information to producers and we are really keen to hear directly from them on what the key challenges and opportunities are both on-farm and at an industry level,” Mr Ogilvie said.

“Ideas and feedback collated at the forum will be used by Cattle Council to complement future industry planning processes, and CCA’s advice to the levy funded organisations.”

Livestock SA representative on Cattle Council, Andy Withers, said he is pleased with the program and the high caliber speakers and encouraged as many SA producers to come along to this event as possible.

“At the end of the forum, there will also be an open panel Q&A Session which will allow for producers to engage in discussion, to ask questions and to provide feedback and ideas to Cattle Council. The Q&A will be facilitated by local producer and Livestock SA Board Member, Penny Schulz,” Mr Withers said.

“Last year we held the SA beef producer forum in Naracoorte and there was good producer attendance, robust discussion and feedback from the forum was fed back to Cattle Council.”

Key sessions at this year’s forum will include:

Your Industry – how it works? This will include an overview of the beef industry structure, levy investments and key priority areas by Jed Matz, CEO, Cattle Council;

Livestock SA – The role you can play at a local level, Richard Halliday, President of Livestock SA will provide a brief outline on the recently formed Livestock SA;

What the consumer wants… MLA’s Global Marketing Manager, Steve Edwards, will provide insights into what customers want, global trends and MLA global marketing programs;

MLA Eating Quality R&D Program – Getting it right across the supply chain, MLA’s Dr Alex Ball will present an overview of the R&D program and the impact that on-farm management has on eating quality;

The livestock export trade will be presented by Chris Howie, National Livestock Manager from Elders;

From the Processing Sector -Teys Australia, David Woolard, Livestock Manager Naracoorte, will provide an overview of Teys Australia, the Pasturefed Cattle Assurance System (PCAS) and key markets; and

Open session and panel discussion facilitated by local SA Producer and 2014 SA winner of the RIRDC Rural Woman of the Year, Penny Schulz.

SA Beef Producer Forum – ‘Along the SA Beef Supply Chain’
When: Thursday, 29 May 2014
Time: 9.00am registration, tea & coffee, to commence at 9.30am – 3.00pm
Where: The Carlton Club Function Centre, 145 Balhannah Rd, Hahndorf, SA
RSVP: The forum is free to attend however registration is essential. RSVP by Friday, 23 May. Email cca@cattlecouncil.com.au or call 02 6269 5600