THE Wagyu beef industry’s popular annual conference will head north this year, with an information and entertainment-packed three-day event being staged in Cairns in April.

During the conference, stakeholders including Wagyu breeders, supply chain managers, lotfeeders, marketers and others involved in the industry will have the opportunity to connect with industry experts, listen to captivating speakers, and exchange knowledge with Wagyu enthusiasts from around the globe.

Previous Wagyu conferences have been among the largest beef industry gatherings held in Australia, often attracting 400-500 delegates.

Wagyu Edge’24 at the Cairns Convention Centre will focus on key topics including innovations that will help shape the future of Wagyu breeding, sustainability and Wagyu’s advance into northern beef production systems.

Troy Setter

Covering the last of those topics will be Consolidated Pastoral Co’s Troy Setter and Cattle Australia chairman and former Australian Country Choice CEO David Foote.

A session will follow on advances in rumen methane management in Wagyu cattle, led by Dr Fran Cowley from UNE’s Ruminant Research Group, Prof Richard Eckhard and Gundagai-based livestock producer and founder of web-based methane measurement platform, Ruminati, Bobby Miller.

Conference sessions the following day will cover developing global demand and market and consumer dynamics, including presentations by MLA’s regional manager for North America Doug McNichol, US consumer markets insights specialist Maeve Webster, and Rabo economist Angus Gidley Baird.

Doug McNichol

Other international speakers this year will include US Wagyu producers and supply chain managers Dave Dreiling from Booth Creek Wagyu in Kansas and Reid Smith from Wilders Wagyu, North Carolina, plus UK Wagyu breeder Richard Saunders.

The first night conference dinner on 10 April will feature the announcement of the 2024 Wagyu branded beef competition winners, with the annual Elite Wagyu genetics sale being held as part of the dinner on the second night, 11 April, and the customary black-tie industry dinner concluding the event on 12 April.

A large commercial trade display will operate throughout the event.

Two Wagyu tours – one pre-conference, and the other post conference – have been organised principally for international visitors to this year’s conference. The first will take in visits to Wagyu operations in Victoria and southern NSW, and the second to Central and southern Queensland.

Conference registrations are now open, and already there has been strong support from Wagyu breeders, lotfeeders, beef exporters and other supply chain stakeholders from across Australia and overseas. A $150 early-bird discount applies up to 1 March.

Click this link to access more details and registration.