Red Meat Updates draws crowd

RED Meat Updates returned for another year, drawing red meat producers from across the state to hear from industry leaders and innovators. 

This year’s theme, “Staying Ahead of the Curve: Adapting to Change and Building Momentum,” attracted nearly 350 attendees, including a group of Year 12 agricultural studies students eager to explore diverse career paths such as supply chain management, product development, soil and pasture management and more targeted information for sheep and beef producers. 

The purpose of the event was to provide attendees with valuable skills and networking opportunities, fostering engagement among farmers and generating new ideas to implement within their businesses. 

Meat and Livestock Australia’s (MLA) international markets manager Andrew Cox was the first presenter. 

He discussed customer and consumer markets and shared insights into international markets and new and past product development. 

He also highlighted trends the market is seeing including how much the world is increasingly turning its attention to high-quality protein sources. 

He shared that Australian red meat’s greenhouse gas emissions have dropped by 78 per cent since 2005 and emphasised the global impact of Australia’s production and commitment to sustainability. 

He is passionate about educating consumers on what red meat is doing, improving social licence and sharing the good the sector is doing. 

Similar to this, the second speaker Felicity Richard from Furneax Agriculture spoke on the necessity of community engagement in the red meat sector, stressing that it “cannot afford not to have engagement in the community.” 

She underscored the importance of maintaining a strong social licence and proactively addressing public concerns before they become detrimental rumours. 

“We need voices out there first,” she said. “The more voices the better.” 

Marion Dalco from Fairlands Farm East Tamar said she found Ms Richard’s presentation particularly valuable. 

She said coming to Red Meat Updates is always worthwhile and she always left brainstorming ways to apply insights gained from the event. 

Ms Richard’s advice resonated with the challenges many farmers may face such as dealing with negative perceptions of the industry. 

In her talk, Ms Richard suggested that farmers should consider what happens when an industry fails to speak to government and the public. Another notable speaker was George Shea, owner of Lyndall Lamb, who shared his journey from supplying Huon Valley Meats to showcasing his grass-fed lamb at the Taste of Tasmania.

“For me this was really interesting as I’d worked from one end of the supply chain to the other.”

“There’s no better way to find out just how good your product is than to have it cooked and put on a plate and get feedback from a lot of people,” Mr Shea said.

Additional speakers included Robert Arvier of West Pine, who discussed farm business growth, Basil Doonan of Pinion Advisory, who spoke on enhancing pasture performance, and Jason Lynch, who provided insights into optimizing soil fertility and improving pasture productivity. 

John Francis from Agrista also addressed strategies for thriving under cost pressure.

The afternoon featured breakout sessions: beef updates with Will Atkinson from MLA and Veternarian Dr. Shane Thomson, and sheep updates with Dr. Paul Nilon, Bonnie Skinner, and Beth Green.

Red Meat Updates concluded with discussions on business diversification and a virtual farm tour led by Will and Ed Bowden.

In conclusion this years theme staying ahead of the curve, adapting to change and building momentum was a sentiment shared by event goers who attended the event in order to improve on what they do, enhance their practices and drive the red meat industry forward.