A value adding experience for conference sponsors
The invaluable sponsorship from our partners played an instrumental role in bringing the Zoetis Angus National Conference to life. It is with utmost admiration and gratitude that Angus Australia acknowledges the sponsors commitment and dedication towards our shared goal of future proofing production systems and remaining at the forefront of the beef industry.
While the Zoetis Angus National Conference had a major focus on education for the beef industry, the theme of ‘Beyond the Beef’ also extended to the involvement of the sponsors throughout the event. The trade stands and sponsors in attendance brought the products and services they offer to go beyond just the production of beef to the forefront for attendees.
Angus Australia CEO Scott Wright acknowledged the fact that the conference could not have taken place without the support of the sponsors.
‘We thank you all for your support in allowing us to host all of the delegates in Tamworth and helping to bring this event to life. We encourage our members to make sure they support the sponsors that have supported this event, both during and after the conference.’
Lachlan Ayoub, Key Account Manager for Zoetis Genetics was really proud that Zoetis was the naming rights sponsor.
‘We have been working with Angus Australia for over ten years on the DNA testing front, so Zoetis have got a really long business relationship, but our association with members goes well beyond that with the Zoetis animal health portfolio.’
‘We really value our relationship Angus Australia and its members, so the conference is a great opportunity to catch up with our clients, meet new studs, meet new commercial members and generate some new business’.
The conference was also an opportunity for sponsors to attend the speaking sessions and find out what was happening in the industry and for Lachlan listening to David Johnston from AGBU speak about ‘TACE: Genomics adds value & precision’ was a highlight, ‘We have been utilising genomics through single step analysis since 2017 and it’s an area Zoetis works in every day with Angus Australia and its members and it was really good to see the validation data that AGBU have now produced, giving us really good confidence of the phenotypic differences that its making in seedstock and commercial Angus animals.’
John Hill from Landwatch based on the sunshine coast of Queensland, a first time exhibitor at the conference provides camera systems for rural Australia, that is ‘Anything you want to keep an eye on we’ve got a camera that can do it’.
‘From a business perspective being an exhibitor at the conference has been really beneficial, we’ve met a lot of great people that have shown some great interest in advancing their operations with some technology and we’re excited about the future relationships we are going to develop from it.’
‘The feedback I have had from most people is they weren’t even aware that what Landwatch offers was possible on their properties and being able to demonstrate that they can have a camera system in the most remote areas of the country with limited connectivity and having that play live on your phone no matter where you are in the world was of value.’
When asked about the benefits of attending the conference, John highlighted networking, ‘For anyone that wants to really connect with Angus Producers, then attending the conference and being able to showcase what you do to a smaller, but really select group of people is so beneficial.’
Fletch Kelly, Beef Product Manager for ABS Australia and New Zealand is no stranger to Angus National Conferences with ABS heavily involved with the Angus industry for many years.
ABS are a genetics company that sells semen to the market both commercially and stud and while ABS had a trade stand at the conference they also saw it as a learning opportunity for staff. ‘We’re also here to learn about the advancements that Angus Australia are offering their customers and to learn a little bit more about the wider beef industry.’
Fletch was fascinated by the optimism that Jason Strong from MLA presented when speaking on ‘The big picture: how are Australian beef producers positioned to feed the world?’.
‘He had a lot of positive messaging about the beef industry going forward over the next few years and it was fantastic to hear that despite all the doom and gloom you hear about beef prices that Australia is really well poised for the future.’
‘This was followed up Matt Toll from the Fulton Market Group, ‘Beefing up our future: how domestic and international consumers are driving demand’, who is an expert in supply chains around the world and to include that international perspective on where Australia is based and how we’re looking going forward and what we can provide the rest of the world’
In terms of having their trade stand space and being able to mingle with producers, Fletc said it gave ABS a good opportunity to catch up with existing clients, meet new clients and chat to the speakers.
Col Fielen from Atlas Carbon works with producers to look at natural capital soil carbon opportunities and run soil carbon projects.
‘But more importantly than jumping into a soil carbon project it’s about firstly understanding the eligibility and the potential for running a soil carbon project. What is the production potential, what is the soil carbon potential? So really working with producers to do the due diligence at the front end to see if the soil carbon project stacks up for them,’ said Col.
When asked what the uptake or interest has been like from Angus producers ‘In terms of the biophysical region throughout Australia where it has the highest potential for soil carbon projects to really kick off happens to correlate incredibly well where the Angus breed is effectively populated throughout the country, so it is a good fit to be at the conference and we have been well received by producers.’
Col also enjoyed speaking to producers who have got their sister company Mai Grazing in use for planned grazing and being able to discuss the opportunities to further investigate their landscape that gives the potential to build soil carbon and run a successful project.
‘People are here for Angus and the herd and genetics and it’s good to hear that people understand ultimately that those animals are on a landscape that needs to be managed, it’s an interesting fit but it’s a good fit for us to be here.’
– Diana Wood, Marketing and Communications Manager
