THE Australian feedlot industry's biennial technical forum, BeefWorks, will take place at the Toowoomba City Golf Club, Queensland, on September 9 and 10.
Organisers this year have assembled a high quality program packed with practical take-home information, featuring a combination of leading animal and meat scientists, technicians and industry representatives, balanced with case studies highlighting success stories from practising commercial feedlots around Australia.
Chairman of the Australian Lot Feeders Association's events committee, Grant Garey (pictured), said one of many highlights of this year's BeefWorks would be the focus placed on Meat Standards Australia.
MSA founder Rod Polkinghorne will provide a detailed update of where the program has come from, where it is today, and where it promises to head tomorrow. Leading Beef CRC scientist Dr John Thompson will follow with a summary of the significance of tenderness gene markers within an MSA context.
At some future time, animals with positive gene marker results for tenderness may travel a different MSA pathway from other cattle, potentially providing greater production efficiencies.
BeefWorks participants will also have the opportunity to participate as a 'consumer', taking part in an MSA consumer taste test.
Another key speaker will be Meat & Livestock Australia's Japan region manager, Samantha Jamieson, who returns to Australia permanently in September after more than 12 years working in the Japan market.
She has been asked to explore what genuine quantifiable improvement has been made in product quality to match Australia's marketing message in the $2 billion North Asian market, and what more could be done to assist those charged with promoting Australian grainfed beef to the world.
Social highlights will include the ProBeef dinner to be held on the evening of September 9. The night will incorporate the Elanco award for outstanding service to the Australian feedlot industry.
Other points of interest within this year's program include:
The IAP Innovators' Award, open to feedlot personnel who have developed an innovative solution to a problem – no matter how big or small – that has made a difference in their business.
The announcement of the Phibro Young Lot Feeder of the Year, and the Pfizer Medallist, recognising excellence in feedlot operations skills, drawn from graduates from industry training programs.
Prospective attendees should register early, as the 2007 BeefWorks event was a sell-out.
BeefWorks delegates will receive an excellent set of proceedings supporting the technical information which lotfeeders will have access to – something that will act as a valuable reference document in years to come.
Major partners to this year's event include Elanco, Feed Central, ProBeef, Phibro, Pfizer, Intervet Schering Plough, Performance Feeds and Rural Press.
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