The Australian red meat industry ticks a lot of boxes in America, according to Meat and Livestock Australia market development officer Sabina Kinsler. She was one of four speakers in Warwick at a Livestock Producers Information Evening put on by Warwick firm APL McDougall and Sons. The evening attracted 150 producers and was followed by a free meal at Douglas Feez Pavilion at the Warwick Showgrounds.
“Our red meat has product quality, sustainability, covers animal welfare issues as well as training and support,” Ms Kinsler said.
She has recently returned after four years in America pushing Australian beef. Ms Kinsler was involved in organising an Aussie Meat Academy Workshop which was attended by 26 ambassadors including the global director of culinary for the Marriott which has 9500 restaurants around the world.
Skye De Wit talked finance. She is based in Casino and works for Jade Finance Australia which is aligned with APL. “Banks want to lend money, you just need to package it right. Brokers like me go to different banks to get the best deals,” she said. “The risk rating of a client helps determine interest rates.”
Zoetis regional sales manager for Queensland and the Northern Territory Andrew Hallas spoke about getting nutrition and genetics right on cattle and controlling parasites. “Control your controllables, it is important to control key diseases, producers could benefit with higher prices by having Immune Ready Accreditation,” he said. “There is a self-accreditation process for Immune Ready Accreditation which is owned by Australian Cattle Vets.”
Glen Whitton from Nutriment Health spoke of the advantage of adding bovacillus to feed for the health of the animal. “A lot are using probiotics, it gives more market eligibility if anti-biotics are not used to improve the health of cattle and sheep,” he said. “Anti-biotics are not allowed in some countries in South East Asia, the European Union and the United Kingdom and bovacillus helps with rumen digestibility, improves the gut health of the animal and reduces stress.”
