The Australian Beef Industry Foundation welcomes the agreement by Merial Australia to join with Marcus Oldham College and the foundation to support the Merial Howard Yelland Award for the next three years.

Mr Michael Pointer, a director of ABIF said Merial is a world leading, innovation driven animal health company. “It is entirey appropriate that the Merial Howard Yelland Award which supports and recognises individuals whose innovation and excellence have contributed nationally and internationally to the development of the Australian beef industry and its supply chain, is to be sponsored by a company such as Merial”.

Closing date for nominations is Monday, 21 May 2012.

An industry panel will select the recipient and the 2012 Merial Howard Yelland Award will be presented at the Marcus Oldham Rural Leadership Program Agribusiness Dinner on Thursday, 28 June 2012.

Nominations for the award are invited and are available on the ABIF and Marcus Oldham websites here or www.marcusoldham.vic.edu.au

In the only change to the board, Daryl Schipp (NSW), who has been assisting the board as treasurer, was elected as a director and treasurer following the retirement of Nick Sher.

In presenting his Chairman’s Report for the 2011 year, Mr Archer commented on the significance of the new initiatives that ABIF developed during the year under review, and he specifically mentioned: -

• Five scholarships to the Marcus Oldham Rural Leadership Program, including one for indigenous students.
• An annual scholarship to Lincoln University (NZ) Rural Leadership Program.
• An additional scholarship to Lincoln University (NZ) for an Australian student to study agriculture.
• The offer from the Royal Agricultural College, Cirencester (UK) for an Australian student to study agriculture, with a particular emphasis on marketing.
• The funding of two students from Calrossy School in Armidale NSW to participate in a northern NSW production study tour arranged by Angus Youth.
• The funding of a study tour for students from Murdoch University (WA) to visit all aspects of a beef supply chain.
• Positive discussions with Kansas State University, Colorado State University and Texas A&M University to develop scholarships for Australian students to study animal science.

“We are also pleased to announce the re-instatement of the Howard Yelland Award to be sponsored by Merial Australia. This generous sponsorship from Merial will cover the cost of one of the Marcus Oldham Leadership Program courses, and the Merial Howard Yelland Award will be presented at the Marcus Oldham Rural Leadership Program official dinner.” Mr Archer informed the meeting.

The Chairman’s Report also referred to the significance of the establishment, during the year under review, of the ABIF Education Fund as an Australian Taxation Office-approved deductable gift recipient (DGR) status fund that has already received a substantial and generous donation from the Thyne Reid Foundation.

Mr Archer acknowledged the role of Professor Bob Officer, Mr Richard Morgan AM, Mr Lyn Davies, Mr Greg Hunt and Mr Bill Gurry AO as trustees of the ABIF Education Fund.

The meeting acknowledged Mr Archer’s leadership during 2011 in which a new constitution was adopted and the board expanded to include nine directors covering a wide geographical spread throughout Australia.

In addition to Mr Archer’s appointment as Chairman and Mr Schipp as Treasurer, the meeting elected Mr John Gunthorpe as Deputy Chairman.

For further information and to see the form, please click here

His championing of objective selection and his contribution to performance recording spanned a lifetime, and his contribution to the industry thrives today.

The Merial Howard Yelland Award recognises the outstanding contribution of an individual to the development of the beef industry and is seen as one of the highest accolades in the Australian beef industry.

Nominations are unrestricted and open to people connected with any aspect of the beef industry.

The final selection has traditionally looked for nominees who have made a contribution above and beyond their normal role.

Since the commencement of the Award in 1987, twenty-five recipients have been recognised for their contribution to the Australian beef industry.

Marcus Oldham College in Geelong Victoria, in conjunction with the Australian Beef Industry Foundation (ABIF) invites industry nominations for the 2012 Merial Howard Yelland Award.

Selection criteria to be addressed in the nomination include:

• Extent of contribution to the Australian beef industry
• Recognition of this contribution both nationally and internationally
• Leadership role as a change agent
• Contribution above and beyond normal role in the industry.

Closing date for nominations is Monday, 21 May 2012.

An industry panel will select the recipient and the 2012 Merial Howard Yelland Award will be presented at the Marcus Oldham Rural Leadership Program Agribusiness Dinner on Thursday, 28 June 2012.

Nomination forms are available here or on the Marcus Oldham College website.

Alison McIntosh was the 2011 NAB Agribusiness Rising Beef Industry Champion and is now a director of ABIF.

The 2012 NAB Agribusiness Rising Beef Industry Champion was awarded to Ian McConnel from Queensland ahead of the other 2012 Rising Champion State Finalists:

South Australia - Jake Phillips
Victoria - Trent Anderson
New South Wales - Marc Greening
Tasmania - Lauchie Cole (also awarded the NAB Acknowledgement Award)
Western Australia - Clinton Gartrell

Click here to view the photos and bios of the finalists.

All six finalists travelled to Longreach, QLD, to participate in a week of activities from 14-18 November 2011. This included touring a beef property at Alpha with industry stakeholders; developing leadership and public speaking skills through tailored workshops; engaging in a round table discussion about youth in agriculture with the 2011 Rising Champion Finalists; attending the Cattle Council meeting and the MLA AGM and Producer Forum.

The state finalists were celebrated by industry at the ’Beef Industry Gala Dinner’, at the Stockman’s Hall of Fame in Longreach.

A recent Primary Industries Education Foundation (PIEF) survey shows worrying levels of basic knowledge about agriculture and indicates that student and teacher knowledge related to food and fibre production has declined to worrying levels.

The Australian Beef Industry Foundation is a Proud Supporter of the initiative.

Activities and events across the country will remind everyone, from those in our most remote areas to those in our biggest cities, of the crucial role of farming in Australia.

Agriculture has always made a significant contribution to Australia’s economy and prosperity and the Year of the Farmer will make sure every Australian learns more about this vital industry.

You can learn more about the 2012 Australian Year of the Farmer by visiting this link http://www.yearofthefarmer.com.au/

The all-party parliamentary committee is chaired by David Southwick MP, Member for Caulfield, and consists of members representing metropolitan and regional/ rural electorates.

The ABIF submission concentrated on the urgent need to enhance the perception of agriculture in Australia as a career for young people, and it argued that there is a gap in the education system for agriculture. Primarily, that students leave tertiary agricultural institutions with little or no work experience in the industry and this has negative implications for the success of agriculture as a career option.

The submission highlighted Marcus Oldham College in Geelong as the exception to the paucity of work experience for students.

ABIF further asserted that there is a need to incorporate the study of agriculture into primary and secondary curriculums to encourage school leavers to pursue agriculture as a career. By integrating agriculture into subjects at the primary and secondary levels, students will be better informed about the role of agriculture and perhaps be more inclined to consider this as a rewarding career path.

The committee was briefed on the role of ABIF, and on the programs being provided by the foundation.

Important issues promoted by the committee included canvassing how career information was disseminated to students, the effect of skill shortages on the beef industry and how best to promote agriculture and careers in agriculture.

The committee was reminded that the beef industry is not just about cattle. The sector’s industry category is ‘food’, and therefore covers a diverse and complex range of career opportunities. The many different opportunities cover everything from research and development to soils, agronomy, genetics, animal welfare and wellbeing, food science and marketing to identify a small component of the potential career opportunities.

In addition to presenting to the Victorian Parliament inquiry ABIF has also made a submission to the Senate Education, Employment and Workplace Relations Committee inquiry into all aspects of higher education and skills training to support future demand in agriculture and agribusiness in Australia.

The funds will be used specifically to reach greater numbers of “at risk” youth in Armidale and across regional areas. This will be done by employing current part-time youth worker trainees on full-time wages and by employing a full-time work crew supervisor.

The major strength of the initiative is that the youth worker trainees are young men who have progressed through the BackTrack programs and undertaken formal training in youth work. In 2012 they will commence a Certificate IV in Youthwork through Armidale TAFE. Their role within the BackTrack program is integral to the successful outcomes being achieved by the younger participants.

Along with the Youth worker trainees, a Work Crew supervisor, will be employed to be the driving force behind Backtrack’s emerging rural contracting outlet for its’ participants called AgLads. The AgLads work crews will be undertaking rural contract work in Armidale and the greater Armidale area.

Thirteen BackTrack participants are set to complete a Certificate II in Rural Operations in 2011 and these young men will form the base of the work crews.

Growing the capacity to generate income for the programs is essential to their long-term viability and BackTrack’s ability to reach new communities. The funding from the Thyne Reid Foundation has certainly boosted the staffing capacity to achieve these outcomes.

The funds will be auspiced by the Australian Beef Industry Foundation (ABIF), a strong supporter of BackTrack’s community work and role in providing careers in the beef industry.

ABIF is funding a scholarship, sponsored by Rural Press, to send two participants in the BackTrack program to the Rural Leadership Program at Marcus Oldham College in Geelong, Victoria.

BackTrack participants
Back L to R: Dan Perkins, Christopher Cox, Adrian Woolnough,
Middle L to R: Michael Moran, Stephanous Olsen, Nathan Bliss, Tyron Campbell, Bernie Shakeshaft (program manager) Jonathon Brown, Marcus Potter, Joel Griffiths
Front: Fred Campbell