CEO Update

May has been an exceptionally busy month with some important milestones thrown in for good measure. The 4^th of May marked 200 years since Captain Bartholomew Thomas aboard the “Albion” arrived in Hobart carrying the first Herefords to reach Australia. It is an impressive milestone that highlights the many strengths of the Hereford breed that have meant that the breed is a significant part of the Australian beef industry after 200 years.

More importantly however is that the success of the 61^st Hereford National Show and Sale in Wodonga has highlighted there is demand for modern Hereford genetics. Furthermore, entries for the upcoming Hereford Youth Expo selling out well in advance of the event gives us confidence that the breed will be in good hands well into the future.

Congratulations to all vendors at the National Show and Sale for having presented a great lineup of bulls. The new layout worked very well with thanks to Ben, Alvio, Olivia and the committee. The sale achieved a good clearance rate with multiple commercial producers returning to the sale off the back of improved seasonal conditions in southern areas. We also saw the highest average price for a number of years with stud breeders very active on the better end of the catalogue.

To some extent the improved clearance rate and average price also reflects vendors more actively marketing their bulls and ensuring that they are bringing more buyers along to the sale.

We have also received very good feedback about the Breed Forum from attendees. The agenda was very heavily focused on the commercial beef industry, in particular what the domestic and international beef markets are wanting and how the Hereford breed can play a role in meeting that market demand. I would like to thank each of the speakers for delivering such great presentations.

It has been good to see widespread rain in many districts over the last couple of weeks with some members having recorded good falls. We hope that there will be some follow up falls for those who need it the most. The rain has certainly provided some good support for the cattle market.

It would be good to see the positive sentiment from recent weeks carry across to the Dubbo Show and Sale and other bull sales that will be coming up over the next couple of months.

Preparations for the Herefords Australia National Youth Expo to be held in Goulburn in July is in full swing. Jemma, Tim, Aleacea, Olivia and the committee have put in an enormous amount of work, and it looks like it will be a great event. There has been a great response from youth members with all available places having been booked already. It looks like we are going to have to start planning for next year already!

We are also in the early stages of planning for this year’s Future Breeders and Leaders event which is due to be held in early November. Watch this space for more information about the agenda and location over the next few weeks.

As always, if there is anything that you would like to discuss in more detail, please do not hesitate to get in contact.

Kind regards,

Hamish Chandler