The Weekly Grill

S3 Ep17: Value-Added Beef Processor David Beak

TAKE a look in any supermarket retail chilled cabinet, and it's evident that value-added meat products are rapidly soaking up space previously devoted to basic chilled, packaged beef and lamb.

 

Around the world, time-poor householders are increasingly looking at more convenient heat-and-serve and ready-to-eat meals.

One of the pioneers in the value-added further processing industry in Australia, David Beak, sits down with the Weekly Grill podcast host Kerry Lonergan this week.

His Sydney-based food manufacturing business, Beak & Johnston, employs 1200 staff, and is in the process of opening an enormous new state-of the-art facility to keep up with booming domestic and international demand.

What does it mean for the Australian beef and lamb industries?

As an aside, David has a close family connection with pastoral industry legends, the Vestey family, and recounts some of his memories with Kerry.

S3 Ep16: NSW beef producer and Cattle Australia director, George King

New South Wales beef producer George King's views expressed in an opinion piece on carbon published on Beef Central back in March attracted an extraordinary level of reader comment.

 

Mr King, who also joined the board of the new Cattle Australia board representing the grassfed cattle industry in December, sat down with Weekly Grill podcast host Kerry Lonergan last week to chew the fat.

 

S3 Ep15: Angus Australia president Erica Halliday

Angus seedstock breeders are gathered in Tamworth this week for their annual conference, and in this week's Weekly Grill podcast, host Kerry Lonergan caught up with Angus Australia president Erica Halliday.

Erica talks about the challenges and opportunities facing Angus cattle and beef in Australia, progress in objective measurement of an ever-widening list of production, fertility and meat quality traits, with some focus on sustainability issues, including feed efficiency measurement and related topics.

Beef Central’s Weekly Grill podcasts brought to readers by sponsors, Zoetis and Elders.

 

S3 Ep14 Australian red meat processing senior statesman, Allan Teys

IN this week's episode, 88-year-old beef processing industry veteran Allan Teys reflects on his experiences stretching across seven decades in the red meat and livestock industry.

Weekly Grill host Kerry Lonergan digs deep into the industry's eventful past in this interview with Mr Teys, who before retirement headed the Teys processing business for more than 35 years and represented the industry as a long-standing chairman of the Australian Meat Industry Council and its predecessors. The pair explore the evolution of the multi-generational Teys business - from humble beginnings as retail butchers in Brisbane to small scale abattoir operations, and onwards to become the industry powerhouse it is today.

He cut his teeth buying cattle at Brisbane's old Cannon Hill saleyards in the 1950s.

Mr Teys reflects on the good times, as well as the bad, and the colourful as well as the sober - including the 1974 Beef Slump, dealings with the late Kerry Packer during the Consolidated Meat Group alliance, and the relationships between producers and processors.

For any students of the history of the Australian beef industry, this interview provides an important resource.

 

 

S3 Ep13 Where are Australian red meat’s free trade agreements up to, with MLA’s Andrew Cox

In this week's episode, Weekly Grill host Kerry Lonergan turns up the heat on MLA international markets manager Andrew Cox, with a focus on Australian red meat's Free Trade Agreements.

Australia is drawing closer to start under the new agreement with the United Kingdom, and steady progress is taking place behind the scenes over a new trade agreement with the European Union.

It is widely anticipated that Prime Minister Albansese will make an announcement about the UK FTA while in London this weekend for Charles' investiture.

Hear Andrew's take on future trade prospects into these and other regions where Australia sells red meat.

S3 Ep12 Agtech update

This week's episode continues an occasional  showcase series on interesting pieces of emerging ag technology.

Weekly Grill host Kerry Lonergan points the microphone at AirAgri's James Diamond, who has developed a personal location finder device with high workplace safety implications for agriculture. The mobile app based technology works in conjunction with an iOT tracking device to ensure farmer safety.

Dr Mark Ferguson is from New Zealand tech developer neXtgen Agri, whose AI-driven facial recognition technology for livestock is in an advanced stage of development for individual animal ID and herd management purposes.

S3 Ep11: The goat market cycle, with Campbell McPhee

Goats used to be the supplementary commodity that 'helped pay the annual boarding school fees' for many livestock operators in western regions. Then the market for goats soared to record highs during COVID, before crashing spectacularly over the past six months. Where does the goat market go  from here? Is international demand in recovery? Have goat numbers bred up after the drought to the point of over-supply? In this episode of the Weekly Grill podcast series  host Kerry Lonergan talks with Western Meat Exporters' Campbell McPhee.

 

 

 

 

S3 Ep10: How is drought impacting the US beef pipeline? with columnist Steve Kay

Beef Central's US-based monthly columnist Steve Kay, publisher of US Cattle Buyers Weekly, sits down to chew the fat with Weekly Grill host Kerry Lonergan in today's podcast episode.

After 12 months of severe drought, US beef production and numbers going onto feed are now in rapid decline, as herd rebuilding starts to occur as northern hemisphere conditions start to warm up. What is it doing to production volume, beef demand, and cattle and beef prices?

S3 Ep9: Cattle market update, with Chris Howie & Matt Dalgleish

Australian young cattle and slaughter cattle prices have continued to descend since our opening markets summary podcast with regular commentators, Stockco's Chris Howie and Ep3's Matt Dalgleish  back in late January. Two months on, are we near the bottom of the price cycle? Is there still a way to go? What impact will the forecast drier winter have on cattle supply and demand?

Are processors going to be able to cope (labour wise) with larger numbers of slaughter cattle? If not, what happens to prices? These and other questions are posed in today's cattle market update podcast by Weekly Grill host, Kerry Lonergan.

Other topics include the rapidly changing circumstances in the US beef production cycle, China demand and other potential headwinds and tailwinds.

S3 Ep8: What are the big trends evident in Beef Central’s Top 25 Lotfeeders report?

Big changes are sweeping the Australian grainfed beef industry, and today's episode of the Weekly Grill podcast captures some of the big trends evident in Beef Central's current Top 25 Lotfeeders industry analysis. Join Zoetis's Andrew Hallas and Beef Central's Jon Condon, as they sit down with podcast host Kerry Lonergan to explore the big trends in the industry, and what's driving them.

The reverse countdown Top 25 feature started a fortnight ago, and is currently up to No 13 - the Rowe family's Princess Royal. The final 12 'big hitters' are still to come.

Click here to access the Top 25 Lotfeeders report.