The Weekly Grill

S4 Ep4: Northern live exporter Patrick Underwood

With Wednesday’s Indonesian national election victory being claimed by the Gerindra party’s Prabowo Subianto, attention will now focus on the prospects for 2024 live cattle import permits to be issued, following lengthy delays.

 

In this week’s Weekly Grill podcast, host Kerry Lonergan talks with Darwin based live exporter Patrick Underwood from Australian Cattle Enterprises, discussing the permit issue, prospects for live exports to Indonesia and other markets throughout 2024, and what happens to northern cattle – now rapidly gaining weight - if there are further permit delays.

While unofficial tallies conducted by Indonesian polling agencies yesterday had Subianto holding between 57 percent and 59 percent of votes, it will take Indonesia’s Election Commission up to a month to confirm the final results.

S4 Ep3: Northern pastoral and agribusiness identity, Chris Evans

This week’s Weekly Grill podcast guest, Chris Evans, has spent his working life involved in extensive cattle operations across Northern Australia – both as a consultant/advisor and under his own steam.

 

He was managing director and later chairman of prominent agribusiness consultancy and asset managers Taylor Byrne (later Rural Management Partners) from 1987 to 2015, managing a wide range of pastoral assets across Queensland, the NT and the Kimberley region. For a lengthy period he also played a significant role in Indigenous-owned pastoral operations.

Chris also spent almost a decade as a director of Consolidated Pastoral Co, and under his own ownership, runs Bulloo River Pastoral Co, operating Nyngarie Station near Quilpie.

He sits on the Western Queensland Beef Research Committee, and in 2013, undertook a new business venture, launching online rural merchandise sales platform, FarmShop Australia.

S4 Ep2: What lies ahead in 2024 for beef, with analyst Simon Quilty

Driven by favourable weather across eastern Australia, the 2024 cattle market has opened with a flourish, as slaughter cattle, young cattle and breeder replacements all trend sharply higher in value.

 

Today's Weekly Grill podcast hosted by Kerry Lonergan features independent analyst Simon Quilty, discussing the current market environment and what lies ahead. Is the best of the price rally now behind us? Will current cattle prices be sustained? Will processors facing labour challenges be able to cope with greater slaughter cattle volume? What impact will the beef herd decline in the United States have on Australian meat and livestock markets?

These and other questions are explored in this week's episode.

S4 Ep1: Cattle market update, with Matt Dalgleish and Chris Howie

Driven by favourable weather across eastern Australia, the 2024 cattle market has opened with a flourish, as slaughter cattle, young cattle and breeder replacements all trend sharply higher in value.

Today's return of Beef Central's Weekly Grill podcast series begins with host Kerry Lonergan talking with regular markets commentators RMA's Chris Howie and Ep3's Matt Dalgleish discussing the current market environment and what lies ahead. Is the best of the price rally now behind us? Will current prices be sustained? Will processors facing labour challenges be able to cope with greater slaughter cattle volume? These and other questions are explored in this week's episode.

The looming impact of the US drought on global beef supply and beef demand over the next two years out of the US is another key focus in today's update.

These and other topics are posed in today's cattle market update podcast by Weekly Grill host, Kerry Lonergan.

Today's first podcast for the year is out of sync, due to the Friday public holiday, but normal Friday podcast upload schedules will resume from Friday this week, when Kerry Lonergan talks with analyst Simon Quilty.

S3 Ep41: Beef extension legend, Bernie English

adoption of of new practises and technologies.

 

Based out of Mareeba, west of Cairns, the Queensland Department of Agriculture senior beef extension officer received a NABRC Lifetime Achievement Medal during the recent at the Northern Beef Research Update conference in Darwin.

Along with great depth and breadth of knowledge of extensive grazing operations in northern Australia, Bernie brings unbridled passion, energy and an engaging presence in his mission to help producers in his region optimise their operations' efficiency and productivity.

In this week's Weekly Grill podcast discussion with host, Kerry Lonergan, Bernie discusses the evolution of beef extension in northern Australia, and modern day challenges and opportunities to bridge the gap between research and development, and the adoption phase by beef producers, in an era where they have countless other demands on their time.

Mentoring young extension personnel has also been a passion as he enters the twilight of his career.

During their conversation, Kerry asks Bernie a key question: "What changes would you make if you were Queensland Agriculture Minister for a week?"

S3 Ep40: On National Ag Day, the Weekly Grill chats with new NFF president David Jochinke

It’s National Ag Day today, and in response Weekly Gill podcast host Kerry Lonergan chats with freshly-minted National Farmers Federation President, David Jochinke.

The NSW farmer and grazier took over from Fiona Simson in late October, wasting no time in launching an unprecedented campaign against anti-farming policies.

S3 Ep39: Cattle market update, with Chris Howie & Matt Dalgleish

In their final livestock markets wrap for the year, regular markets commentators, RMA’s Chris Howie and Ep3’s Matt Dalgleish face the big questions:

Are we at or near the bottom of the cattle and sheep price cycle? What impact will the forecast drier summer have on supply and demand? What are the main drivers heading into 2024?

These and other topics are posed in today’s cattle market update podcast by Weekly Grill host, Kerry Lonergan.

S3 Ep38: Stock agent, cattle buyer, breed administrator - Chris Todd calls time on a colourful career

S3 Ep37: Methane-reducing feed additive pioneer Adam Main

Where is progress up to in the development of feed additives designed to mitigate the product of methane in the rumen of beef cattle? In this week's podcast, host Kerry Lonergan chews the fat with Dr Adam Main from CH4 Australia, a company producing feed additives based on asparagopsis seaweed, farmed in a network of land-based ponds on the Eyre Peninsula. The products are already in commercial use in South Australia.

Adam also talks about the benefits and applications of farming seaweed for cattle beyond the well-worn carbon/methane debate.

S3 Ep36: Meat Standards Australia pioneer, Rod Polkinghorne

As the Australian red meat industry approaches the twenty-fifth anniversary of the launch of Meat Standards Australia, this week's Weekly Grill podcast episode dives deep into the evolution of the ground-breaking tenderness guarantee program with one of its pioneers, Rod Polkinghorne.

 

 

Rod provides a detailed and comprehensive background into what existed prior to MSA, the circumstances that led to the program's development and launch, and the originality of the 'consumer-driven' approach to meat science. Indeed, one of MSA's early signatures was the use of the 'empty chair', signifying that every decision at board level had to pass the 'pub test' with the average beef eating consumer before  implementation.

Nobody has contributed more to MSA's enduring success than Rod, and his partner in countless consumer taste test programs and research trials over the past 30 years, Judy Philpott.