Go for it!
Hannah Gibb gives us a summary of her year as the Allflex Senior Beef
Ambassador and her recent trip Beef Week Australia in Rockhampton.
My year as the Allflex NZ Senior Beef Ambassador has been a
great honour and hugely rewarding. It began with a rush;
hours after being awarded I was asked to associate judge the
Charolais cattle at Beef Expo 2017. This was fantastic
experience, and a great start to stepping into my ambassador
role.
thankfully) and met many great Hereford breeders, some of
whom are now friends for life. I saw some beautiful country
and really got to appreciate first-hand how different Australian
farming systems are to our own. Coming from a Hereford Stud
and stud stock breeding background, I was absolutely blown
away by the scale of the Herefords studs I visited and
surprised by the different breeding objectives and focuses
In March 2018 I was delighted to be invited to the PPP
each stud had compared to what we are trying to achieve here
Conference by Allflex NZ as their Senior Beef Ambassador. PPP
in NZ.
stands for ‘Primary Platinum Producers’, a group that provides
an international platform for members to network, share their
I
thoughts and ideas and impart their experience to others.
“I was absolutely blown away by
Each year the group convenes at their annual conference
the scale of the Herefords studs I
which this year was held in Taupo. This is also where they
visited and surprised by the
announce the winner of the Zanda McDonald Award. It was
an educational 3 days, full of opportunities to network and
different breeding objectives and
meet industry farmers and rural professionals from Australia
focuses each stud had”
and NZ. I made valuable contacts and friends, and gained
important insight into relevant topics and issues surrounding
the global agriculture industry at the moment.
was also exposed to the severity of the droughts currently
hitting Australian farmers. You truly cannot understand the
The most significant component of my prize as the Senior Beef
hardships they are facing until you spend a day or two on the
Ambassador was winning a weeklong trip to Australia to
farm with them, carrying out daily chores, living their struggle
attend Beef Australia in Rockhampton. I took advantage of the
hour by hour. It was in fact, quite heart-breaking. And yet the
opportunity and extended the length of my visit, to tour
attitudes and general outlooks of the farmers remained
around several Hereford Studs from the bottom of South
positive and strong. The hospitality of the breeders and their
Australia right up to Brisbane, Queensland for 5 weeks prior to
families that I stayed with was exceptional, and I cannot thank
Beef Australia. I would have seen well over 5000 head of
those people enough; that fed me, gave me a bed, and drove
cattle, countless kangaroos, wombats and flies (no snakes
me great distances to my next stop.
FUTURE BEEF NEW ZEALAND
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