SHEEP producers are being offered virtual attendance at LambEx 2026 for the first time in the latest strategy to maximise attendance at the biennial conference in Adelaide next week.

For $800 producers can watch the plenary stage program live on Wednesday 8 and Thursday 9 July, before accessing keynote speakers and five breakfast sessions on demand for 90 days after the event.

Lambex organisers have implemented a number of strategies to assist attendance at the 7-10 July event at the Adelaide Convention Centre. These have included:

• extending early bird registration by three days to 18 May,
• The Farm Household Allowance option. As part of the program, recipients might be eligible for the activity supplement, that provides up to a lifetime limit of $10,000 to support training, upskilling or professional business advice. LambEx is an approved activity under the activity supplement.
• Registration in June and defer payment until after 1 July, and finally,
• Virtual attendance.

LambEx Taskforce Chair Jamie Heinrich said the organisers have not had to implement the various strategies to boost attendance, with many of them planned. None of the registration options have worked better than others, he said. He said some people approached Lambex to get approved under the Farm Household Allowance program.

“But we have had a lot of people contact us and say we can’t make it, but we do want to see some of the talks … so we thought we would make them available for as many people as we could.

“We just want to make it as accessible to people as possible,” he said.

He said the deferred payment option was requested by people for taxation purposes.

“We’ve just been trying to make it as easy as possible for people all along.”

Mr Heinrich said registrations had not been lagging.

“No, this is going to be the biggest LambEx on record, we’ve got more registrations than we’ve ever had; we’ve been tracking ahead of the last one the whole way through.

“We’re getting a big rush right now, like we always do.”

More than 1300 people have registered and over half of these are producers, Mr Heinrich said.

“It’s going to be the most producers we’ve ever had.

“There are over 100 internationals coming, which is up from about 30 we had last time,” he said.

“Forty percent of delegates are under 40 which is another really good stat I like; we’ve got a lot of young people coming.”

Mr Heinrich said investing in knowledge had never been more important for sheep producers.

“Every producer is looking for ideas that will make their business stronger, whether that’s hearing how someone else has tackled a challenge, learning about new technology or understanding what’s coming next for our industry,” Mr Heinrich said.

“We know not everyone can justify travelling to Adelaide this year, but that shouldn’t mean they miss out on those conversations.”

The virtual ticket gives producers the flexibility to tune in live or watch sessions when it suits them,” he said.

“It means the learning doesn’t stop just because you couldn’t get away from the farm.”

The new ticket option also complements support already available through the Australian Government’s Farm Household Allowance program. Eligible Australian primary producers and their partners may be able to use the farm financial assessment supplement.

As a recognised professional development activity, LambEx is now an approved activity for funding under the supplement, helping eligible producers cover the cost of attending the conference in person or accessing it virtually.

LambEx26 will be held in Adelaide from 7 – 10 July and is already the biggest conference in the event’s history.

Organisers said demand for the conference has also extended beyond the Adelaide Convention Centre, with ‘LambEx on Tour’ selling out and Friday’s tours operating with a waiting list.

Check out the LambEx conference program here. Virtual tickets are available for $800 (including GST). To purchase a virtual ticket or find out more, visit www.lambex.com.au/tickets.