THREE new directors plus a new chair will be endorsed or elected as part of Meat & Livestock Australia’s annual general meeting process in Tamworth NSW next month.
Current chairman Alan Beckett is retiring from the board, meaning the newly-installed MLA board will elect its new chair soon after the AGM concludes on Wednesday afternoon, 20 November.
Mr Beckett’s board seat, along with two others, will be filled by three new nominees put forward by the MLA board selection committee. MLA producer members will either approve, or reject those nominees via a vote.
The board selection process for this year called for skills and experience in marketing, finance and adoption. Boardmembers whose three-year terms expire in November include chairman Alan Beckett (not standing for re-election), Professor Manny Noakes and Jacqueline Wilson-Smith.
The three stakeholders put forward as new directors by the board selection committee are:
Queensland lot feeder and branded beef program manager Lachie Hart. Mr Hart has extensive experience within the red meat supply chain spanning 40 years, and is currently chair of the Stockyard Group, a third generation family business operating across the beef supply chain, including a 20,000 head feedlot near Jondaryan, on Queensland’s Darling Downs, Wagyu breeding and backgrounding near Glen Innes, NSW and Yea, Vic, and the marketing and distribution of Stockyard branded Angus and Wagyu beef into domestic and international markets.
He is a former chairman of Australian Meat Industry Council, the industry’s Market Access Advisory Committee, and the Japan Australia Economic Partnership Agreement Taskforce, and a director of the Red Meat Advisory Council.
Dr Stephen Lee has a deep understanding of livestock research and adoption. He undertook his PhD with the Cooperative Research Centre for Beef Genetic Technologies and has published research and led adoption programs spanning enterprise productivity and profitability, genetic improvement, greenhouse gas emissions reduction and improvement of carcass quality. He is currently director of the South Australian Drought Resilience Adoption and Innovation Hub, responsible for delivery of programs that integrate research, development, extension, adoption and commercialisation. He is the 2024 Southern Australia Livestock Research Council Scientist/researcher award recipient.
Dr Lee is experienced in value chain strategy development, assessment and implementation. In 2015, as manager of the South Australian Sheep and Beef Industry Blueprints, he worked with a value chain wide working group on the development and successful implementation of the industry growth strategy. He has also led the development of the National Beef Genetics Extension Strategy (2012) and was a member of the National Wool Industry R,D&E Strategy (2018) Industry Steering Committee.
South Australian Dr Saranne Cooke is an experienced director, board chair and audit and risk chair with experience on a variety of boards across the research and education, agricultural, health, sport, financial and not-for-profit sectors. She currently chairs the Royal Flying Doctor Service (South Eastern), Racing NSW, and is Deputy Chancellor of Charles Sturt University. She has a sound understanding of Research and Development Corporations having been a director of Fisheries RD&E Corporation from 2008-2024. She has been a director of Australian Meat Processing Corporation since 2022, concluding her tenure during November. Dr Cooke previously held executive roles within the energy, financial, education and manufacturing industries. She completed her doctorate researching board governance across the ASX 200 companies. She previously held a number of executive roles within the energy, financial, education and manufacturing sectors.
This year’s MLA AGM is a hybrid event, accessible either online via this portal, or in person in Tamworth on the afternoon of Wednesday 20 November. Voting entitlement and proxy forms must be received by MLA by no later than 3.30pm (NSW time) on Monday 18 November.
Click here for the online meeting access process
Cattle Australia event
The MLA AGM will be followed on Thursday, 21 November by Cattle Australia’s 2024 AGM and Cattle Connect Producer Day being held at Bective Station near Tamworth NSW.
Two Cattle Australia boardmembers – one each from the Northern and Southern Beef Research regions – will be added to the CA board, following a recent call for nominations. Nominations have closed for eight Regional Consultative Committee positions to be elected at November’s CA meetings.
More details on CA’s Bective producer day closer to the event.
HAVE YOUR SAY