Sheepmeat Council of Australia president Jeff Murray, left, with vice-president Allan Piggott and treasurer John Wallace.

WESTERN Australian producer Jeff Murray was re-elected president of the Sheepmeat Council of Australia at the organisation’s Annual General Meeting in Hahndorf, South Australia, yesterday.

He was joined by new office bearers including South Australian producer Allan Piggott as vice-president and WA producer John Wallace as treasurer.

At the AGM, Mr Murray outlined a successful year for SCA in 2015-16, including new initiatives to engage Australian sheep meat producers in the council’s activities and policy development.

”The flagship program of the project is the Sheepmeat Industry Leadership Program, which is being delivered by the Australian Rural Leadership Foundation.

“It was launched at LambEx 2016 in August with the first cohort due to commence their program in February 2017. Applications are still open for interested producers,” Mr Murray said.

The Sheepmeat Industry Governance Scholarship launched with the MLA has supported seven sheepmeat producers from across Australia to complete the Australian Institute of Company Directors (AICD) Company Directors Course, he said.

“SCA also recognised young sheepmeat producers James Corcoran and Ben Munzberg as winners of the Sheepmeat Industry Ambassadors Award where they participated in the TriLamb Young Leaders Program.”

Mr Murray also highlighted the development of the Meat and Livestock Australia-funded Building Leadership Capability for the Sheep Industry project, designed to attract, develop and retain people with the right leadership skills to contribute to the long-term viability of the industry.

Mr Murray said while SCA had been active in numerous policy areas, it continued to be a strong voice for producers in six key areas – securing markets, improving animal health and welfare, driving innovation, guaranteeing product integrity, building industry capability and influencing business outcomes.

“Our vision is for a productive, profitable and sustainable lamb and sheepmeat industry and these are the six key ways we represent producers’ interests to our stakeholders and industry partners.”

The SCA had also been active with its partners in pursuing ratification of the China Free Trade Agreement in December 2015 and continuing negotiations on the Trans Pacific Partnership and greater access to markets in India.

At the AGM, the chairs of SCA’s six sub-committees were also elected including:

 Audit and Risk – Rupert Gregg

 Research, Development and Adoption – Ron Cullen

 Food Safety and Industry Systems – Chris Wallace-Smith

 Marketing, Market Access and Trade – John Wallace

 Animal Health and Welfare – Mark Murphy

 Industry Leadership and Capacity Building – Michael Craig

MacLachlan retires from SCA vice-presidency

Retiring SCA vice-president Angus MacLachlan

The Sheepmeat Council of Australia and Livestock SA also this week recognised the long-time commitment of Alexander MacLachlan to the state’s livestock industry, with yesterday marking his last day as the South Australian representative for the SCA.

Livestock SA President Geoff Power said he was grateful for Mr MacLachlan’s long commitment and representation in the primary industries sector.

“We would like to thank him for his long service to industry, and wish him the very best for the future.”

Mr Murray said Mr MacLachlan had been tremendous support as vice-president of the SCA since 2014 and as chair of the Audit and Risk and Food Safety and Industry Systems committees.

Mr MacLachlan has been involved in advocacy for the primary production sector for many years, joining the former South Australian Farmers Federation in 2008 as a board member, then vice-president, until it closed in 2012. He was also a member of the SAFF Livestock Committee. During this time, he began his role as the SA representative for the Sheepmeat Council of Australia.

“I have greatly enjoyed being able to contribute to the SA agricultural scene.

“The transition from SAFF to Livestock SA with funding from an industry levy stream was a great achievement for SA farmers and is being eyed by many state farming organisations around the country,” Mr MacLachlan said.

Mr MacLachlan was an inaugural board member of Livestock SA and has represented the state on the Sheepmeat Council of Australia for the past six years. He has also served on other groups including Meat & Livestock Australia taskforces, the Livestock Production Assurance advisory committee, the National Livestock Identification Scheme management committee and the National Sheepmeat Council of Australia/WoolProducers Australia Animal Health and Welfare Working Group.

Mr MacLachlan has decided not to continue in his SCA roles due to family and business reasons.

Source: Sheepmeat Council of Australia.