SHARON Betts, Epsilon, Lake Eyre Basin, far south west corner of Queensland, said she never expected she would be serving on the board of directors for OBE Organics, but she said her new challenge is one she is more than willing to take on.
After growing up on a property near Cameron’s Corner, Ms Betts went on to marry her neighbour Graham Betts, and eventually moved to Epsilon in 1997.
She said because of the size of their properties, which don’t require the use of any sprays nor have any pests, their operation had always been fairly organic before joining with OBE.
Now running about 10,000 head of Hereford cattle over the two properties, Ms Betts said the decision to move formally into the organic market in the late 1990s has well and truly paid off, despite being a gamble at the start.
“We were very interested in being able to capture this market, although at the time there wasn’t probably a lot of interest in it,” she said.
Ms Betts said they fatten their cattle to a dead weight of about 300kg, and said the Hereford breed does well in the region, but said they have also introduced Angus genetics.
“Herefords seem to be good survivors when it becomes dry, they’re not like some of the big framed cattle that are a bit of high maintence and need more feed, and the Herefords are very fertile,” she said.
After being involved with OBE for many years as a shareholder, Ms Betts said being asked to become a director was “a big surprise”.
“I’m quite excited about it and I’m looking forward to working with OBE and the other directors,” she said.
Ms Betts will join founding organic producer directors David Brook, Birdsville, and Peter Schmidt, Charleville, together with Hong Kong-based Deirdre Lander on the board, bringing the board to 50 per cent female representation.
OBE Organic chair David Brook said Ms Betts will bring a wealth of experience to the board.
“Sharon is well known for being among the top graziers in the region, she brings 40 years of expertise across a range of business and community interests, and she will do a wonderful job representing the interests of cattle producers,” he said.
“I’m also very proud to have a board that has gone from 0 per cent female three years ago to 50 per cent today. Men and women run cattle stations equally so it makes sense to have equal representation on our board.
“More importantly, to me diversity is just good business because being open to insights from different perspectives, helps us innovate and be more likely to identify opportunities and risks.”