My dear friend Gregory Hadjieleftheriadis made another trip from his home base in Athens, Greece, to visit his famed Snowy Mountains NSW property Bolaro and central Queensland Rockhampton district property as well as catching up with his good friends in Australia. We have spent so many good times over the years with Gregory’s visits and it is always great to catch up.
One of this year’s highlights was having the pleasure last week of joining with 12 wise men, put together by Gregory at John Kilroy’s famed Cha Cha Char restaurant.
The distinguished group included our host Gregory, Don McDonald, Ken Warriner, Barry McNamara, John Kilroy, Andrew Pfeiffer, Phillip Du Bois, Spiro Conias, Lexs Heinemann, Peter Kenny, Mac Armytage and yours truly.
The common thread through all these people is that they have all been quiet achievers, setting goals in their chosen fields and achieving great success. Their chosen fields include grazing, agribusiness, medical, real estate, legal and landscape design.
Gregory first came to Australia from Greece with his Australian born wife Pamela in 1969, fell in love with this great country and in 1981 purchased his first “home” Bolaro Station in the Snowy Mountains, NSW. He continued to expand his pastoral interests and love of the land, later buying grazing country in the Rockhampton district.
Needless to say our group had a memorable evening with top company and at such a great venue to meet and greet at the Cha Cha Char.
Terry Ray’s 50 years
Landmark North Queensland general manager Bernie Hoch gave me an update on my old mate Terry Ray’s 50 continuous years with Dalgety/Landmark.
“Terrence John Ray, as he calls himself on formal occasions, but known to everyone as Terry Ray, commenced work with Dalgety/NZL in Townsville in December 1966 as a junior clerk in the accounts department,” Bernie said.
“Terry felt he had mastered the accounts role after a two-year period and asked for a promotion into the livestock sales area in Townsville under the guidance of Bob Garbutt and Jim Jewel.
“In his earlier years with Dalgety, Terry worked throughout most areas of Queensland with stints in Emerald 1970-1974, Roma 1974-1977, Hughenden 1977-1979 as manager and then Warwick 1979-1981.
“In 1981 Terry came back to Emerald as the branch manager and has never left.
“In 1983 Terry teamed up with Chaffey Backhouse (then Rockhampton branch manager for Dalgety) and became partners in the business with Dalgety in Emerald as Dalgety Winchcombe Backhouse Ray.
“When Chaffey retired from the business in 2009,Terry then teamed up with Matt Beard and together they run the livestock business on the Central Highlands as company agents for Landmark.
“Terry says he has no intention at all of retiring as he enjoys every day as if it were his first and he loves nothing more than doing property or livestock inspections with people and it’s the ‘people part’ that he loves the most,” Bernie said.
“He has too much going on to slow down – he doesn’t have time to slow down. I’m just not too sure that the real reason he still loves going to work is that his most beautiful person the world (his dear wife Alison) could not put up with him staying at home all day annoying her.
“What a credit in this day and age for a person to work for the one company for 50 years.”
This Saturday, November 19, there will be a celebration for Terry’s continuous 50 years at 3pm at 4 Powell St Emerald. Congratulations Terry.
Byrne urged to be a champion for the bush
AgForce has congratulated Bill Byrne on his appointment as Queensland Agriculture Minister and urged him to be a strong advocate for agriculture both in the community and in the Cabinet room.
AgForce General President Grant Maudsley said he hoped Mr Byrne's appointment would now bring some stability to what was one of the most important positions in the Cabinet.
"A strong agricultural sector underpins a strong Queensland economy, with a State Government report out this week putting the value of our primary industries at more than $18.5 billion in 2016/17," he said.
"Global demand for our high quality food and fibre is growing rapidly, and can continue to grow strongly – but only with the right policy settings from governments.
"AgForce established a good working relationship with Bill Byrne when he was previously Agriculture Minister, and we acknowledge both his and Leanne Donaldson's efforts in helping to secure stamp duty exemptions for farmers passing down the family farm to the next generation.
"We urge Minister Byrne to champion the needs of people in the bush both publicly and behind the closed doors of Cabinet to ensure agriculture continues to prosper into the future."
Mr Maudsley said Mr Byrne would need to hit the ground running to bed down live issues in his new portfolio.
"Mr Byrne needs to work closely with his department and industry to ensure primary producers on the tick line have the support they need to defend the integrity of the line," he said.
"It's vital the Minister provides clear messages about the need to maintain a high standard of biosecurity and to ensure its importance is recognised across the community.
"We would also urge the Minister to ensure funding for wild dog fencing gets out on the ground as quickly as possible, and that grants announced in the Budget to help farmers access financial advice are rolled out as a priority.
"With welcome rain in many parts of Queensland and good commodity prices in many sectors, there is a real momentum in agriculture that can be maintained if governments at all levels throw their support behind an industry that is the backbone of so many of our regional communities."
Tighter supply of cattle sees number on feed decline
Meat & Livestock Australia advised that contraction in the Australian cattle herd and reduced supplies of cattle to slaughter has resulted in a greater reliance on cattle supplied through the lotfeeding sector.
The latest ALFA/MLA lotfeeding survey results for the September 2016 quarter indicate cattle numbers on feed eased 18pc from year-ago levels, to 788,873 head – accounting for about 65pc of Australian feedlot capacity.
On the back of tighter supply of cattle and increased competition from the restocking sector, numbers on feed declined across all eastern states. Cattle on feed in NSW and Queensland eased 11pc to 250,430 head, and 20pc to 461,839 head respectively. Numbers in Victoria decreased 30pc to 46,875 head and SA eased 60pc to 9,757 head. Meanwhile, as a result of increased herd numbers, cattle on feed in WA jumped 53pc to 19,972 head.
Despite numbers on feed declining 18pc for the quarter, grainfed cattle turn off eased to a lesser extent over the same period, back 15pc year-on-year, to 670,105 head – due in part to the high numbers on feed in the previous quarter and cattle being retained on feed for longer. However, with a 29pc year-on-year decline in grassfed cattle slaughter for the quarter, grainfed cattle accounted for 38pc of the total Australian adult cattle kill for the quarter – the highest level for the grainfed portion since the March 2010 quarter.
Furthermore, the grainfed proportion of total beef exports grew to 27pc for the quarter, up from 21pc in 2015. Quarterly grassfed exports eased 33pc year-on-year to 175,009 tonnes swt, while grainfed exports were back marginally (3pc), to 65,813 tonnes swt.
