Beef industry stalwart Bruce Creek, Kangaroo Island, has been appointed as the inaugural chairman of the South Australian Beef Industry Blueprint Working Group.
Mr Creek said he was excited to be involved with the ground-breaking project, and was hopeful the group could achieve the same success as the SA Sheep Industry Blueprint, launched in April 2016.
“ There are a number of industry groups at work in SA and through improved communication and collaboration, we can work together for the benefit of the entire industry.,” he said.
“As part of this information sharing and resourcing we are also asking South Australian beef producers with businesses of all shapes and sizes, all breeds and all numbers, to participate in a survey so we can form the basis of what the requirements are for the industry to better serve everyone in SA.
“If we can get the involvement of everyone, we will have a much more powerful voice to help ensure the success of our industry.”
In his successful career Mr Creek has managed The Basin Angus stud, selling 300 bulls a year; managed a commercial beef cattle herd at Avenue Range for the Bainger family’s Hillcrest Pastoral Company and spent 4.5 years in Kazakhstan establishing an Angus herd of about 4000 cows.
Under his leadership the Far Eastern European business grew to become one of the world’s largest registered Angus herds.
He recently moved back to SA to manage several properties on Kangaroo Island and the Fleurieu Peninsula, overseeing a herd of 3000 Angus cows and 16,000 ewe flock.
Livestock SA board member and SA Sheep Industry Blueprint Working Group chair Allan Piggott was pleased to announce Mr Creek’s appointment.
“The Sheep Blueprint has been very successful in the past 18 months, it demonstrates what you can do if you’re a strong and cohesive industry and if you do have a plan for the future, people are very keen to support you as an industry,” Mr Piggott said.
“The Beef Blueprint working group has continued this whole-of-industry approach and has collective expertise in many aspects of the beef value chain including on-farm, feedlot, processing, retail, farm management groups, consultancy, advisory, agribusiness and research.
Mr Piggott said the working group now including producers from across SA, ranging from high rainfall to pastoral regions and across the beef value chain.
The group will work towards launching the Beef Blueprint, which will align with the Meat Industry Strategic Plan and the Beef Industry Strategic Plan, early next year.
“We very much appreciate the funding and support that the state government has committed to allow this work to be undertaken,” he said.
Beef producers are encouraged to access the survey on the Livestock SA website to highlight the priorities they see for the SA beef industry.
The SA Beef Industry Blueprint is an initiative of Livestock SA. The Davies Research Centre, University of Adelaide with PIRSA a foundation partner.