Ag Minister ready to answer tough questions

Mr Littleproud will be joined by Primary Producers SA executive chair Rob Kerin, Australian Wool Innovation chief executive Stuart McCullough and Member for Grey Rowan Ramsey.

Producers will also be well represented on the panel through Meat & Livestock Australia board member Andrew Michael, Dog Fence Board member Christobel Treloar and Southern Australian Meat Research Council SA chair Jane Kellock.

Chaired by meat industry innovator Jordy Kitschke, the session aims to tackle some of the tough questions in agriculture related to transport issues, dog fence and drought issues, technology in agriculture.

“This is a rare opportunity for primary producers and carriers to have a direct line of communication to such high-level politicians and industry representatives,” Jamestown Show president David Cooper said.

“We are aiming to bring those issues affecting their business and the wellbeing of their community into the public for discussion with the hope that we can influence policies on these matters.”

Mr Cooper expected that the range of panel members present could attract a diverse range of questions.

“Some topics raised for discussion could be around wild dog control inside the dog fence, drought support for agricultural businesses and communities and improved road train access for commodities with regional SA,” Mr Cooper said.

“Also, there is currently a push for sealing of the Strzelecki Track to enable improved transportation of commodities between SA and Qld.

“These include South Australian hay and grain produce into western Qld and cattle from the Blue Tongue Free Zone of south-west Qld to SA markets and feedlots.

“Other major benefits would flow from improved terms of trade for tourism, mining and road freight industries.

“This will be particular interest to the federal Minister for Agriculture, as he is the member for Maranoa in south-west Qld.”

Mr Cooper said it was also likely that questions may be presented around AWI’s recent performance review and progress toward implementing its recommendations.

Orroroo sheep and wool producer Geoff Power, local farmer and small business manager Neville Gibb, and Minister for Energy and Mining Dan van Holst Pellekaan will each have roving microphones.

Questions will be fielded via the Jamestown Show website, Facebook page and by text on 0467 002 256.

If you have a question for any of the panellists, please email agqanda@gmail.com or send a text to 0467 002 256 with your name, question, contact number and whether you will be at the Jamestown Show on Monday, October 1, from 2.30pm to 4pm.

Or head to the website and look for the Ag Industry Q&A logo.

David Littleproud is the federal Agriculture and Water Resources Minister.

Born and raised in Chinchilla, Qld, Mr Littleproud now lives in Warwick, Qld, with his wife Sarah and three sons, Tim, Hugh and Harry.

He has 20 years’ experience in agribusiness and owns a small business in Warwick with Sarah, a background which has provided him an acute understanding of the important role that small business and agriculture plays in creating jobs and promoting economic growth.

It’s this economic development which Mr Littleproud sees as key to the building of a prosperous future for younger generations and developing the capacity of health, education, agriculture, telecommunications and small business sectors.

He was elected to the House of Representatives in the Qld seat of Maranoa in 2016.

Since that time, Mr Littleproud has served as a member of the Joint Standing Committee on Foreign Affairs, Defence and Trade, including the Trade Sub-Committee, and Foreign Affairs Sub-Committee.

He has also served as a member on the House of Representatives Standing Committee on Communications and the Arts and the House of Representatives Standing Committee on Industry, Innovation, Science and Resources.

Jane is a passionate Merino sheep producer from Farrell Flat in the Mid North.

She works alongside her husband Greg and their four children in a mixed farming enterprise.

Jane is the chair of the South Australian group of the Southern Australian Meat Research Council and represents that group at a national level on the Red Meat Panel for MLA.

Jane has been a member and past chair of the SA Sheep Advisory Group that manages the Sheep Industry Fund and is a member of the Sheep and Cattle Industry Blueprint working groups.

She is passionate about all things along the value chain in the red meat sector.

Rob is executive chair of Primary Producers SA, chairman of Regional Development SA, Director of South Australian National Football League, Deputy Chair Australian Country Football Council, Deputy Chair of Variety (SA) and board member of Brand SA. 

Rob has completed major consultancies including the restructure of Regional Development Boards to RDAs in SA in 2009-10 and the Review of 2010-11 Grain Harvest Operations and Recommend Operational Changes for the Viterra Grain Handling System.

Rob Kerin is a former SA Premier, Deputy Premier and Opposition Leader. 

He is number 1 ticket holder to West Adelaide Football Club and an ambassador to Adelaide Football Club.

Stuart McCullough is Australian Wool Innovation’s chief executive officer.

He has more than 25 years' experience in international business planning, product development management, marketing and sales strategy, strategic alliance negotiation as well as corporate communication experience.

During the past 15 years, Mr McCullough has worked in a variety of roles at AWI, where he has been responsible for leading strategic development, transition, establishment and growth of several AWI business units as well as core initiatives.

He started his career in wool as a jackeroo on a sheep farm and later moved on to business management roles engaged in all aspects of the wool producing and demand generating pipeline: woolclasser, wool testing, international wool exporter, trader and buyer, and global sales management roles.

Andrew Michael is a fourth-generation farmer, working his family farm at Snowtown, as well as grazing land in SA's north-east pastoral area and in the South East.

He has extensive experience in the use of leading-edge breeding technologies in both the sheep and cattle industries.

Andrew is a great supporter and user of all sheep industry groups, including Sheep CRC, Sheep Genetics, and Information Nucleus Flock.

Using these technologies and working with industry groups has assisted him to develop a highly productive business, breeding top performing sheep for quality red meat production, along with high value skins and wools on animals that do not require mulesing.

In November he was elected onto the board of MLA for a three-year term.

First elected to the federal parliament in 2007, Rowan represents the electorate of Grey, which covers 92 per cent of SA.

Rowan came to political life after living and farming on the Eyre Peninsula and seeing firsthand what can be achieved when people work together for the good of the community.  

His grassroots involvement with agricultural research, Apex, the CFS, sporting clubs and leadership in health organisations gave him a good grounding to gauge community needs and take on leadership roles.

He is the Government Whip and serves on the Joint Standing Committee on Agriculture and Water Resources, the Joint Standing Committee on Foreign Affairs, Defence and Trade, Standing Committee on Appropriations and Administration, Joint House Committee and the Select Committee on Intergenerational Welfare Dependence.

He is also an advocate for the sealing of the Strzelecki Track and the storage of low-level nuclear waste in regional SA.

Christobel and her husband Richard are owners of Mooleulooloo and Strathearn Station, an 880-square kilometre sheep property north-west of Cockburn in SA's north-east.

The Treloars have been involved in wild dog trapping for many years. Christobel has been actively involved in trapping wild dogs for 15 years, most intensely during the past 10 years.

She understands intimately the devastating losses to livestock caused by wild dogs, the incredible intelligence of the dogs which makes trapping so difficult, and the need for consistent effort and long-term funding commitments from government for wild dog control and dog fence maintenance. 

For the past three years she has been a member of the Dog Fence Board of SA.

Jordy Kitschke is a fourth-generation farmer, born and bred in Jamestown. 

With a long-held passion for technology and agriculture, Jordy began working with rapid commercialisation company Availer.

Here he worked on everything from blockchain traceability of mangoes to computer vision weed detection, before being appointed MEQ Probe chief executive officer.  

Jordy now works closely with the red meat industry – producers, processors and retailers – to bring an objective measure of eating quality to the marketplace. 

MEQ’s goal is to create value for the red meat industry, by providing a great eating experience to every person that buys Australian red meat.