MANY years of contribution to the beef industry, and the Angus breed in particular, by Libby Creek have been recognised with a Queen's Birthday Honour.
A former president of Angus Australia and a current member on the World Angus Forum Consultative Committee, Mrs Creek said she was surprised, but honoured to receive an Order of Australia Medal for her service to the beef cattle industry.
Growing up at Willalooka, where her family's renowned Angus stud The Basin was located, Mrs Creek said the cattle industry was one she loved from an early age so it was only natural that she followed a career within it.
She would go on to manage The Basin Angus Stud for 18 years, before joining the Hillcrest Pastoral Company management team in 2007, a role she still holds.
Mrs Creek has been active in promoting and developing the Angus breed over the past 30 years, becoming a committee member of Angus Australia's SA branch in 1992, filling the role of publicity offer, and serving as chair from 1999 to 2002.
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From 2012 to 2019, Mrs Creek served as a board member for Angus Australia, also filling the vice president and president roles during that time.
Also an Angus cattle steward at the Royal Adelaide Show, Mrs Creek said she was proud to see the progress the beef industry had made over the years.
"I've seen a lot of progress made in the beef industry in areas like objective measurement, tools like estimated breeding values and the use of genomics," she said.
"Those and other technologies have been used to improve beef quality and enable great genetic gains within the Australian beef herd.
"It's such an exciting industry because it has developed so much and is improving all the time.
"The great thing about Australian beef producers is they are world-leading and happy to embrace technology to improve their herds."
Mrs Creek said promoting the health benefits of beef to consumers, as well as the high level of animal welfare and traceability within Australian beef herds, had been a strong suit of the industry and was important moving forwards.
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