The Weekly Grill

Young Scotswoman Claire Taylor has risen in prominence as an ag communicator since tackling a Nuffield Scholarship last year, helping turn the tide on the global anti-farming agenda. Farming is coming under increasing fire on multiple fronts, and the industry has a job to do, to rise above the noise and present a stronger, more united voice against many of the criticisms thrown at its door, she te...

Recent episodes of animal activists using drones to intrude on feedlot sites has reignited interest in laws and rights over intrusion on private property.   In this week's Weekly Grill podcast with host Kerry Lonergan, Brisbane-based agribusiness lawyer Trent Thorne from Hamilton Locke steps through the laws, regulations and rights surrounding drone use, and how they apply to commercial businesses...

Meat & Livestock Australia's new managing director Michael Crowley has well and truly got his feet under the desk since kicking off in his new job in late May.     Many in the industry got their first insight on Mr Crowley's take on the industry service delivery company's future direction in an address to the Queensland Rural Pres Club last month. One of his key visions is to see Value-Based M...

Rabobank’s general manager for ag research, Stefan Vogel chats with Weekly Grill podcast host Kerry Lonergan on where Australian livestock industries currently sit in a challenging global environment. Logistical challenges around the Suez Canal, regional conflicts and challenging economic conditions are creating some headwinds for Australia’s ag exports – but there’s still plenty to be optimistic...

University of Queensland genetics researcher Prof Ben Hayes   AI has exploded in importance over the past year or two across all areas of business, research and society in general, and the agriculture field is no exception. What lies ahead for the use of AI in the beef industry? Is it a tool than can further increase the industry's rate of genetic gain, particularly on hard-to-measure traits? Wher...

Indonesia’s Prabowo Subianto was elected President with a landslide victory in February. Ahead of his inauguration on 20 October, what the the implications for Australian agricultural trade - and live cattle exports in particular - with our nearest neighbour?   Veteran live exporter Greg Pankhurst, who spent more than 20 years living and working in Indonesia, provides his view in this week’s Weekl...

Today's Weekly Grill podcast continues our occasional markets series, with host Kerry Lonergan talking with regular markets commentators RMA's Chris Howie and Ep3's Matt Dalgleish. The looming impact of the US drought on global beef demand over the next two years out of the US and other countries is one of the key focuses in today's update. Slaughter and store cattle supply and demand heading into...

Competitive Texas BBQ smoker cooking is a huge activity in the United States, and one of the best in the business - Phil Breeden - is in Australia at present, competing in a local competition, delivering master-classes and checking out the Australian Texas BBQ scene.     Phil has been involved in competitive BBQ events in the US and Canada since 2015, and is now full-time professional competitor,...

This week's Weekly Grill podcast is a conversation with livestock scientist Fran Cowley from the University of New England, whose current work focusses on managing and mitigating livestock methane emissions.         Associate Professor in livestock production at UNE, her current work includes looking for better ways to predict emissions from feedlot cattle. A lot of this was a future-proofing exer...

In this week's Weekly Grill podcast, host Kerry Lonergan turns up the heat on Queensland lotfeeder Charlie Mort, principal of Mort & Co.   The pair discuss the changing Australian feedlot environment, plans for the construction of Mort & Co's new Central Queensland feedlot near Gogango, market demand for grainfed beef and other topics.   The Weekly Grill is brought to readers and listeners...

Jack Owen is a Victorian sheep-meat producer who used to spend hours thinking about what his neighbours were doing and how successful they were – until he decided to stop thinking and do something about it – so he interviewed over 200 successful farmers and graziers and made notes on how they operated and why they there successful. The result is his personal improvement book, 'You Are Not Your Far...

In this week’s Weekly Grill podcast, host Kerry Lonergan turns up the heat on Wagyu boss Matt McDonagh, discussing the opportunities and challenges facing the Wagyu industry in Australia, where breeders are placing their genetic selection emphasis, and the impact as greater numbers of Wagyu feeders occupy valuable pen space for long periods in Australian feedlots.  

Victorian veterinarian Dr Craig Wood is the new president of the Australian Cattle Vets, a special interst group of the Australian Veterinarians Association. A cattle specialist at Mortlake Vet Clinic, Dr Wood succeeds Broome WA vet, Dr Tracy Sullivan as ACV president. In a wide ranging discussion, Weekly Grill host Kerry Lonergan chats with Dr Wood about the role vets would play in any exotic dis...

Fifth generation retail butcher Michael James operates a successful retail site at the inner southeastern Brisbane suburb of Carina. He also represents independent retailers on the board of the Australian Meat Industry Council. In this Weekly Grill episode, Michael speaks with host Kerry Lonergan about the current domestic retail beef trading environment, where consumers face considerable cost of...

Today's Weekly Grill podcast continues our occasional markets series, with host Kerry Lonergan talking with regular markets commentators RMA's Chris Howie and Ep3's Matt Dalgleish. The looming impact of the US drought on global beef demand over the next two years out of the US and other countries is one of the key focuses in today's update. Slaughter and store cattle supply and demand heading into...

Carbon, industry advocacy and greater need for education in agriculture came into focus during Weekly Grill podcast host, Kerry’s Lonergan’s lengthy chat this week with large scale Queensland beef producer MDH’s Julie McDonald.   Julie wears many hats within the family-owned MDH cattle business. In addition to providing an update on MDH’s cattle operations spread across 14 properties in North, Cen...

ONE in six people in Australia experience food insecurity and hunger on a weekly basis. Now a unique outback initiative has been launched enabling members of the Australian cattle industry to help their city counterparts and raise much needed funds to support those in need. The inaugural 2025 Great Australian Charity Cattle Drive was officially unveiled by Beef Bank director Bim Struss during the...

The long, hot, wet 2023-24 summer saw a marked rise in Three Day Sickness across Australia, including outbreaks in areas as far south as Victoria where it has never before been seen. In those regions, naive herds never previously exposed to BEF were hard-hit, with stock losses reported. Is climate change and warner temperatures behind it, or is it simply natural variation from season to season?  ...

AS part of Beef Central's coverage of this week's Beef 2024 event in Rockhampton, the industry's national exhibition held every three years, we present our special daily podcast series, Trendsetters. Today's fifth episode features former Australian Agricultural Co boardmember, and former MLA chairman David Crombie, reflecting on 200 years of continuous operations for AA Co. The company celebrated...

AS part of Beef Central's coverage of this week's Beef 2024 event in Rockhampton, the industry's national exhibition held every three years, we present our special daily podcast series, Trendsetters. Today's third episode features Zero Net Emissions from Agriculture CRC chief executive, Richard Heath. The ZNE-Ag CRC was brokered by The University of Queensland and the Queensland Department of Agri...

AS part of Beef Central's coverage of this week's Beef 2024 event in Rockhampton, the industry's national exhibition held every three years, we present our special daily podcast series, Trendsetters. Today's second episode features dynamic young New Zealand livestock producer Nancy Crawshaw, who recently received the 2024 Zanda MacDonald award. As part of her employment with Angus Australia, Nancy...

As part of Beef Central's coverage of this week's Beef 2024 event in Rockhampton, the industry's national exhibition held every three years, we present our special daily podcast series, Trendsetters. Setting the scene in today's first episode is Cattle Australia chairman, Garry Edwards. Speaking as the three-yearly industry event opened this morning, Mr Edwards said Cattle Australia had been worki...

Today’s Weekly Grill podcast turns to the important topic of mental health in the bush, with contributions from Dolly’s Dream general manager Sally McSweeny and neuro science specialist Dr Simone Shaw. Dolly’s Dream was created by NT couple Kate and Tick Everett following the loss of their 14-year-old daughter, Dolly, to suicide, after ongoing bullying. They have been tirelessly working since then...

Driven by favourable weather across eastern Australia, and growing international beef demand, the 2024 cattle market has some strong underpinnings for the 12 months ahead. Today's Weekly Grill podcast continues our occasional markets series, with host Kerry Lonergan talking with regular markets commentators RMA's Chris Howie and Ep3's Matt Dalgleish. The looming impact of the US drought on global...