2024 Livestock Advisor Update
Wednesday 13th November, Marion Hotel Adelaide SA
Ticket sales close Tuesday 5th November
“The Livestock Advisor Update is intended for all professionals working within the livestock industry, including consultants, veterinarians, extension officers, agronomists, researchers, and other industry service providers. This event offers valuable insights and networking opportunities tailored to the needs of a wide range of livestock industry experts”
SA Livestock Advisor Update Program
Click the image for full size program
About our Program
Progressive and cutting-edge sheep & beef breeding programs, with Mark Ferguson
This session covers the latest in sheep and beef breeding such as optimising the genetic gain equation across sheep and beef, and designing a balanced breeding objective for sheep and beef. Mark will also cover the opportunities to bend the growth curve and why it matters and the difference between feed-use efficiency and whole herd/flock efficiency.
Utilising AI in Agricultural Extension, with Phillip Guthrie
This 90-minute masterclass will explore how agriculture professionals can use generative AI tools like ChatGPT, Google Gemini, Claude AI and others to streamline workflows, boost productivity, and improve client service. Focusing on practical, day-to-day tasks, the session will also explore advanced topics including automation, AI training and optimisation, and the development of custom GPTs. Participants will leave with actionable insights and real-world examples of how to apply AI in their work.
Designing Engaging Extension, with Jeanette Long
Join Jeanette for a 90-minute masterclass to refresh your extension activities. Dive into the extension planning process—covering the Why, Who, What, and How—while gaining practical tips and tools to make your events more impactful and engaging. Don't miss this opportunity to elevate your extension approach.
Feedback from 2023 - “Jeanette's presentation and delivery was first class, even old dogs can learn new tricks!”
Ionophores in Ruminant Nutrition, with Ian Sawyer
As regulatory changes push the ruminant industry toward phasing out ionophores, advisors and producers are facing a shift in managing nutrition for beef and sheep. In this 45-minute technical session, we’ll dive into the proven benefits ionophores have brought to ruminant nutrition. With regulations and market specifications changing we'll discuss practical, evidence-based alternatives to maintain these outcomes and safeguard animal productivity. Join us to understand the options available and explore adaptable strategies for this changing landscape.
Hoof health and AI, with Mark Ferguson
In this 45-minute technical session Mark will cover what we've learnt in hoof health, how you can implement it, and what we still have to learn. He’ll also discuss the power of machine vision and what it might mean for improving the speed and accuracy of feet and structural scoring.
Practical insights and learnings from Cost of Production, with Nathaniel Modra
Nathaniel presentation will focus on the challenges facing the livestock industry, particularly the headwinds impacting cost of production. He will explore key factors such as rising input costs and fluctuating market prices. The session aims to provide valuable insights for advisors, helping them understand these challenges so they can better support producers in managing costs and improving profitability within a complex and dynamic industry landscape.
About our Speakers
Phillip Guthrie
Phill Guthrie has significant experience in communications, agricultural innovation, and extension, including roles with leading PR agencies, Agriculture Victoria and Birchip Cropping Group. He has had an interest in AI since 2014 and has been a heavy user of generative AI since trialling ChatGPT in December 2022.
Jeanette Long
Jeanette Long has been facilitating leadership training for over 20 years. She is passionate about developing the skills of people in regional and rural areas.
Jeanette's passion is engaging people and influencing positive change in agriculture and natural resources management. She specialises in facilitation and facilitated learning both with farmers and for professionals who work with farmers.
Jeanette farms with her husband Bill and son Will at Undalya in the Clare Valley as well as on the Eyre Peninsula at Tooligie Hill and Cummins.
Ken Solly
Ken Solly has been a Warrnambool based Agribusiness Consultant since 2019, having spent the previous 33 years in the farmer education, training and the farm consulting industry in the South East of South Australia. His current work involves teaching, conference speaking, the development of training programs for farmers, plus coaching and mentoring of young professionals. He has coached many Nuffield Scholars and Churchill fellows.
Ken teaches Livestock Feeding Plans and Business Planning at the Rural Industry Skills Training Centre at Hamilton and has guest lecturing roles at, Melbourne University, Murdock University in Perth, Longerenong Agricultural College and Cleve Area School. Ken is well known for writing the Mind your Business article in the Stock Journal which he has done for the past 16 years. Ken had a major mental breakdown in 2019 and has until recent time been a regular lived experience speaker for Let’s Talk, a Mental Health organisation based in Warrnambool.
In 2016 Ken was awarded the ABC Rural – Kondinin Group Australian Rural Consultant of the Year at Parliament House in Canberra.
Mark Ferguson
Mark is CEO at neXtgen Agri, a consulting and innovation company based in Christchurch, New Zealand. He is also a cofounder of Genesmith a company dedicated to bringing the power of Artificial Intelligence to the livestock industry.
He is the host of Head Shepherd podcast and led the development of The Hub, the Farm Fit Ewe workshop and the Growing Ewe Masterclass.
He and the team at neXtgen Agri work with progressive stud and commercial producers across Australia and New Zealand, helping them breed the best sheep and cattle for their situation.
Mark grew up on the family farm in the Victorian Mallee and has spent his career in the livestock industry working throughout Australia and New Zealand.
Mark has a Bachelor of Agricultural Science, a PhD in sheep genetics and a passion for enabling farmers to implement effective strategies to get the most out of their livestock.
Emily King
Emily started with AWI in 2012 and has worked in a number of teams but has always focussed on working with people and sharing information across the supply chain, whether that be discussing marking rates with growers, chatting with consultants about extension or promoting the benefits of Australian wool to a designer.
AWI invests in RD&E to improve the productivity and sustainability of the Australian wool industry and Emily will highlight several tools that have been delivered from R&D outcomes.
Bobbie Lewis Baida
Bobbie is soon to complete her PhD which was investigating the impacts of heat and thermoregulation on the fertility of extensively grazed sheep. Bobbie is passionate about increasing sheep productivity through sustainable means and bringing efficiencies to farm data collection, analysis and decision-making with the use of novel, sensory technologies. Bobbie was the overall winner of the 2024 LambEx Coles Trailblazer competition for her pitch titled "Building a heat resilient sheep flock". Bobbie spoke about developing an ASBV for heat resilience within the industry and the advantages this could have for productivity throughout a changing climate. Bobbie has also received previous recognition for her work, winning the 2022 SA Climate Leaders Award, 2022 Science & Innovation Award, as well as the 2021 SARDI Bursary for 'Women in Science'. Bobbie has recently been appointed as the post-doctoral researcher on a national, MLA-funded project titled "Quantifying and improving the reproduction performance of Australia's shedding sheep flock".
Nathaniel Modra
Nathaniel is an Agribusiness Consultant with Pinion Advisory, based in Naracoorte, SA. With hands-on experience across the dairy, beef, sheep, and cropping sectors, he delivers financial and production benchmarking services to help optimise farm performance for livestock and mixed enterprise businesses. Nathaniel is also active in agricultural extension, leading projects and workshops to advance industry knowledge and best practices.
Bursaries
SA Sheep Industry Fund University Student Bursary
The SA Sheep Industry Fund University Student Bursary will proudly be available to 10 students for the 2024 SA Livestock Advisor Update and Networking dinner. The bursary will allow students to obtain a ticket to this event at no cost.
All University student bursaries have been filled.
Northern & Yorke Early Career Advisor $500 Bursary
There are 3 Northern & Yorkes early career advisor bursaries available for the Livestock Advisor Update & Networking Dinner. Each bursary will provide $500 towards attending the event.
Applications are now closed.
