After contending with days of relentless rain, one of those clouds surely must have a silver lining.
As the brown gradually recedes to green and the once bare paddocks come to life, hopefully hope will be restored.
There is no denying the recovery process will be difficult but recover we shall. It has been frustrating to see the lack of government co-ordination to assist in this disaster.
With urgent fuel and fodder requirements the government’s inaction and indecisiveness that stretched out to days was inexcusable. Thankfully the community rallied where they could and the Australian Defence Forces are also now on hand to assist.
The long term impact to the cattle market is yet to be determined. A full appreciation of final losses may not become apparent until first round muster at the end of the wet season. In the immediate short term live export shipments out of Townsville have been diverted to Darwin.
On a positive front, the ALPA National Young Auctioneers competition will be held at the Sydney Royal Easter Show on Friday, April 12.
A recent change to the Queensland ALPA competitor line up has enabled Jack Henshaw to be selected alongside last year’s runner-up Anthony O’Dwyer from GDL Dalby. A first for this year’s ALPA national competition will be a finalist representing the Northern Territory.
Past Queensland finalist, Andrew Carcary is now based in Alice Springs and will have the opportunity to represent the NT in the competition. Queensland has been well represented in the national competition over the years.
More recently Lincoln McKinlay won the competition in 2017 and went on to take out the Rookie of the year title at the International Livestock Auctioneer Competition in Calgary, Canada.
Last year’s runner up Nick Shorten travelled to New Zealand in November to represent Australia at the Young Auctioneers Competition at the Canterbury A&P Show. Best of luck to our Queensland and NT finalists who will represent the northern region proudly.
For anyone unable to make their way to the Sydney Royal Easter Show, they will be able to watch the competition in the comfort of their home or office. Follow the ALPA Facebook page for more details.
It is never too early to remind members to start thinking of encouraging someone to nominate for the prestigious ALPA Fairfax Media Agency Award.
Queenslander Jake Kennedy won this award last year. As part of the award, Jake will be on his way to the Calgary Stampede in July.
The award recognises excellence in marketing, whether it be livestock, property, wool, merchandise, agronomy or insurance. If you know someone with less than 10 years’ experience in the industry encourage them to nominate.
