NQ Dry Tropic's newest grazing team recruit Callum Olver has spent years learning the agricultural industry ropes and now he will continue to harness his long standing passion for agricultural sustainability, livestock welfare and agtech in his new role in sustainable grazing.
Mr Olver grew up in central Victoria and while he was not raised within the agricultural industry, the calling was always there.
"Mum grew up on a dairy farm in the mountains around Bright. The interest was always there and I spent a lot of time as a child there," he said.
"I always had a strong interest in horses and I was quite lucky that good family friends of ours, a mentor figure and retired drover turned horse trainer who was very big in the racing industry mentored me. I did a lot of horse work with him through my teen years."
Through that mentorship, a spark was ignited and he went on to work on corporate company stations while also completing a Bachelor of Agribusiness at Charles Sturt University.
"I went to the Kimberley and worked at stock camps for a couple of years, mainly handling breeder cattle, mustering, processing, a little bit of live export work, trapping and catching wild cattle to a degree...it was a wide variety of things," he said.
"That was with the Consolidated Pastoral Company...owned by the Packer family. I also did a stint at Newcastle Waters, their main station in the territory."
After completing his degree, he ventured home and completed a year in dairy farming, learning a lot about animal welfare and nutrition.
"The dairy industry is a good place to observe and learn that," he said.
But he longed to return to the north and after an opportunity to work at Barkly Tableland for Western Grazing on the Northern Territory border arose, he decided to pursue the opportunity to be mentored by Greg Dakin.
"He asked his workers what they wanted to do long term in the cattle industry. That prompted me to go for a position in Charters Towers with the Department of Agriculture and Fisheries at the Spyglass Beef Research Facility," he said.
While on location he met his now wife Melissa in 2016 and upon settling down in her home of Townsville, he made the move into ag merchandise.
But after years of exposure to welfare and nutrition within the industry, he kept his eyes peeled for an opportunity to return to the sector he thrived within.
"When this role appeared, sustainable grazing (I jumped at it)," he said.
"Without sustainable grazing there is no farming, no matter what you're doing, whether it's cropping in Victoria or breeding cattle in North Queensland...I can tie in animal welfare and health with sustainable agriculture and really enjoy it.
"I'm getting on properties, talking to people and seeing what's driving the industry and how it's changing."
Mr Olver said some of the things he has learned or encountered during his NQ Dry Tropics tenure includes the funding that is available for producers - which could help improve infrastructure or grazing management.
Another key factor of his work revolves around nutrition.
"Producers take nutrition very seriously. There's different grades of products...it's very much worth talking to nutritionists or local lick suppliers about the quality...where it's form and the standard of the product and how it can be beneficial," he said.
"The key is to find out...what the quality of phosphate is and where it's coming from.
"Nutrition is important. You still need sustainable farming and grass on the ground to do that...there are so many factors to it. (Good nutrition) can help you calf quicker, have better calving and weaning rates...better health, less disease and injuries and all sorts of things."
Mr Olver said he was excited to support beef producers to improve their land, productivity, profitability, and infrastructure in his new role, as well as working closely with producers to improve for the next generation.
"I'm looking forward to working with producers at the operational level so they can leave the country in a better condition for future generations to continue to improve, while also helping to protect the Great Barrier Reef," he said.
"(Whether it's) improving fences or...using more grass and rotating cattle through, having more water points so you can utilise it for grazing...meet better markets, have more cattle on the property, be more efficient and leave the country in a better environmental stance.
"I think producers are pretty front of mind in how they can improve their country. They don't want their country to decrease in quality, they don't want erosion or to lose grass to invasive species.
"At the front of their mind is to improve and access the help."
