Everything You Need to Know About SmartBeef 2021
The SmartBeef event for 2021 will look very different from usual. The Australian Lot Feeders’ Association (ALFA) has made the decision to cancel the in-person event and replace it with a series of webinars called “SmartBeef Bites.”
The difficult decision was made due to safety considerations as a result of the current pandemic. The organisers believe that the webinars, which run from 12-15 October 2021 will provide an excellent experience for those who sign up to participate.
Key points
- SmartBeef 2021 is being replaced by an online webinar series.
- The webinar series is called ‘SmartBeef Bites.’
- Entegra is sponsoring the Smart Sustainability webinar
- The decision to cancel the in-person event was made due to pandemic-related safety concerns.
The showpiece cattle export facility at Berrimah
What was originally planned for SmartBeef 2021?
Originally, SmartBeef 21 was due to take place from 19-21 October 2021. The event was intended to be similar to those of previous years, including the last one, in 2019. The emphasis then was on providing practical knowledge that those attending could take away with them to their business.
This continues to be an integral part of what ALFA SmartBeef is about and was set to be a feature of the SmartBeef 2021 in-person event.
It was expected that the event would attract upward of 300 delegates and would present an opportunity for attendees to network with other industry professionals. They would also be able to attend presentations by domestic and international speakers as well as social gatherings.
In addition, the ALFA General Meeting and Industry Award Presentations, such as feedlot of the year, were scheduled to take place during the event.
The situation will be very different now that the decision has been made not to host SmartBeef 2021 in person. Now, delegates from the feedlot industry can take away information from the array of scheduled webinars they can watch alone or with their team.
Introducing ‘SmartBeef Bites’
The innovative ‘SmartBeef Bites’ offering is an excellent way of bringing expert information and advice to delegates while ensuring that safety is paramount.
The webinar program will take place over four days with speakers presenting one-hour sessions, hence ‘Bites.’ The manageable length of the webinars makes it easy for them to be watched by whole teams without disruption to the business. This enables a selection of professionals from the Australian cattle feedlot industry to attend online.
ALFA has brought together expert speakers to present in four areas.
Entegra is proud to be sponsoring presentations in the area of Smart Sustainability.
This includes a presentation by Stuart Austin, General Manager at Wilmot Cattle Co.
The topic of his talk is ‘Smart deals leading to smart sustainability.’
There are three other topic areas for delegates to take information from.
Smart Environment
Presentations in this area include Dr. Frank Mitloehner discussing the topic ‘Rethinking Methane: Animal Agriculture’s Path to Climate Neutrality.’
Dr. Mitloehner is Professor and Air Quality Extension Specialist at CLEAR Center, UC Davis, USA, and his presentation is sponsored by FeedWorks.
Smart Tech
One of the enlightening presentations in this area is entitled ‘Technologies over the Horizon.’ The presentation is hosted by speaker Dr. Joe McMeniman who is the Program Manager – Feedlot at Meat & Livestock Australia.
The company is also sponsoring all Smart Tech presentations in this collection of webinars.
Smart Business
Under this heading, Ali Hart, Marketing Executive at Stockyard Beef, is presenting on the topic ‘Using supply chain alliances to build better beef businesses.’ This presentation, along with the others in this area, is sponsored by AusPac.
More information about the full program of webinars is available to read on the ALFA website.
Anyone who wants to register for “SmartBeef Bites” can do so online here.
This online schedule may not be what was originally intended for SmartBeef 2021, but it may actually enable a wider, and more geographically diverse, audience to listen to an impressive line-up of experts talking about beef industry concerns.
It’s an innovative alternative to the normal biennial event which is scheduled to return in 2023.