Meet the North-West Queensland Alumni

Beau is a dedicated NWQ cattleman. Beau works in his family business, operating three properties in the Julia Creek region, with his wife Tamara, brother, sister-in-law and parents. Beau enjoys getting involved in community events such as Sedan Dip Sports Club, local camp drafts, rodeos and race days.  In the last 10 years, Beau has strived to develop himself as a stockman and gain some hands-on skills in animal husbandry and land management. Beau’s main goal for his ABL experience was to expand his industry knowledge and improve his communication skills, to enable him to have a more active role in industry and the community outside of his workplace in the future.  

I’m Colin Burnett, a 4th generation grazier in North-West Queensland. Our Family business runs 9000 Head of predominantly Brahman cross cattle supplying the live export, domestic feeder, re-stocker and slaughter markets.

I have been involved in agriculture, mainly in the primary production industry all of my life. My main passion is global agriculture and its prosperity. I’m a 2018 Nuffield scholar, studying business sustainability in North West QLD.

My current focus is on the family business, but I am also part of groups such as the NABRAC NWQ committee, the local Southern Gulf Catchments Producer Performance Group, and was part of the DAFF Next gen program.

I have goals that I want to reach in 5 years such as; Personally, growing a sustainable family farm business that will be prosperous for the next generation. Also, to help the broader community improve their knowledge, particularly in the environmental, financial, and social parts of business. This will lead to greater economic sustainability in the region.

From a mixed cropping/beef cattle enterprise at North Star, Northern NSW, Darcy has been involved in the Northern Beef Industry since 2008. With his wife Jess and their 2 young children, Darcy makes his home at Armraynald where he manages the day-to-day operation of the 214,000ha breeder property for Paraway Pastoral Company. Darcy is passionate about sustainable Grazing Land Management, and using genetic improvement, nutrition, and herd management to drive profitability and resilience in large-scale beef enterprises.  Darcy has been involved in community events such as the Cloncurry Show, Cloncurry Stockman’s Challenge, the Burke and Wills Sports Club and having moved further north to Armraynald in late 2021, is newly appointed president of the Burketown Rodeo and Campdraft Committee. Darcy is looking to become more involved at an industry level and create a larger industry network.

BAgBus

Originally from central Queensland, Eloise currently works for Brisbane Valley Protein as Beef Operations Manager overseeing trading and breeding programs in South East and North West Queensland. Formerly a Beef Extension Officer (2019-2021) based in Cloncurry and in Biloela, Eloise worked closely with producers to improve knowledge and practices around nutrition, grazing land management and business. Prior to this role, Eloise worked at a feedlot and on stations right across northern Australia. Outside of work, Eloise has a keen interest in Brangus cattle, horses and photography. Eloise has been involved in various committees such as the Cloncurry Pony Club as President and the NW RBRC committee. Eloise is passionate about beef production, the communities it supports and the prosperity of the industry.

BAgBus

Growing up on the family cattle station near Cloncurry NWQ, Lachy is currently working as the Manager of Davenport Downs for Paraway Pastoral. Prior to returning to working on the property, Lachy spent five years as a Senior Investment Associate for Laguna Bay in Brisbane. Whilst enjoyable, this time away helped Lachy reassess and realise that he preferred being involved in a hands-on role in the beef industry.  Lachy also holds a Private Pilot’s licence for fixed-wing aircraft. 

Starting life on Lake Nash Station, Nicole has a lifelong connection to the beef industry. After graduation, she worked at Austral Downs for two years, and moved to NSW to work on a Hereford Stud, where she learnt a great deal about genetics, cattle nutrition, AI, and early detection preg-testing. Nicole returned to the Gulf where she has since worked on Dalgonally, Armraynald, and Bowthorn Stations. Nicole’s main industry interests are of course, cattle and their breeding, land management/pasture management and working with young people. Nicole is a mother of two and the current secretary of Burketown Rodeo and Sporting Association. I love contributing to our wonderful community.

BAppSc, Dip Rural Bus. Management

With Longreach as her hometown, Rachel has spent her career to date in the northern beef industry, working in the Gulf and NT. Rachel is passionate about the relationship between good grazing and production, which saw her take up Rangelands and Operations Manager roles in Southern Gulf for some years. More recently Rachel has returned to working on property. Rachel has always been keen to back practical skills with science and technology, resulting in her significant tertiary qualifications.

Director – Queensland Cattle Board (AgForce)

A Cloncurry local, Rob worked for 16 years in mining before returning home to his family’s cattle operation in 2019 to spend more time with his wife Ruth and three children. Rob’s years mining helped him gain many operational skills, leadership training, a range of different mining qualifications and a better understanding of people. Rob has a thirst for knowledge; whether it be genetics, nutrition or policies that govern what and how we do things in the industry, and an empathy for the people in it.

Rob sits on several local committees including the Cloncurry & District Race Club and as of November 2022 has taken on the position of Northern Cattle board representative with AgForce. He has also put his hand up to be on the Agforce Biosecurity sub-committee. This year he took on the role of coach of his son’s under 9’s rugby league team, which was very rewarding and challenging in its own way.

Originally from Young in NSW, for the last 20 years, Ross has worked in corporate agriculture across several large-scale properties in the Northern Territory and Queensland. Managing properties for Paraway Pastoral Company over the last decade, Ross is currently managing Kalmeta, near Julia Creek where he lives with his wife Carlea and their 4 sons. Ross is a member of the North Western Queensland Regional Beef Research Committee (NWQRBRC), he is interested in research updates and improving adoption. Ross wants to see the industry work towards having a more united voice.

Station Manager

Along with her partner Shannon currently manages a large-scale breeder property in the Gulf. Throughout her career, she has worked both for both large corporate companies and smaller private families giving her a diverse understanding of beef production in the north. As a mother of 3, she has a strong family/work focus and enjoys having the freedom to have her children involved in the running of the station. With a strong passion for bridging the disconnect between the Agricultural industry and consumers, Shannon aims to get more involved in sharing the stories of our industry and the passion that lies within providing food and fibre. She also has a keen desire to engage with schools and school counsellors to help promote the agricultural industry to our next generation, wanting to showcase all the opportunities the industry has to offer those looking to join the workforce. With the north being such a social area Shannon has actively been involved in campdraft, races rodeo committees ensuring the local events keep the North thriving. She has also been heavily involved in school, ICPA and CWA boards as she knows that the future of our industry relies on the involvement of the next generation.