Alice Springs Livestock Industries Development group – projects for the future

From left: Chris Materne, Alison Kain, Dionne Walsh, Tim Schatz, Meg Humphrys, Angus Duguid, Kieren McCosker and Jocelyn Coventry.

In the second week of November senior staff from the Livestock Industries Development group in Darwin and Katherine came to Alice Springs for a few days of planning discussions. Dionne Walsh, Rangeland Program Manager; Tim Schatz, Livestock Program Manager; and Kieren McCosker, Katherine Regional Director were the special guests and met with staff at the Arid Zone Research Institute (AZRI).

There were a lot of discussions and planning of future directions for current projects like Quality Graze, how to best use the data we have to feed into bigger projects, potential involvement in national programs such as the Future Drought Fund Hub and the Northern Breeding Business (NB2) and how these link to important local issues. We also discussed staffing and opportunities for the future.

It was great for AZRI staff to have the leadership, guidance and experience of the senior staff for these discussions. Positive outcomes were achieved and some useful insights gained.