The Australian Beef Industry Foundation (ABIF) and Marcus Oldham College, with support from Merial Australia, relaunched the Merial Howard Yelland Beef Industry Award during the college’s Rural Leadership Dinner last week.
The prestigious award is made in recognition and memory of Hereford breeder Howard Yelland, a champion of objective selection and performance recording in the beef industry.
Howard Yelland built his breeding programs around measurement, with his Glentrevor herd among the first in Australia to record performance.
Mr Yelland started walking his bulls to the local railway siding at Newlyn, near Ballarat, in 1910 to use the weighbridge to measure weight gain, with breeding and selection decisions made on this information.
Recipients of the Merial Howard Yelland Beef Industry award are chosen on:
The extent of their contribution to the Australian beef industry;
Recognition of this contribution;
Leadership as a change agent; and
Contribution above and beyond normal role in the industry.
There were 20 recipients of the award under the now defunct Beef Improvement Association, including Howard Yelland’s son, John.
The Yelland family was represented at the presentation by Howard's grandson, Rob Yelland.
Jim Gough received his award in recognition of his support for the development and promotion of Breedplan as a tool for genetic evaluation in the global and Australian beef industry.
His now-dispersed Coora Hereford herd at Hotspur was one of the herds used in the development of Breedplan.
His commitment to herd improvement through objective measurement was also demonstrated during his association with the Australian Hereford Society, where he supported genetic evaluation and research for the Hereford breed.
Angus breeder Michael Pointer received his award in recognition of his leadership in developing and promoting branded Australian beef to a domestic and global food market.
His leadership in establishing the Australian Branded Beef Association and the development of the Certified Australian Angus Beef (CAAB) program has been responsible for establishing Australian branded beef on global and domestic markets.
His sound knowledge of the food service sector saw the development and promotion of secondary beef cuts to supermarket and fast food chains in the form of beef brand name burgers and small goods.