After months of uncertainty due to covid-19, it was with pleasure that interested graziers, service providers, banks, researchers, local government, and industry representatives gathered in Townsville last week for The Leucaena Network’s 2020 Conference.

 

Postponed from April, the ‘New Territories, New Vision’ themed Conference welcomed more than 80 delegates to The Ville Resort for the Conference day on Tuesday 8th September which was followed by field visits to CSIRO’s Lansdown Research Station, Woodstock and Don and Laurel Heatley’s ‘Byrne Valley’, Home Hill, on Wednesday 9th September.

 

The Conference, supported by MLA Event funding,  commenced with a Network Members’ Breakfast and Network AGM where guest speaker, Kate Andison, a Livestock Leader with The Livestock Collective provided an overview of Townsville’s live export industry.

 

Senator Susan McDonald was in attendance and provided the opening address, highlighting the support required for the Australian agricultural industries, prior to the Conference program which included sterile leucaena, carbon incentives, project updates, pasture developments and new methods of leucaena establishment and applications.

 

Former MLA and ACIAR Chair, Don Heatley was the guest speaker at the Conference dinner following the Conference Day where attendees enjoyed the ambiance of the venue overlooking the Townsville harbour and the opportunity to relax with colleagues.

 

The methodology for the measurement of bovine enteric methane emissions, leucaena live weight gain trials, and desmanthus fodder trials was highlighted during the following morning’s visit to CSIRO Lansdown Research Station at Woodstock.  This was followed by an afternoon visit to Don and Laurel Heatley’s property ‘Byrne Valley’ at Home Hill to hear about and view Byrne Valley’s flume irrigated leucaena grazing system.