The Australian Lot Feeders' Association (ALFA) has named three talented young professionals as Grand Finalists in its prestigious Young Lot Feeder of the Year award, proudly sponsored by Performance Feeds.
This award provides a chance for young professionals to demonstrate their vision for the future of the industry, with the winner receiving a $5000 study bursary to further their contribution to the feedlot sector.
After formal interviews with the independent judging panel followed by a presentation and meet & greet with the ALFA Board in Sydney, three of the six Finalists have progressed in the award as Grand Finalists.
Kassandra Lees
Livestock Leading Hand at Stockyard Beef's Kerwee Feedlot
"The utilisation of a Pre-conditioning Program for Angus Feeder Cattle to combat
Bovine Respiratory Disease"
Why did you apply for the Young Lot Feeder of the Year Award?
Applying for this award is something I have been working towards for a few years now. I believe winning the ALFA Young Lot Feeder Award can accelerate an individual’s personal development and career. This award allows the industry to hear many great ideas from people out in the field who are really seeing what is working and what isn’t. It’s been a great experience sitting down and writing the essay on something that we have seen so much success in.
Applying for this award is also allowing ALFA to see the great idea behind the benefits of pre-conditioning angus feeder steers to help the prevention of BRD before entering the feedlot. If I were successful as ALFA’s Young Lot Feeder of the Year, I would use the prize money to accelerate my professional and personal development with a combination of on-farm experiences and leadership courses. I have also heard from peers about ARLF’s TRAIL program and the enormous growth and self-discovery that can be achieved from undertaking the program and so that opportunity to join is something I would be incredibly grateful for.
How do you hope to contribute to the industry?
There are two key areas that I’d hope to continue to contribute to the lot feeding
industry:
As an empowering leader – the health of teams is often dictated by the skills of their leaders, and I hope to continue in the footsteps of the many leaders who mentor me in building strong and empowered teams. This is critical to keep great talent in our industry, whether that’s within my team or whether those individuals go on to lead teams for other yards.
As an advocate for continual improvement – Our industry is renowned for its implementation of continual improvement cultures.
Each essay submitted as part of this award process is just one example, with several of these ideas being realised as commercially adopted concepts. For me, I hope that I can continue the legacy of other Young Lot Feeder Award nominees of sharing ideas for the common good of the animals, people and environment in our care. For me this starts with the prevention of BRD in feeder steers by using the pre-conditioning method.
The overall winner of the ALFA Young Lot Feeder of the Year Award will be announced at ALFA’s BeefEx 2024 Conference held in Brisbane on 15-17 October.
For more information on the Award, visit feedlots.com.au/ylfya.