Thomas Elder Consulting’s Bruce Creek was pleased to host key Ukrainian delegates in South Australia last month.
On the agenda was a meeting to commence discussions around how the Elders business, and TEC, can support Ukraine with the challenges they face in rebuilding their agricultural industry.
Bruce is uniquely placed to manage and foster these relationships, with his experience in the successful redevelopment of the cattle industry in Kazakhstan.
The meeting kicked off a week-long tour of South Australia, with Bruce bringing together an itinerary that showcased South Australian agriculture at various points of the supply chain.
This included a tour of the Elders branch at Keith in the South-East, taking a look in store at stocked merchandise and supporting retail systems.
Next on the list was the Naracoorte Livestock Exchange, with a particular emphasis placed on electronic identification tags and livestock traceability through a saleyard environment.
The group also enjoyed a tour of the Struan Best Practice Demonstration Farm, showcasing ag tech solutions in situ. Ag Tech Specialist Andy Phelan was on hand to provide demonstrations of how data is used to support decision-making processes on farm.
Delegates also experienced an insight to the Fleurieu Milk Co-Op with tours of the operating dairies, followed by the processing plant. On a larger scale, they toured a corporate dairy in the Mt Gambier region.
The group was then given the retail experience offered at La Casa Del Formaggio in Adelaide.
Several key leaders within the Elders and TEC businesses used the opportunity to present to the delegates, with the help of an interpreter. They included Executive General Manager – Network Tom Russo, National Category Manager Paul Reynolds and Head of Technical Services Graham Page.
Bruce Creek, a Livestock Production Consultant for TEC, was responsible for bringing this opportunity to the table, and explained that this initiative carries with it a potential legacy.
“Given the significance of the opportunity to the Ukrainian agricultural industry and the Elders business, this has the real potential to be a legacy project,” he said.
“It was great to be able to show and explain the process of electronic identification we use in Australia for traceability and data collection.
“Showing the Ukrainians a small part of the Australian livestock industry allowed me to reflect on how advanced we are compared to many countries around the world”.