SHE may be only 21, but Madelaine Angus has perhaps one of the most important jobs at Beef 2018 – keeping the chairman, her dad Blair, on schedule and where he needs to be.
Laughing, Madelaine remembers the last Beef where she stepped into the PA role, and said telling her dad what to do and where to go was a bit of a challenge.
“Dad is a little chatty,” Madelaine laughed.
“So it’s sometimes a bit hard to keep him moving so he isn’t late.”
This year at Beef Madelaine said she hopes to have the opportunity to have a bit more of a look around.
“Last Beef was full on,” she said.
”Hopefully I get to see more of it this year because we'll be there in force this year.”
With a keen interest in value adding to cuts of meat, Madelaine said she hopes to explore that more if the family’s planned on-farm abattoir gets off the ground.
After completing the Young Food Innovators course Madelaine is now working on her project, which unfortunately is on-hold until the abattoir is built.
Once the abattoir is running, Madelaine will be responsible for the value adding cuts lines.
She said a focus on not only increasing the values of different cuts of beef, but on educating consumers, was needed for the future of the industry.
“I think there’s a lot of people coming into it with good ideas, and it’s not just in my generation, it is all through it,” she said.
“But at the same time there’s so much old ‘stuck in our ways’ habit stuff as well, and I really want to see the beef industry embrace and grow.
“I want to do this information network to go behind it to really understand the beef carcase, what you’re eating, and where it comes from on the animal.
“Also how to cook it, what to do with it.
“There’s so many people in the city who cook steak, mince, and sausages because they don’t know how to cook anything else.
“There’s so much you can do with beef that is still pretty simple, and everyone seems to have forgotten that.”
Madelaine said she had the “most amazing” upbringing with parents Josie and Blair, and her siblings, twin sister Lauren, and brothers John and David.
After finishing school in 2013, Madelaine went on to complete a Bachelor of Business before returning home to work in 2015.
Madelaine’s job at home varies from everything from paddock work, to office work, and helping the Brisbane office when she’s needed.
“I’m a jack of all trades, but master of none yet,” she said.
Madelaine said the ever-changing job description was a great challenge.
“I really like marketing and telling our story and interacting with consumers,” she said.
“But I like being out in the paddock just as much.”