BEN Attewell from Australian Country Choice’s Brindley Park Feedlot at Roma has been named the Young Lotfeeder of the Year.
The announcement was made during ALFA’s BeefEx gala dinner in Brisbane last Tuesday.
Mr Attewell has been in the lotfeeding industry for 10 years, starting as a teenager at the Australian Agricultural Company’s Goonoo Feedlot.
“I really got into it by accident,” he said.
“I left school and got a job as a pen rider, then just worked my way up.”
Mr Attewell started with the company in October 2015 and has been Brindley Park Feedlot manager since the start of July. He also previously the manager of the Brisbane Valley feedlot.
Mr Attewell along with the other finalists Fiona McDiarmid, Terence Vale Feedlot, Theodore, and Georgia Birch, Smithfield Cattle Company, Proston, made presentations to BeefEx conference delegates during the afternoon.
His essay was on the true cost of induction shrink, a major issue for the lotfeeding industry.
“Most people have a reasonable idea of induction shrink, but some haven’t worked out the cost to the business,” he said.
Brindley Park has a capacity of 22,000 head and 36 full-time staff.
Mr Attewell said he like the intensity of working in a feedlot, and he works across all areas, including livestock, feeding, maintenance and administration.
“I enjoy managing these intensive operations and managing the people.”
He said he also liked that, as everything can be measured, you can make goals and work towards them.
“I like that if you make a change in the business today, you can see the outcome of that,” he said.
The Young Lotfeeder of the Year competition was sponsored by Performance Feeds.