The Australian Agricultural Company has confirmed its acting chief executive officer, David Harris, will permanently fill the $700,000 a year role as CEO and managing director.
The former chief operating officer has been acting CEO at the big beef business since June 21 following the sudden departure of Hugh Killen after four years at the helm.
Mr Harris has worked at AACo since 2016, becoming COO in 2020.
His focus has been on improving operational aspects across the business, reporting to Mr Killen and the board of directors.
Originally from a farming background in Central West NSW, he has previously worked in executive roles with pastoral and processing business Stanbroke and Smithfield Cattle Company, and ran his own private agricultural consultancy business.
A graduate in rural science from the University of New England, where he specialised in ruminant nutrition and meat science, Mr Harris has had extensive supply chain experience across various aspects of Australian agriculture.
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AACo owns and operates Australia's largest cattle herd, of about 382,000 head running on about 7 million hectares of pastoral and feedlot properties in Queensland and the Northern Territory.
It has Australia's largest Wagyu beef cattle herd.
Chairman, Don McGauchie said Mr Harris had been a leading member of the AACo team since he joined the company.
"The board has been impressed with his performance as acting CEO and, having had the opportunity to review other candidates, formed a unanimous view that he was the best person to lead the company," Mr McGauchie said.
"David has demonstrated his understanding of the importance of optimising and making value chains more efficient and sustainable."
Mr McGauchie said the new managing director was already well experienced in the development and implementation of the company's strategies and business plans, and was focused on achieving improved profitability, efficiency and value creation in new products.
Mr Harris said it was an honour to be taking on the role officially and he looked forward to continuing to work with the team to drive the performance of the business.
His new employment terms commence today (September 27), without any fixed term, but require him to give six months' notice of a resignation.
Mr Harris may be eligible to earn short term incentive bonuses of up to $350,000 a year.
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Andrew Marshall
Andrew Marshall is the group agribusiness writer for ACM's state agricultural weeklies and websites. He is a former editor at The Land and has worked in various Rural Press group roles in Canberra, North Richmond (NSW) and Toowoomba (Qld).
Andrew Marshall is the group agribusiness writer for ACM's state agricultural weeklies and websites. He is a former editor at The Land and has worked in various Rural Press group roles in Canberra, North Richmond (NSW) and Toowoomba (Qld).
