Gippsland dairy farmer Trever Henry has been appointed new chair of Genetics Australia,at the organisation’s recent annual general meeting.
Mr. Henry and his wife Tracy run a 500 cow registered Holstein herd at Tinamba, in the Macalister Irrigation District.
He has been a Genetics Australia Board member for the past five and a half years and deputy chairman for the past two years.
Outgoing Chairman Ross Gordon congratulated Mr Henry on his appointment.
“Trevor is a highly respected person on the board and has been a great support to me as chairman,” Mr Gordon said
“He is a progressive thinker and passionate about genetics.
“His herd is Australia’s third highest ranked BPI herd after the August breeding value release so the cooperative could not be in better hands,” he said.
Mr Gordon, chairman for the past five years, will continue on the Board.
Allansford dairy farmer Craig Drake, will replace Mr Henry as deputy chair.
Mr Drake is a former board member of Warrnambool Cheese and Butter and chairman of Western Herd and was elected to the Genetics Australia Board in 2011.
Genetics Australia Chairman Ross Gordon told shareholders the recent board elections saw the appointment of Northern Victorian dairy farmer Rohan Sprunt and Nowra dairy farmer Dan Cochrane.
“We are delighted both Rohan and Dan put their name forward and expressed interest in joining the board,” Mr Gordon said
“Both will bring different thinking to the board and we look forward to their contribution in the future.”
Mr Gordon said Tamworth dairy farmer Wes Brown had resigned after five years on the board and specialist director Jens Karnoe had also decided to stand down after 11 years.
“Wes and Jens made a significant contribution to the Board over many years during a very challenging period and on behalf of shareholders I cannot thank them enough,” he said.
“Both leave the cooperative in a much better position than when they joined and I am sure they will both be keen to see the cooperative continue to grow in the future”.
Yea beef producer Mr Tom Lawson filled a causal Board position in November 2014 and was unsuccessful in obtaining a three year board position.
Mr Gordon said Mr Lawson had given the Board a far greater understanding of the beef industry and made a significant contribution in the past year.
“Tom’s departure will not end our interest in beef genetics and he gave us a greater insight into the opportunities beef can give both in Australia and in a number of export markets, we thank him for his input in the past year and we will continue to invest in growing the beef portion of our business”.
Mr Gordon said he felt the board changes gave Genetics Australia a renewed energy to deliver on its mission of developing world class genetics.
