DELEGATES will get a glimpse of Australia’s lamb industry in 20 years’ time when futurist Paul Higgins takes the stage as the keynote speaker at LambEx 2016 in Albury, NSW.
Mr Higgins, of Emergent Futures, has worked across many facets of the livestock supply chain as a cattle vet, pork farmer, abattoir manager and agribusiness consultant.
During his presentation at LambEx in August, Mr Higgins will explore lamb’s realistic future, bringing together consumer trends, technology trends and producer trends to arrive at a compelling case for what lamb looks like in 20 years’ time.
In exploring the topic, he said there were three key elements.
“Firstly, the high-margin customer of the future – the ones lamb producers want – are going to be more discerning and more demanding,” he said.
“Everyone’s lives are becoming more like that in that they want more information about the different aspects of their lives, which extends to food.”
Secondly, he said the strategic lever to be able to provide that information is in part going to be about data from throughout the supply chain.
“Thirdly, by having a customer focus approach, lamb producers will improve their capacity to run their business while reducing costs at the same time,” he said.
“The capacity to link up with research organisations and other types of farming systems means producers can reduce costs as well as serving their customers better.”
Mr Higgins said the lamb industry was in a good space at the moment, with volumes down and demand high.
LambEx 2016 planning committee chair Rodney Watt said Mr Higgins’ presentation would give a valuable insight into the future for all lamb industry stakeholders.
LambEx 2016 will take place in Albury, NSW, from August 10-12. For more information go to www.lambex.com.au
