Less than 100 days to go
THERE will be plenty of new faces at the Norco Primex 2019 primary industries expo, however one exhibitor will be very familiar.
Little Valley Braford Stud has been exhibiting at the Northern Rivers, NSW, event since 1986 – a year after it started.
Stud owner, Doug Bennett, and his son Cameron, were part of a Norco Primex 100-day launch at the primary industries expo’s Casino site recently.
“We were the first cattle display at Primex,” said Doug Bennett, with more than a hint of pride.
“We have been here (at Primex) ever since.
“We have found that Primex is a great way of profiling what we do.”
Doug’s parents, Wally and Joy Bennett, bought the property, at Stratheden, just north of Casino, in 1955.
They launched the braford stud in 1969.
“This year we are celebrating 50 years of braford breeding,” Doug said.
“Cameron is part of the business – the third generation – and he has three boys. So the future is looking pretty good.”
Primex director Bruce Wright said the main message from the launch was that Primex will be on a month earlier this year – May 16–18.
“With less than 100 days to go we want people from the local towns and our nearby neighbours from the Gold Coast, Darling Downs and New England to start planning their trip to Norco Primex.”
With so much to see and do at the event, Primex has organised a couple of user-friendly online tools to make sure visitors get the maximum impact out of their trip to Primex.
The Primex App, the Primex Planner and the event’s social media links are available at www.primex.net.au.
The Primex 100-day launch also coincided with Mr Wright announcing that the expo had joined forces with media giant NewsCorp as the event’s official media partner.
He said NewsCorp, through its local and Australian mastheads and online sites, was able to take the Primex message further and more comprehensively than ever before.
The Rural Weekly will be the official publisher of the Norco Primex program.
This program is the key guide for anyone coming to Primex and includes vital information, such a list of all exhibitors, program of events, site map and great stories.
Exhibitors will be given the opportunity to advertise in this official program.
One of the highlights of the launch was a performance by rising country and western talent, and Casino local Katie Brooke.
Katie will be appearing at Primex alongside acclaimed Australian entertainer James Blundell.
A major lead-up event to Primex, the Primex MSA Performance Feedback Trials for commercial beef producers are off and running.
The trials are compliant with Woolworths’ MSA grain-fed program, providing producers the unique opportunity to benchmark the performance of their animals.
The competition aims to reflect as closely as possible the real-life situation of cattle entering the grain-fed, MSAgraded, domestic supply chain and reward those animals that not only meet requirements for carcass quality but are also profitable at each stage.
The competition will provide detailed feedback on individual and group animal performance to producers about feedlot performance, compliance of beef carcases to market specifications, lean meat yield and eating quality of those carcases.
Winners will be announced at the Red Meat Gala Awards Dinner at Primex on May 17.