Professor Derek Bailey from New Mexico State University has spent a week discovering the depth of livestock research being performed at PARG. Derek is a world renowned researcher in the field of rangeland cattle monitoring earning a reputation as the best in the businesss. Derek has used visual observation, gps tracking and more recently genomics to discern variation in cattle grazing behaviour.
Derek travelled to Australia, with the help of a MLA grant, to speak at the 2nd annual Spatially Enabled Livestock Management (SELM) Symposium held within the 2011 Society for Engineering in Agriculture biennial conference held on the Gold Coast (28th – 30th September). The SELM symposium, organised by Mark Trotter (PARG UNE) and Luciano Gonzalez (CSIRO Townsville), was a great success drawing a crowd of over 60 people. Derek Bailey stole the show closely followed by Greg Falzon (UNE C4D PARG) who delivered a captivating presentation on the statistics that will take the SELM world by storm into the future.
As part of Derek’s stay he was introduced to Jess Roberts and was impressed by her current tracking trial, running on UNE Rural Properties “Clarks Farm”. He also visited Matthew Monk, general manager at Sundown Pastoral Company, and received a stimulating tour of “Sundown Valley” a CRCSI partner property. Derek continues his Australia visit now with a week at CSIRO in Townsville before heading home.
Derek Bailey after presenting a ERS seminar and being presented with an Australian Akubra in appreciation