Lucinda Hogan elected to MLA board of directors as Christmas ad campaign launched

A newcomer has been elected to Meat and Livestock Australia’s board of directors as the company prepares to launch a one-off advertising campaign to boost beef and lamb sales this Christmas.

NSW cattle and lamb breeder Lucinda Hogan took on the role at MLA’s annual general meeting in Bendigo on November 23, after receiving 91.5 per cent of the vote.

She replaced South Australian sheep producer Andrew Michael, who did not stand for re-election.

Queensland beef producer Russell Lethbridge, who has sat on the board since 2019, was re-elected with nearly 95 per cent of the vote.

MLA’s constitution requires one-third of the board to retire at each AGM, which meant no other positions were up for election.

An MLA spokesman said Mrs Hogan had “devoted her entire career” to agriculture — as a livestock and grain producer, research and development manager, and deliverer of skills and training to farmers nationwide.

“She and her husband previously owned and managed a large-scale sheep and irrigated grain production business in western NSW, and currently breed prime lamb and trade beef on the Northern Tablelands,” the spokesman said.

“Mrs Hogan has worked in a range of research organisations including CSIRO, Victorian Department of Agriculture, Australian Wool Innovation, Sheep Cooperative Research Centre and the University of New England.”

The latter role required Mrs Hogan to manage large research and development projects, and design and deliver national training and extension programs related to sheep production and climate resilience.

She is currently associate director of climate resilience initiatives at UNE, where she manages various programs paid for by the Federal Government’s Future Drought Fund.

Speaking at the AGM, MLA managing director Jason Strong also revealed details of a pre-Christmas ad campaign set to be launched this week “in response to current market conditions”.

“MLA is launching an exciting beef and lamb ad designed to drive domestic Australian consumption, and lean into the momentum of the increased supply, and some of the price adjustments we’ve seen at retail in the run-up to Christmas,” Mr Strong said.

“This ad campaign will have a bit of fun and humour to it, to encourage shoppers to purchase more beef and lamb before Christmas.”

After three years of a herd and flock rebuild, Mr Strong said the threat of drier conditions had seen restocker demand ease during much of this year.

The resulting increase of livestock on the market was “putting real downward pressure on prices”, he said.

MLA Chair Alan Beckett said the number of finished animals was “considerably higher” now than had been the case for “several years”.

“As we head towards 2024, the supply of goats, sheep, lambs, and cattle are all increasing as the national rebuild stabilises,” he said.

“This will translate into record volumes of Australian goat and lamb meat being slaughtered.”

Mr Beckett said El Nino had made conditions “more challenging” but the industry was well-positioned to take advantage of global demand for protein.