Beef Australia has signed a Memorandum of Understanding with Canadian Western Agribition (CWA), strengthening the relationship between the two industry-leading events.

Beef Australia Chief Executive Officer, Simon Irwin, was joined by CWA Chief Executive Officer, Shaun Kindopp, in the LAWD International Lounge at Beef2024 to mark the commencement of the formal agreement.

Irwin said the cooperative working relationship would foster business opportunities, both domestically and internationally, for cattle producers around the world.

“Beef Australia has a proud heritage as the pre-eminent livestock exposition in the Southern Hemisphere, dating back to 1988, and we are pleased to work with the team behind Canada’s premier beef event, which also has a long and successful history,” Irwin said.

“Beef2021 attracted more than 115,000 people, generated $94 million for the Rockhampton region and injected another $55.5 million into the Queensland economy.

“Beef2024 is building on this momentum, and much like beef producers themselves, we aim to continuously improve our product by drawing on domestic and international relationships.

“We see the MOU with Canadian Western Agribition as an opportunity to encourage more international trade and exchange best practices among a small fraternity of international cattle shows.”

In addition to knowledge sharing, the agreement will see the two parties assist each other in the marketing and promotion of their respective events.

Attending Beef2024, Kindopp, said collaboration was central to the success of agricultural exhibitions across the globe.

“There’s a lot of beef shows around the world with a lot of similarities, and we want to collaborate,” Kindopp said.

“Beef Australia does a great job and I think we do a great job, so if there are things we can help bring to Beef to help make it even better and there are things Beef can bring to us to help make us better that’s great. We feel like if you’re not collaborating you are going to be left behind.

“The whole Beef Australia group has been fantastic, and we are proud to be here. International is a huge part of what we do, and we love having international people come to Agribition – so it’s important for us to be down here as well.”