FutureBeef podcast, episode 12: Doug Cross is securing a supply chain sustainably
There’s a few remarkable people in the world that can see a business opportunity and not only make it a reality, but continue to grow it in a sustainable and imaginative way.
There’s fewer again that can take other people on the journey with them and allow subsequent businesses to develop and improve.
Cross Meats is a boutique butcher shop in Atherton on the Tablelands west of Cairns in the Queensland’s Far North. It’s the brain child of Doug Cross and is one of those shops that make you salivate as soon as you enter the doors. It specialises in high quality locally produced meat that has been more difficult to source than Doug first imagined, which is why he’s working closely with producers and industry experts to encourage better land management systems from his suppliers.
In this conversation we’ll not only hear from Doug, but another local tablelands grazier and Cross Meats supplier, Cam Whiting, and Bernie English — an esteemed pasture specialist with the Queensland DPI.
Futurebeef is a collaborative project for the northern Australia beef industry and partners include the Queensland Department of Primary Industries, the Northern Territory Department of Agriculture and Fisheries, the Department of Primary Industries and Regional Development Western Australia and Meat & Livestock Australia.
The boys mentioned working with the Malanda Beef Plan group in the Atherton Tablelands and through a subgroup have successfully applied for peer-to-peer funding to support the adoption of legumes, creating the Tablelands Improved Pasture Peer Learning Environment (TIPPLE). The TIPPLE project is proudly funded by the Integrated Engagement and Capacity Building project under the Queensland Government’s Queensland Reef Water Quality Program and is supported by the Mareeba Department of Primary Industries pastures team and project.
Other episodes
Episode 10: Sowing the (good) seed on the Atherton Tablelands
Episode 9: Putting a Price on P deficiency
Episode 8: Prioritising pasture performance
Episode 7: How to make your stock thrive in the dry season
Episode 6: Got weaners in the yard? What’s next?
Episode 5: Want to supplement with molasses? Here’s how
Episode 4: How to manage pasture dieback
Episode 3: Making your pasture make you money