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The SA Livestock Advisor Update is intended for all professionals working within the livestock industry, including consultants, veterinarians, extension officers, agronomists, researchers, and other industry service providers. This event offers valuable insights and networking opportunities tailored to the needs of a wide range of livestock industry experts.

SA Livestock Advisor Update Program

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Mastering the Mic with Nathan Scott

There is a myth that some people are just naturally better at public speaking. It's not natural, it's learned. It comes from an understanding of how to connect with an audience, frame a message, and make your presentation memorable.

This masterclass will help to equip you with the tools required to manage your nerves, build great presentations, and better understand how to connect with your audience. This high paced session will cover everything from body language to effective use of powerpoint. Even if you have been presenting for years, there is something here for everyone.

Growing Al in your business with Ben Finkel, CEO of Australian Regional Al Network

Discover how artificial intelligence can be a practical tool for your business in this interactive masterclass with Ben Finkel. Ben will unpack what AI really is, how it can be used within your business, and ways you can start integrating it into your daily work to improve efficiency, decision-making and communication.

Stronger together: Building collective resilience in our profession with Kathryn McEwen

In our roles as livestock advisers we are increasingly exposed to accidental trauma. When combined with other daily pressures, this can impact on us emotionally and physically. This session explores practical strategies to enable you to best identify and positively manage the impact – both personally and within your teams and communities.

Merino Lifetime Productivity (MLP) Project Update with Ben Swain

Ben will present a background to the Merino Lifetime Productivity (MLP) Project and share some insights into the outcomes to date as the analysis continues.

SA Drought Hub Dinner with Jessica Stenson (née Trengove)

Join us for an evening with Jessica Stenson. Olympian, physiotherapist and mum as she shares her reflections on preparation, teamwork and finding balance in a busy life. Jessica will explore how success, whether on the track or in our professional lives, relies on the support of a strong team, good planning and perspective. She will reflect on the lessons learned through elite sport, offering relatable insights into motivation, wellbeing, and maintaining perspective when the pressure’s on. An inspiring and down-to-earth session to round out the 2025 SA Livestock Advisor Update.

About our Speakers

Nathan Scott

Consultant, Achieve Ag Solutions
Nathan has a background in prime lamb production, and a passion for improving the productivity and profitability of livestock enterprises. He works with producers to increase conception rates, improve lamb survival, lift growth rates, and hone overall management.
Nathan is the leading Australian provider of advice in the practical use of electronic identification within stud and commercial sheep and cattle enterprises.
He is also a renowned keynote speaker within the industry with a love of captivating, motivating and inspiring audiences of all types. His presentations contain a unique blend of science, humour and inspiration to challenge traditional thinking.
Nathan provides advice to individual clients, works with a number of producer groups, is a keynote speaker and is involved within various industry projects. He is based in Inverleigh, Victoria.

Kathryn McEwen

Global Lead - Working With Resilience, Co-Founder Perspective, Organisational Psychologist & Executive Coach.

Kathryn leads Working With Resilience, a global consortium of practitioners and researchers who use her work to create resilient workplaces. She has written three books on personal and team resilience and has developed the Resilience at Work Toolkit, a set of evidence-based assessments measuring factors that promote workplace resilience.

In parallel to this role, she works as a consulting organisational psychologist, executive coach and mediator. She is a Fellow of the Australian Psychological Society (APS) and Association for Coaching and has more than 35 years expertise spanning all aspects of team and leader development and performance.

Jessica Stenson (née Trengove)

Jessica’s love for sport and the outdoors was instilled at a young age. She grew up in the town of Naracoorte in South Australia’s south east, where she and her family enjoyed many adventures and weekend activities such as family bike rides, camping trips and a holiday to Sydney for the 2000 Olympics. Jess attributes her success in the Marathon to her love for running and the outdoors, her active upbringing, determination, hard work ethic (role-modelled by her family members) and most importantly, her strong support network.
Jess ran her first ever Marathon in Japan in 2012 and achieved a time of just over 2h 31 minutes which qualified her for the London Olympics in August of that year. She has since gone on to represent Australia at the 2013 Moscow World Championships, 2014 Commonwealth Games in Glasgow (bronze), 2016 Rio Olympics, 2017 London World Championships, 2018 Gold Coast Commonwealth Games (bronze) and the 2022 Birmingham Commonwealth Games, where she achieved her dream of winning gold. Most recently she competed in the Paris Olympic Games, placing 13th in the second fastest Australian women’s Marathon time ever at an Olympic Games.
Jess fulfilled her lifelong dream of becoming a Mum in 2019 when she gave birth to her son Billy. In 2023 she welcomed a daughter Ellie into the world. She believes that Motherhood has made her stronger both physically and mentally. It has heightened her passion for running and its many benefits.

Ben Finkel

Ben leads the Australian Regional AI Network (ARAIN), a national initiative helping producers, advisors and agribusinesses explore practical, responsible AI. With a background in strategy and innovation across agriculture, logistics and telcos, he brings a systems lens to technology adoption in regional settings. Ben has worked with leading organisations to co-design AI education and prototyping programs that tackle real-world challenges. He specialises in building capability pathways, from awareness to applied pilots, supporting safe, scalable innovation. Outside work, Ben is a dog whisperer and believer in slow-cooked meals.

Jim Shovelton

Director and Senior Consultant, Meridian Agriculture

Jim is a Director and Senior Advisor at Meridian Agriculture. He has a background in pasture agronomy in the medium - high rainfall zones of eastern Australia. Jim’s based at Euroa in NE Victoria, and holds a Bachelor of Agricultural Science and a Diploma of Business in Project Management.

He developed and managed the Grassland’s Productivity Program/Triple P Program evaluating the potential productivity in 1200 paired paddock comparison in SE Australia over a ten year period. He managed AWI’s Wool 4 Wealth extension program in NSW and was involved in the development of MLA’s 2011 Feedbase Investment Plan. He was the lead author for MLA’s Research and Development Priorities for southern Australian pastures and lucerne.

Ben Swain

Ben Swain is a partner at BCS Agribusiness, a specialist consultancy firm focused on livestock genetic improvement and agricultural investment management. He is a graduate of the School of Wool and Pastoral Science at the University of New South Wales and a member of the Australian Rural Leadership Foundation.
Since 2005, Ben has served as the Executive Officer of the Australian Merino Sire Evaluation Association (AMSEA), overseeing the national Merino sire evaluation program, which operates across eight sites throughout Australia. He also plays a leading role in the AWI-funded Merino Lifetime Productivity Project—the most extensive Merino genetics initiative ever undertaken—as well as in numerous other genetic improvement programs within the sheep industry.
Outside his consultancy and leadership roles, Ben and his wife Mandy, along with their two sons, Charlie and Sam, run a stud and commercial Merino flock and a commercial Shorthorn herd across multiple properties near Gunnedah, NSW.

Sheep Industry Fund Student Bursaries

The Sheep Industry Fund, in partnership with SA Livestock Consultants, is committed to supporting the next generation of livestock professionals by building industry capacity and mentoring university students.

In 2025, we are offering 12 student bursaries to attend the SA Livestock Advisor Update and Networking Dinner. Successful applicants will only pay $50, with the bursary covering the remainder of the registration cost.

This is a great opportunity to gain valuable industry insights, build networks, and develop your career in the livestock sector.

Applications have closed.