Ben Picton

Senior Macro Strategist, Rabobank

www.rabobank.com.au

Craig Zonca

MC & ABC Radio Broadcaster

www.craigzonca.com

Craig Zonca co-hosts the popular Breakfast program on ABC Radio Brisbane..  He’s one of the most recognised voices on radio in Queensland after 20 years working with the ABC, including presenting the Queensland Country Hour. 

Craig has also played weather presenter on ABC TV News and anchors the ABC’s Anzac Day coverage in Brisbane.

 A naturally curious person, Craig lives to tell stories. He’s interviewed thousands of people, including prime ministers and premiers along with the stars of stage, screen, and the sporting field. 

 Craig’s covered political scandals and natural disasters but it’s the spontaneous, unexpected, unscripted and adrenaline pumping moments that fuel his love for live radio.

 He’s a proud dad, with two young children, who loves escaping the city and getting his boots dusty on his in-law’s cattle property in central Queensland. 

 Craig is also a board director of the Red Rose Foundation.

Nigel Pannett

Owner & Managing Director, Compass Agri Australia

www.compassagriaus.au

From growing up on a dairy farm on New Zealand’s South Island, to founding leading Australian agri-business investment firm Compass Agri Australia, Nigel Pannett’s philosophy remains ‘look after the people and the land, and they will look after you’.

As managing director of Compass, Nigel leads a portfolio of award-winning farm investments, including fund structures that hold seven dairy farms, across the water-rich Derwent Valley in Tasmania.

A former rural banker, farmer and agronomist, Nigel uses his extensive agriculture and business experience to build strong and sustainable rural partnerships between Australia’s agri and finance sectors.

Together with a team of in-house specialists and high performing on farm teams, Nigel is committed to delivering strong financial returns for investors and positive environmental and social outcomes for communities.

When Nigel’s not working, he enjoys spending time with his young family and indulging in his love of music by strumming a tune or two on his guitar.

Ticky Fullerton

Chief Executive Officer, Australian British Chamber of Commerce

Ticky Fullerton joined the Chamber as Chief Executive in March 2023 to lead the team as we look forward to the huge opportunity for our partners: the Free Trade Agreement, developments with AUKUS on the defence and security front and the exciting business generation around energy transition.

Ticky is a highly skilled and motivated thought leader with board and governance experience, an extensive network across governments, the top floor of business and the media.

She has a long-standing reputation as a highly credible voice in business. She is a trusted advisor to government, working closely with both Australian and UK government networks.

Most recently, Ticky was Business Editor at Large at The Australian newspaper. She is an award-winning journalist and a household name in Australian business circles with over twenty years at News Corp and the ABC.

She was Business Editor of Sky News in Australia and presented Business Weekend, the channel’s flagship business program for the ABC and was an investigative journalist with Four Corners.

Prior to journalism, Ticky spent ten years with investment bank CS First Boston in Britain and Australia.

She is a past director of the Australian British Chamber of Commerce and of the CRC for Irrigation Futures.

Ticky has a law degree from Oxford where she was also Treasurer of the Oxford Union.

Mick Hewitt

Group Chief Executive Officer & Managing Director, Hewitt

www.hewittfoods.com

Mick serves as the Group CEO of Hewitt, an Australian organic food producer with a commitment to building a sustainable integrated animal protein business. His extensive operational background forms the cornerstone of his career, equipping him with a deep understanding of animal production systems. Mick's involvement spans the entire supply chain, from genetics to large-scale livestock breeding and fattening enterprise management, to processing, marketing, and sales in both domestic and international markets. His experiences have driven his passion for identifying synergistic opportunities within the meat industry and other sectors.

Mick is an experienced leader in deal origination, capital raising, and transaction execution, known for his strong rapport with key stakeholders and his proficiency in implementing robust management systems to drive high performance. Mick has a passion for organisational design and a keen interest in how businesses can deliver meaningful solutions to everyday problems, not least living and consuming sustainably into the future.

Andrew Tout

Head of Agriculture, Centuria Capital Limited

www.centuria.com.au

Andrew is Head of Agriculture, responsible for sourcing and overseeing three unlisted pure-play agriculture funds across Australia, worth more than $0.65billion. His core capabilities extend to portfolio management, acquisition evaluation and transactions, credit and risk structuring, automation and AI decision making, and gate-to-plate supply chain management.

Being a sixth-generational agriculturalist and with more than 27 years industry experience, Andrew’s varied career provides exposure to each stakeholder group throughout the agriculture industry, providing a unique network across the industry.

He joined Centuria in 2020 having previously held senior positions with Westpac, ANZ, Commonwealth Bank, GrainCorp, Elders, Raine & Horne and regional agricultural specialist companies such as Cargill, Tandou and Pentag. His roles have spanned across agronomy, supply chain management and commodity trading to banking and loan management.

He has positioned Centuria with a first mover advantage as an institutional landlord within the protected cropping real estate sector, which has led Centuria to becoming Australia’s biggest large-scale glasshouse/greenhouse landlord with more than 100 hectares of protected cropping.

Tout studied Horticultural Science at the University of Western Sydney, is a licensed Stock and Station Agent, holds a rural valuation certificate and various business and finance accreditations.  More recently, he was appointed Chair of the Protected Cropping Australia.

Troy Setter

Chief Executive Officer, Consolidated Pastoral Company (CPC)

www.pastoral.com

Troy joined Consolidated Pastoral Company (CPC) in 2014 and is a top cattlemen and agribusiness leader who is well-renowned for his achievements across the industry. Troy has held key management positions at the Australian Agricultural Company, Torrens Investments, North Australian Cattle Company, and Killara Feedlot. Troy has worked across the agribusiness industry in production through to processing and marketing for beef, sheep, grains, cotton, land development, and logistics. Outside CPC, Troy currently Chairs the Board of Dolly’s Dream, the Council of Research and Development Corporations, and LiveCorp and is a former Chair of the Australian Beef Industry Foundation.

CPC is a leading Australian-managed, UK-owned Agribusiness with strong ESG values. CPC owns and operates a portfolio of nine station aggregations in Australia. Across more than 3.2m hectares of land, the CPC team can care for more than 300,000 head of cattle and produce a diverse range of crops. With an asset base above AUD$1 billion, CPC supplies a variety of domestic and international customers.

Su McCluskey

Special Representative, Australian Agriculture

Su McCluskey is the Special Representative for Australian Agriculture and a Director of Australian Unity, LiveCorp and Australasian Pork Research Institute.  She was previously a Commissioner for International Agricultural Research and a Commissioner on the National COVID-19 Advisory Board, and a member of the Charities Review and the Small Business Digital Taskforce.  She was also a member of the Independent Review Panel for CPA Australia, the Harper Review of Competition Policy and the NSW Review of the Regulatory Framework. 

Su has been the CEO of the Regional Australia Institute and the Council of Rural Research and Development Corporations and the Executive Director of the Office of Best Practice Regulation. She has held senior positions with the Business Council of Australia, the National Farmers’ Federation and the Australian Taxation Office. She is also a beef cattle farmer at Yass, NSW and was named the Westpac/Australian Financial Review Regional Women of Influence in 2013 and received the Women in Agribusiness award in 2014 for outstanding contribution to policy development.

Brian Healey

Global Co Lead Agribusiness Partner, K&L Gates

www.klgates.com

Brian is the Global Co Lead Agribusiness Partner for the K&L Gates Agribusiness practice and leads the team in Australia. Brian has more than 27 years’ experience dedicated to servicing clients in agribusiness and primary industries across Australia. Focusing on agricultural property, water rights and investment in agribusiness, he has advised on some of Australia’s most prominent rural transactions in all Australian states in areas as diverse as cattle, cotton, dairy, wheat, horticulture, permanent row crops and vineyards amongst others.

His experience includes all forms of agricultural property transactions, rural and irrigation water transactions, and leading teams in mergers and acquisitions. Brian acts for local and international agribusinesses, primary producers and investors across their range of legal needs. His in-bound clients are drawn from the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom, Singapore and China amongst others.

Recognising agriculture and agricultural assets as a distinct investment asset class has allowed Brian to assist investors in agriculture and domestic agribusinesses to match capital with expertise to unlock opportunity for agribusinesses, producers and investors alike.

Steve Jarrott

Portfolio Manager, Diversified Agriculture, Warakirri Asset Management

www.warakirri.com.au

Steve joined Warakirri in 2019 and is one of Australia’s leading Agricultural investment professionals with over a decade of high-quality experience as Portfolio Manager with Westchester, the agriculture investment arm of the US-based TIAA-Nuveen Group, the world’s largest farmland investment manager.

Steve is highly skilled in investment strategy and asset allocation, deal origination and negotiations, valuation and analysis, portfolio management, governance, risk management and ESG programs.  He holds a Bachelor of Agriculture and a Graduate Certificate in Applied Finance and Investment and maintains an active personal interest in agriculture via his family farm in New South Wales.

Colin Rigg

Managing Director, Macquarie Asset Management

www.macquarie.com

Colin heads the Agriculture and Natural Assets operations for Macquarie Asset Management (MAM), overseeing a team of 17 people with a diverse portfolio of livestock and cropping businesses. Colin joined MAM in 2018 to lead the portfolio construction and management of the MAFCA Series.

Prior to his current role, Colin worked within Macquarie Capital advising a broad range of Macquarie clients across real estate, corporate services, building materials, healthcare, and agriculture, and making principal investments on behalf of Macquarie Group.

Colin is a board member of several of MAM’s Agriculture operating businesses, including Viridis Ag, Cubbie Ag, Paraway Pastoral, and Cowal Agriculture.

Colin holds both a Bachelor of Agricultural Science and a Master of Commerce in finance and accounting from the University of Queensland. He is also a member of Chartered Accountants Australia and New Zealand.

Allan Cooney

CEO, the North Australian Pastoral Company

www.napco.com.au

Allan Cooney is the CEO of The North Australian Pastoral Company – one of Australia’s largest and oldest beef companies – and is a seasoned professional in the sheep and beef industry. Allan’s career has also seen him run a station of a different kind and in 2012 lead the team at the Antarctic Station. With a passion for both business and art, Allan brings a unique perspective to his role. His deep understanding of the land and its history, coupled with his appreciation for artistic expression, informs his approach to managing his company and engaging with the community. Allan’s commitment to sustainable farming practices and cultural preservation sets him apart as a visionary leader in both agriculture and the arts.

Bradley Wheaton

Managing Director, Gunn Agri Partners
Director, Cunningham Cattle Co

www.gunnagri.com

Brad is a co-founder and Managing Director of Gunn Agri Partners.

Gunn Agri has as investors and shareholders the Australian Government’s Clean Energy Finance Corporation and CDPQ, a Canadian pension with $434bn in net assets.

The Gunn Agri portfolio spans over 2.6m acres and $800m in AUM including the mixed farming businesses Faulkner Farming & Wilga Farming, the pastoral company Cunningham Cattle Co and the horticulture platform, Wollemi Farms.

Brad’s prior experience has included roles with Macquarie Agricultural Funds Management, Twynam Pastoral, and in the renewable energy industry.

Ben Cameron

Managing Partner, Bentleys Queensland

www.bentleys.com.au

Ben Cameron is the Managing Partner of Bentleys Queensland.  Over his 30+ years with Bentleys, Ben has been a driving force behind the firms’ growth in both the rural advisory space and in the Queensland business market generally.

Ben is a respected, connected industry expert.  As a trusted advisor and business confidant, he works with highly successful ASX listed entities, businesses and family groups across multiple sectors, including farming operations (operating in the beef (including feed lotting), grain, horticulture, cotton and other primary production industries), family business, corporate organisations, property companies, the finance sector, manufacturers and professional services.

Ben heads up the firm’s team of specialist agribusiness advisors who work with a mix of agribusiness clients, financiers, corporate and family-owned industry participants and other rural industry operators – such as stock agents and sales yard operators. Ben is a thought leader in business advisory and solutions for the rural industry. His expertise is directly related to his unique industry experience, which includes his role as lead advisor to assist multiple clients in the beef cattle industry to complete sale transactions, acquisitions and joint venture deals. Ben has managed all facets of multi-million dollar transactions from planning through to execution.

Pete Lewis

Director of Brisbane-based consultancy Way With Words

Pete Lewis is the director of Brisbane-based consultancy Way With Words after a 40 year career in print and broadcast journalism.

Pete is a former National Rural and Regional Reporter for ABC News and Current Affairs, an ABC Foreign Correspondent and Executive Producer of ABC-TV’s award-winning national rural affairs programme Landline. 

He is a former delegate to the International Federation of Agricultural Journalists (IFAJ), Immediate Past President of the Australian Council of Agricultural Journalists (ACAJ) and Life Member of the Rural Press Club of Queensland. 

Adam Townley

CEO & Founder, Australian Integrated Carbon

www.aicarbon.com

Adam Townley is a Chartered Accountant with over 25 years’ experience in financial markets, including setting up one of the first carbon funds in London in 2003. He specialises in commercialisation and corporate strategy, bringing to market innovative technologies in waste to energy, fintech, agtech and telematics. Adam has been a Director and the CEO of Australian Integrated Carbon for five years, managing the company’s Financial Services Licence and overseeing numerous carbon projects in agricultural zones across Australia.

Melanie Madders

Director, Natural Capital, Clean Energy Finance Corporation

www.cefc.com.au

Melanie Madders is a Director in the Investment Team at the Clean Energy Finance Corporation. Melanie focuses on investments in natural capital markets including agriculture, forestry and broader nature-based solutions and is passionate about addressing decarbonisation through this asset class. Melanie has over 15 years of investment experience including project finance for major infrastructure projects in the UK and Australia. Melanie has a Bachelor of Business (Banking and Finance) from QUT.