Jim Cudmore: Feedlot Manager Who Led the Beef Sustainability Process

Who is Jim Cudmore?

Jim Cudmore is an Australian feedlot manager best known for two things: running Kerwee Lot Feeders at Jondaryan on Queensland's Darling Downs, and leading the industry process that produced the Beef Sustainability Framework. A Farm Online report on his life membership says he was named the tenth life member of the Australian Lot Feeders' Association, at its BeefEx conference in Brisbane, in an organization about 30 years old.

From feedlot supervisor to general manager

He began his feedlot career as a livestock supervisor at Killara Feedlot near Quirindi, New South Wales. His other work, according to the report, includes time at Cannon Hill Saleyards in Brisbane, a period as a CSIRO microbiologist and a stint in forensics for the Queensland Police Service.

That mix of saleyard, laboratory and feedlot experience helps explain why industry bodies later trusted him with technical, contested topics. He became general manager of Kerwee Lot Feeders at Jondaryan.

The ALFA council and the sustainability process

Cudmore joined the ALFA council in 2009. ALFA's own About page calls it the peak national body for the cattle feedlot industry, founded in 1970, with members representing more than 90 percent of cattle on feed.

In 2014 the Red Meat Advisory Council chose Cudmore to lead the Beef Sustainability Process during a standstill over the sustainability debate. He led the review of how the industry should present its sustainability credentials, and that work led to the Beef Sustainability Framework. Former ALFA president Tess Herbert called it the most successful beef sustainability framework globally.

What life membership means

Life membership is rare. Rob Backus was recorded as ALFA's eighth life member in Beef Central's story on his award, and Cudmore as the tenth, which shows how few people have received the honor. The Farm Online report gives no year for Cudmore's award.

Both records show a similar route to the honor: years of council or board service plus a project the industry remembers. For Backus that was building feedlots such as Myola, and for Cudmore it was the sustainability work, which is why the 2014 appointment sits at the center of his profile.

Why the sustainability framework matters to feeders

Feedlots are often at the center of public arguments over land, water and emissions, and a sector that cannot report its own performance leaves the field to critics. The framework gave the industry a way to measure and publish progress. The sources reviewed describe the framework as a success but give no figures on its results, so this profile does not either.

More on how finishing systems fit into beef production is in the farm.FM ranching section. A related story is a farm.FM story about feedlot sustainability.