Cattle health and business success: A behind the scenes look at ACV/VBG Conference

 

As preparations continue for Australian Cattle Veterinarians/Veterinary Business Group (ACV/VBG) Conference, ACV President Stacey Rae, ACV executive committee member Dr Brendan Brieffies and conference convenor and VBG Advisory Board member Dr Michael Ferguson have shared how preparations are shaping up. They also discussed what they’re most looking forward to ahead of the event, happening in Newcastle from 24-26 March.

Conference Convenor and VBG Advisory Board member Dr Michael Ferguson has been integral in planning the scientific program. Having served on the committee for 3 years and running a veterinary practice himself, he recognises the unique business needs of veterinary professionals.

In 2025, the VBG is taking their message out to the broader profession, joining forces with the ACV to present "Sustainable Practices, Sustainable Business: Learning for the Future”.

“The cattle vets are renowned for having very popular conferences, and we believe the VBG’s core messages and topics will really resonate with them,” Dr Ferguson said.

^{ACV Conference 2024, Taking it the next level Gala event}

The event has been carefully curated, and addresses the full spectrum of challenges cattle veterinarians face, from optimising animal health outcomes to running successful, sustainable practices.

“There's a lot of challenges that cattle vets in regional areas will be facing, which our speakers will try to address; from attracting new graduates, retaining those employees, and keeping them engaged. They’ll answer questions like much should you pay them? How do you value their time? How do you keep them motivated? How do you promote their leadership skills, their personal skills, communication skills? We believe we can bring a lot of benefit to those practices and those practitioners.”

^{Laura Mason, Claire Rolston and Matilda Lovegrove}

The event will open with the State of the Market Panel featuring Drs Moss Siddle and Paolo Lencioni, from APL Accountants, Chris Richards, Managing Director of Apiam Animal Health and Bank of Queensland Chief Economist Peter Munckton. The American Veterinary Medical Association chief economist Katelyn McCullock will also be dialling in from the United States to provide a update of the U.S veterinary economic situation and trends.

“Paolo has the best up to date data on what all the Australian vets are doing from a financial point of view. That will set the scene, provide the big picture of the conference.

Chris will also deliver a talk on ‘Valuing your time, your employee and fee setting’.

“That's really relevant for cattle vets, because they will spend a lot of time in the car,” Dr Ferguson commented.

“If a client wants you to drive 5 hours to his property to do 2 hours work, that's a 12-hour day. Can you ask your employee to do a 12-hour day and then be on call and work the next day? There will be practical discussions around topics like that.”

^{Panelists taking part in the Animal Welfare in Transit panel}

Another highlight for attendees will be Jason Chuck’s session on ‘Wage setting and remuneration for Veterinary staff”. Dr Ferguson says if cattle vets take the opportunity to attend this talk, they will be left “transfixed.”

“Jason has a program that he developed for his practice and it's incredibly relevant and beneficial for the cattle vets to see this.

“Jason works in a large multi-site practice in North Queensland, servicing a massive geographic area, doing a lot of large animal work. They have nearly 100 staff on their books, about 30 vets, and they had to create a very good, transparent system of remuneration for their vets. Jason has presented it at our vet Business Conference, and we thought ‘this is gold’.

The VBG Practice Insights tour on the Thursday,  and VBG Hub session are also highlights and ensure the participants get a massive amount of take home practical tips they can apply in their practices from day 1.

^{Lachlan Strohfeldt, James Doumtsis, Matt Boon and David McKenzie}

For ACV President Dr Stacey Rae and ACV executive committee member Dr Brendan Brieffies, they’re both locked in to attend the workshop, ‘Beef Value Add and Pregnancy Testing and Reproductive Investigation’.

“It’s an event you’re not going to want to miss, Dr Rae commented.

“We’re starting out with a full day of workshops followed by 2 days of the scientific program. What I’m most excited about is the reproduction disease workshop 101 with Lee Taylor on the Monday, as well as learning about new diagnostic tools, and I can’t wait to meet our keynote speaker Dr Craig Challen, who is an OAM recipient.”

Brendan took to the ACV Facebook Page [link] to share his excitement ahead of the event.

 “I’m most looking forward to going to the value-add preg test and reproductive investigation workshop on Monday the 24th, but we’ve got 2 days after that with scientific sessions and special events,” he said.

“The gala ball is not to be missed, it’s always a good opportunity to catch up with mates and fellow colleagues around the bar, so make sure you get along.”

The ACV/VBG conference is shaping up to be an essential event for cattle veterinarians. With over 150 veterinary professionals expected to attend, it promises to be an invaluable opportunity for learning, networking and gaining practical tools to improve both animal health and business success.

Early bird registration for the ACV/VBG Conference remains open until 2 March 2025. Purchase your ticket for this premier event, now!