“Optimising yield, growth, and use of the ‘5th quarter’ for Australian agricultural food access and market security”

Professor Jane Quinn FRSN
Professor in Veterinary Physiology
Gulbali Institute
Charles Sturt University

Date: Wednesday, 5 November 2025, 7.40–8.40 pm AEDT
Venue: CSU Riverina Playhouse, Wagga Wagga and live streaming
Registration: via Humanitix
Entry: No charge
All are welcome

This meeting is a joint presentation of Charles Sturt University and the Western NSW Branch of the Royal Society of NSW

Please click here to register

Summary: Agricultural innovation and ‘ag tech’ are now words in common parlance in government, industry and academia. Whilst frequently spoken, how are advances in technologies, including machine learning and AI, feed additives for livestock, and other recent or rediscovered innovations, helping to drive increased profitability, market access, consumer confidence and food security for Australian industries?

In this talk, Professor Quinn will investigate current assumptions about agricultural innovation, review work undertaken on valorisation and quality assurance of the ‘5th quarter’, interrogate how data is driving decisions and agricultural goals for success, and consider how innovation across the broader agricultural sector is helping secure our food future for the 21st century and beyond. This talk will cover work undertaken at Charles Sturt University and its collaborative partnerships, as well as considering the broader context of the agricultural sector as a key pillar of the Australian economy.

With more than three and a half decades in academic research, the career of Jane Quinn has spanned toxins to trade access, genetics to Average Daily Gain, and impacts of disease, management and performance in multiple species and systems, including rodents, chickens, kangaroos, horses, sheep and cattle. Jane’s work has focused on improving animal and human outcomes, whether that be through improved farming practices, the use of animals to understand human health conditions or optimising health and welfare for livestock production. She has investigated pasture species with toxic profiles and their impacts on livestock health and performance, the use of feed additives in multiple species using in-vitro and in-vivo approaches, the optimisation of health and performance in intensive beef systems as well as the impacts of production systems on meat quality outcomes and consumer acceptance.  With a portfolio of work that spans the academic-industry continuum, her current work investigates the scaling and use of the systemic byproducts of animal production to increase yield and economic value, drive quality assurance processes, minimise disease through early intervention, and meet industry and consumer demands for high-quality, ethically produced agricultural products in Australia and worldwide.

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