Ray Vella

Nuffield Australia 2012 scholarship winner

Ray Vella, from Marlborough in Queensland, receives the 2012 Nuffield Scholarship sponsored by Meat and Livestock Australia. Ray would like to study beef genetics and pasture management.

Ray is manager of one of his family's properties which is 18,000 acres, where they breed and fatten approximately 3000 Brahman cross cattle. Ray and his wife have also established their own Brahman stud to start breeding bulls to be used back into their cattle herd to increase quality.

He would like to investigate which breeds of cattle best maintain the quality of beef in harsh environments.

Ray says he hopes to find answers by visiting successful cattle grazing/ breeding operations, saying "I would like to tour properties being run productively and efficiently and to implement their concepts back into Australian farming enterprises, with enough flexibility to suit every individual grazing capacity."

In particular Ray would like to investigate ways of improving industry understanding of stud herds, better decision‐making support for graziers and smarter pasture management.

He hopes to visit Mexico, New Zealand, South Africa, Europe, the USA and Brazil.

"Bald Hills",
MARLBOROUGH, QLD 4705
(07) 4935 6046
rlvella@bigpond.com