Cattleman John Ayers retires

S Kidman and Co chairman John Crosby, left, with outgoing chairman John Ayers in front of a portrait of Kidman. Picture: Brenton Edwards Source: The Advertiser

Mr Ayer's retirement ends an era in which he has been chairman of the company owned by descendants of the cattle king, Sir Sidney Kidman, for 29 years and a director for 10 years before that.

At a meeting attended by about 30 family shareholder descendents, Mr Ayers, the great grandson of the cattle king, outlined a bright outlook for the next year or two due to wonderful seasonal conditions across its outback properties.

Mr Ayers said the majority of the family would love to see the company still around in another 100 years.

"It is a very difficult industry, but we probably run the company as well as any pastoral company in Australia," he said.

"We're well respected and the beauty of Kidman is people want to work here and the family treats people like equals."

Kidman is one of Australia's largest beef producers with a herd of 190,000 cattle at June 30 running on pastoral leases covering 110,000 square kilometres in three states and the Northern Territory.

Mr Ayers is only the fourth chairman in the company's history following Sir Sidney Kidman, his son Walter Kidman and John Ayers senior.

He started work as a junior bookkeeper with the company 47 years ago and then worked on its cattle stations for about five years before returning to Adelaide.

The new chairman and first independent chairman is John Crosby, a board member for five years, and managing director of Brencorp Properties Pty Ltd with an extensive background in corporate banking.

Mr Ayers said significant changes in the business had included the movement of its herd north in the past 20 years and a focus on breeding quality cattle including the development of a trial composite breed, the Coolibah.

Managing director Greg Campbell said the 2009 calendar year had been a tough year seasonally with some of the worst dust storms ever recorded, but 2010 had been a fantastic year with the company buying steers to restock its stations.

Mr Campbell said he was looking forward to better results in the years ahead with a very wet summer expected in the outback due to the La Nina outlook and rain at Longreach a week ago causing a rise in the Cooper Creek.

"The only risk on the horizon is our dollar which has pretty well crippled Australian beef exports into the United States, but other markets such as Russia, China and the Middle East, are emerging as significant markets for Australian boxed beef."