OUR TEAM
JOHN BETHEL
Director of Government and Business Relationships
GRAZIER & COMMUNITY LEADER
John is a life-long resident of the Queensland Gulf country and has been on the land all his life. John established Huonfels Brahaman stud in 1986 and in 1989 he introduced artificial insemination to the Gulf County and two years later ran the first embryo transfer programs in the Gulf. John has always had a keen interest in genetics and the Huonfels genetics have had an impact on the red brahman breed in particular through the bull Huonfels Jacob Rio who is recognised worldwide.
John is passionate about land management and used rotational grazing, seasonal spelling and pasture improvement extensively across Huonfels to great effect. John was also instrumental in introducing GIS technology into property management in the Gulf in the early 2000’s and that program was rolled out through Norther Gulf NRM group to great effect. This GIS unit was recognised as the best example of GIS capacity outside of government at that time. That program was the forerunner of what is now Farm Map 4D.
The spatial initiatives run by NGRMG during John’s tenure as chair, which he was instrumental in driving, combined with their partnership with the DPI beef team, developed a suite of products that were well accepted by landholders across the region and were a game changer in land management across the Gulf Country. The uptake by landholders was very high by industry standards, more than 60% which is almost unheard of in the industry. This was because it offered a number of critical improvements in property management;
- The ability to accurately measure paddock size
- The ability to plan new infrastructure like fences and water points on a computer screen and adjust planned paddock size and water placement to match stocking requirements and evenly distribute grazing pressure
- The tools to accurately map and develop soil types and vegetation overlays
- The tools to calculate grass yield per soil type and then do accurate end of growing season pasture budgets for each paddock to determine accurate stocking rates to match available feed and manage end of year ground cover
- Guess work became a thing of the past
John is renowned for his willingness and ability to advocate for his community at a state and federal level over three decades and is now heavily involved in driving a charitable foundation focussed solely on rural disadvantage, particularly rural men’s mental health which has been in crisis for quite some time. As chairman and co-founder of Australian Horizons Foundation, he and his small dedicated team of committed like minded people are now raising some serious coin to put towards these causes.
BUSINESS EXPERIENCE
- Until 2018 – Owner and manager of “Huonfels” 90,000-acre cattle station north-west of Georgetown, QLD.
- 2020 – Co-founder, AHF Centre for Rural Advancement business unit.
COMMUNITY LEADERSHIP ROLES
- 2000—2015 – Founder and Chairman of Northern Gulf Resource Management Group Inc
- 2016—now Co-founder, Inaugural chair of Australian Horizons Foundation
- 1995—1998 – Board Member, Queensland Beef Industry Institute
- Served on a number of industry advisory & assessment panels
- Completed governance training through Enterprise Care
AUSTRALIAN FOUNDED, FOR AUSTRALIA.
Our Team
DELIVERING RESULTS
SCOPE OF WORK
Fundraised by the Australian Horizons Foundation throughout their efforts. This includes revenue from Gulf Gold
Of Australia’s population live in rural or remote areas – that’s approximately 7 million people that Gulf Gold helps financially.
Charities are beneficiaries of Gulf Gold profits.
DELIVERING RESULTS
AUSTRALIAN HORIZONS FOUNDATION
Gulf Gold has partnered with Australian Horizons Foundation, to help the foundation deliver much needed funds and services to rural Australia.