OFFICIAL CITATION – by Eugeni Roura
The awardee of the 2025 Australian Poultry Award is an extraordinary and highly respected member of the Australian Poultry Science community with a career as a poultry nutritionist spanning over 40 years. His passion for agriculture began during his primary school years an continues today.
Greg Hargreave spends his early summer vacations on farms in the bush which led him to enrol in the Bachelor of Science in Agriculture program at The University of Sydney (1970). He felt inspired by the rapid developments and challenges in agriculture that he witnessed (e.g., expansion of KFC in Australia, global famine warnings -Ehrlich’s book The Population Bomb), but also through figures such as Prof. Terry Robinson and John Foulds.
Greg began his commercial career as a nutritionist working under Dr. Stuart Pell at Australasian Feed Services in Adelaide. This firm operated alongside feed mills and livestock businesses during the shift from small-scale farming to intensive agriculture. He worked with a wide range of intensive animal enterprises throughout Australia and Papua New Guinea (e.g., broilers, layers, beef feedlots, dairy, pork, and zoo animals). In 1980, Greg was transferred to Western Australia, where he became Technical Manager at Milne Feeds, with responsibilities for nutrition and premix production. He gained hands-on experience in pelleted and extruded feed technology including pet food manufacturing. Later, at Wesfeeds, he became more involved in broiler and egg production, where he pioneered the use of liquid methionine analogue in Australia, and developed a lupin de-hulling pilot plant that was adopted for commercial use. In the 1990s, Greg joined Bartter Enterprises (Australia’s largest egg producer at the time) as Feed and Nutrition Manager, as the company expanded into broiler production. Later, he joined Baiada Poultry, a well-established but smaller player which grew into Australia’s largest chicken meat producer thanks, in part, to Greg’s technical expertise. His ability to collaborate effectively with suppliers, veterinarians, researchers, and livestock managers was instrumental.
He has always been passionate about applying research and innovations into real-world practice. He played a key role in adopting NIRS technology which enabled the Australian industry to maximize the nutritional benefits of local and imported ingredients. He also pioneered the use of Australian canola seed in poultry diets, reducing reliance on imported soymeal while improving bird performance. He has always volunteered his expertise in collaborations with universities and research institutions in Australia, including the University of Western Australia (UWA), the University of Sydney (USYD), and the University of New England (UNE).
Greg has also made significant contributions to industry leadership and governance, serving as Secretary for the WPSA WA sub-branch for many years, organizing events to benefit the local poultry industry. In addition, he was a member of the Australian Egg Industry’s EIRDC and the RIRDC Chicken Meat Research Committee, as well as the Poultry Husbandry Research Foundation and the Australian Poultry Science Symposium organizing committee. His efforts were instrumental in securing Baiada’s support for the successful bid to establish the Chicken Meat CRC.
Internationally, Greg has built strong and long-lasting networks, transferring knowledge to developing nations in Southeast Asia by participating in mentoring programs, speaker presentations, and research funding panels. He continues to share his expertise, giving back to the industry for a lifelong and fulfilling career.
The Australian Branch of the WPSA would like to honour tonight an individual who has hold key leadership roles in major companies and has made pioneering contributions to poultry nutrition, introducing game-changing innovations and fostering research in industry and academia-industry collaborations, and mentoring young professionals having a lasting impact both in Australia and internationally. On behalf of the WPSA Australia Branch I feel honoured in offering the 2025 Australian Poultry Award to Greg Hargreave.
