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Bob Shepherd, Director and Secretary, ARS. Email: secretary@austrangesoc.com.au

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2025 included a number of highlights and achievements for the Australian Rangeland Society including:

  • 50th Anniversary of the ARS – was celebrated with a great line up of speakers from charter members to recently joined members. A synopsis of the 50-year history of our society has been compiled by Dr John Taylor; it is a good read.
  • International Rangeland Congress held in Adelaide in September – this was an absolute highlight of 2025; everything about the congress was fantastic – the 5 pre-congress tours (4 of which commenced interstate) and mid-congress tours. At the congress, the posters, papers and keynote addresses, and of course interacting and socialising for 2 weeks (including the pre-congress tours) with around 750 delegates from nearly 50 countries produced a very stimulating and informative week. A heart felt thank you and congratulations goes to the rotating chairs of the Coordinating Committee Dr Andrew Ash, Pieter Conradie, Dr Nicole Spiegel and twenty other committee members including our newest Fellow Dr Don Burnside as financial manager. Everyone involved put in a superhuman effort.  
  • Australian launch of International Year of Rangelands & Pastoralists (IYRP) – Dr Dana Kelly has put in many hours (and I suspect sleepless nights) organising the Australian contribution to the international year. She has travelled widely around Australia, successfully lobbying and promoting the Year and raising funds. Unfortunately, illness prevented Dana from  attending the Australian launch in October in Perth, but our president Pieter Conradie attended at short notice in Dana’s place. 2026 will be a special year and a rare opportunity to raise the awareness and importance of the rangelands to a world-wide audience. Please spread the word by as many means as you can to promote the year. While the ARS’s major IYRP activity in 2026 will be our September conference in Darwin, there will be other IYRP themed activities each month for the year.  
  • New Fellow of the ARS – congratulations to Dr Don Burnside, and a sincere thank you from our Society, Don. You have gone above & beyond for the ARS for decades. Don is managing the finances for the 2026 ARS Biennial conference in Darwin next September, as he did for the IRC in Adelaide in May/June 2025.
  • ARS Biennial Conference – the 23rd Biennial Australian Rangeland Society Conference, will be held in Darwin from 7–11 September 2026 with the theme “Cattle, Culture, Conservation and Carbon.”  The conference organising committee is a small band of dedicated ARS members in the Northern Territory very capably led by our newest council member Jaidyn Eastaughffe, with assistance from Matt Fletcher who chaired the previous ARS conference in Broome in 2023 and the services of the financial management whiz Dr Don Burnside. 
  • New Social Media Editor – welcome Harriet Bawden. Please support Harriet with photos, rangeland relevant issues & opinions, links to other articles, etc that she can share with the wider rangeland audience and increase interest and attract more members to our Society.  
  • Publications Committee – thanks goes to the whole committee, but particularly the PC Chair Dr Bradd Witt for keeping the PC on track and ensuring that the important functions of the committee continue; and Editor-in-Chief of The Rangeland Journal Dr Paul Novelly. Other time-consuming, but crucial roles are filled  by our three media editors Jayne Cuddihy (website), Dr Noelene Duckett (Range Management Newsletter) and Harriet Bawden (social media) – thank you for commitment to keeping the name of the ARS front and centre. Buffel grass and large-footprint renewable energy sites in the rangelands were topics of interest to most ARS members and others who access our media channels.
  • ARS website update – over many long hours our Website Editor Jayne Cuddihy assisted by Membership Manager Matt Fletcher and Council Director (Finance & Audit) John Brisbin successfully ungraded our website. Hopefully now the major challenges that the Society has had with the website over the last few years are behind us. 
  • Special Issues of the Rangeland Journal – Council has adopted a flexible approach when setting fees for Special Issues of TRJ, so that groups or topics that do not have the ability to pay can have the fee waived.
  • ARS insurance – prior to 2025, the ARS had no insurance cover. Thinking outside the square, our Director Finance & Audit, John Brisbin successfully negotiated insurance from the Queensland Land & Water Carers. We now have Volunteer Workers Personal Accident Insurance, Public Liability Insurance, Directors and Officers Liability Insurance, as well as Professional Indemnity Insurance
  • Increased honoraria – honoraria were increased by between 25 and 60% for our dedicated Publications Committee and ARS Council members who contribute many more hours than the honoraria can possibly cover.
  • Vacancies – there are two vacancies on the ARS Council  – director/secretary and general member; and one vacancy on the Publications Committee, that of committee chair as Dr Bradd Witt will be standing down in the new year. We need some younger blood on both the Council and PC – please put your hand up, and/or contact any of the current members in either group.
  • Discount membership fees – to attract more early career members, Council has offered a discounted membership fee for this cohort of members
  • Travel and Study Grants – the value of these grants has been increased to $3,000
  • Thank you to existing ARS Council members – Pieter Conradie (Director & President), John Brisbin (Director Finance & Audit), Matt Fletcher (Membership Manager), and General members Dr Warwick Badgery, Kate Forrest and Jaidyn Eastaughffe. It has been a pleasure working with a group of such dedicated and capable people. We are all very busy people but we find time for ARS Council duties.

On behalf of the ARS Council I wish you all a happy and safe summer holiday. We look forward to connecting with many of you in 2026 at IYRP events, the ARS Biennial Conference in Darwin, and other rangeland get-togethers.