Location: Katherine, Northern Territory
The Katherine Pastoral Production Crew. Left to right: Trisha Cowley, Jodie Ward, Whitney Dollemore, Kieren McCosker, Neil MacDonald, Trudi Oxley and Heidi Wright. Absent from this photo is Robyn Cowley.
The Katherine Pastoral Production (KPP) crew is part of the NT Department of Primary Industry and Fisheries and is a research team made up of passionate young people from a variety of backgrounds. Trudi Oxley, the Regional Manager, has been working in the northern beef industry since 1997. Trudi commenced with KPP in 2000 and prior to this she worked extensively in stock camps and managed a live export depot. The majority of her time is spent as an extension officer, focusing on whole of business management and profitability, in addition to her management responsibilities.
Kieren McCosker is a Beef Cattle Research Officer who focuses entirely on improving beef cattle production systems.
Trisha Cowley is also an extension officer whose current focus revolves around the 2010 NT Pastoral Survey to be released in the very near future. She has also taken on board two producer demonstration site projects, including one exploring the effectiveness of a variety of HGP strategies, and the other using genetic testing and breeding technologies to increase the proportion of polled cattle bred in the herd.
Pastoral Production Officer, Whitney Dollemore, started with KPP as a technical officer in 2009 and is now responsible for the Selected Brahman Project. Whitney also regularly contributes to the regional newsletters, providing updates of project developments and supplementation strategies.
Robyn Cowley is a Rangeland Research Officer who has a strong background in data analysis.
Jodie Ward joined the KPP team in 2010 and is now working as a Rangeland Research Officer within the team. As well as her time spent pasture sampling, Jodie enjoys collating industry newsletters, presenting small workshops and assisting Heidi with social media.
Neil MacDonald is an honorary member of the KPP team, having worked as part of the team for many years, however he is now the Regional Director of the entire Katherine Research Station.
The Katherine region extends south to Daly Waters, north to Pine Creek, west to the Victoria River District and east to the Roper Gulf Region. Our activities include a mix of research on designated research stations such as the Victoria River Research Station (Kidman Springs) and commercial properties as well as extension activities such as one on one station visits to large training courses.
Every one of us has a strong rural background, growing up and working around livestock. We are a passionate young team and look forward to sharing our experiences with you.

Calf alive
Host: Katherine Research Station Written by Jodie Ward, Pastoral Production Extension Officer Yesterday’s blog was about the awesome work the CashCow Project did and the results that have the ability to really help the northern beef industry to progress. Well, today I’d like to tell you about an event that has come about from a […]

So just how good are you?
Host: Katherine Research Station Written by Jodie Ward, Pastoral Production Extension Officer First of all, I have to say, I cannot take any credit for the work I’m about to describe to you as I personally had very little to do with it – however other members of the team I work with did and […]

Research and You
Host: Katherine Research Station Written by Jodie Ward, Pastoral Production Extension Officer Not wanting to put words in your mouth or anything, but I have a sneaking suspicion that some of you may be wondering what it is we get up to when we’re not running field days, workshops, or are seen out collecting data […]

Barkly Herd Management Forum
Host: Katherine Research Station Written by Jodie Ward, Pastoral Production Extension Officer DPIR offers a number of training opportunities for station staff with a wide range of previous experiences, for everyone from first year jillaroos and jackaroos right through to managers and station owners wanting to improve specific skill sets. One of our favourite activities […]

Oh how we’ve changed
Host: Katherine Research Station Written by Jodie Ward, Pastoral Production Extension Officer When the time came around again for the Pastoral Production Team of Katherine Research Station to host Central Station, I looked back at our previous blogs and became overwhelmed by how much the team had changed since we first contributed to Central Station […]