Natalie graduated from her agriculture degree at the University of Sydney in 2018. Now, she is the founder of Hylo Ag, a start-up reducing the livestock industry’s plastic footprint via a recycling supply chain that collects ear tags and diverts them from landfill.
Each year, over 200 tonnes of plastic ear tags are landfilled from sheep and cattle processed in the red meat supply chain, but Hylo Ag wants to change this!
Founder, Hylo Ag
I grew up in Sydney without having experienced agriculture much before high school. I started showing cattle with my school's show team in year 11 and discovered a passion for agriculture, particularly livestock. When I was nearing the end of year 12 I was actually considering an occupation within medicine but when I weighed the two up, the lifestyle, industry connectedness and opportunity for impact within rural and regional communities was what confirmed my choice to study agriculture at the University of Sydney.
I was working in a sales/marketing role for a vertically integrated meat producer when I witnessed the downward pressure from consumers and supermarkets on suppliers to become more sustainable. This pressure coupled with the bold industry targets for carbon neutrality by 2030 and 2050 sparked my idea for Hylo Ag. Living and working in rural communities enabled me to understand how much of a gap there is between livestock businesses who are striving to do right by our environment and the technology, infrastructure and access to actually make that happen in a way that enables producers to still operate profitably.
Each year, over 200 tonnes of plastic ear tags are landfilled from sheep and cattle processed in the red meat supply chain, but Hylo Ag wants to change this! We’re currently working with businesses to trial our collection model, whilst concurrently designing the recycling solution. This currently doesn’t exist in Australia for our type of plastic waste so it’s a tricky problem to solve, but we’re determined to make a positive impact to the sustainability of our industry.
The opportunity for field trips and professional development stands out as key moments in my degree. We were sent on a field trip within a few weeks of first year which was incredible to break the ice and form new friendships, many of which I still cherish today. We visited Fletchers International in Dubbo which was the first abattoir I had been in, and played a huge role in igniting my passion for the meat industry. I went on to compete in the University of Sydney Intercollegiate Meat Judging Team a few years later and now work in the meat and livestock space all because of these great experiences.
Other field trips of note were a soil trip to the Plant Breeding Institute in Narrabri and the southern livestock trip facilitated by Associate Professor Russel Bush. The passion and flair of Professor Stephen Cattle, Professor Daniel Tan and Associate Professor Russel Bush stand out as making class more engaging.
I’m passionate about developing an industry of businesses that champion the interconnectedness of sustainability and profitability. We have some absolutely amazing innovators in regional and rural Australia, and I want to be a voice in this crowd that not only amplifies our impact, but also spotlights our ability to develop solutions that are founded in our small communities but have huge global relevance.
Think about what might be possible if you give something a go. It can be so easy to focus on all the reasons why something might not work out, but I think that we owe it to ourselves to be excited about imagining what brilliant things might eventuate from chasing an opportunity.
