MORAWA grower Rod Madden is hoping his nine years of experience on the CBH board will see him voted in for another term at the co-operative's member director elections next month.
The incumbent director is being challenged by Northampton grower Bradley Cripps and Gareth Rowe, Walkaway.
"During my term on the board I have gained an intimate knowledge of the business to a point where I am in a position to bring about significant improvements to services and reduce costs," Mr Madden said.
He has 30 years of agribusiness leadership credentials, having served as chairman of the United Farmers' Co-operative and as a WAMMCO International and United Bulk Carriers director.
In 2002 Mr Madden was awarded the Sir John Monash Gold Medal for Agribusiness Directors.
During his time as a CBH director he said he had shifted boardroom priorities to refocus on the storage, handling and marketing of the WA crop by reducing costs and improving services to growers.
"A number of independent investigations into the internal cost centres of shipping, procurement, maintenance and engineering have exposed an unacceptable costly culture within the business," he said.
"A four man committee, of which I am a member, has been established to implement changes and reduce costs over the next three years."
Mr Madden said a spending crackdown in the 2015/16 season had given CBH the opportunity to give growers a rebate of $4.20.
"Additional areas have been identified and earmarked for future recurrent savings, estimated to be measured in tens of millions of dollars per annum."
Mr Madden said he had also achieved the implementation of tougher criteria for non-core investments at CBH.
"I have pushed for the establishment of a capital management framework and high level investment criteria which has forced both management and the board to be more frugal in the way they utilise grower's capital," he said.
"A number of non-performing investments have been given the ultimatum to either provide real and satisfactory returns to growers, or be divested.
"I firmly believe that any investment made from grower's accumulated capital in CBH must have significant net tangible benefits to CBH members only."
Mr Madden said as a director he had worked to increase board transparency and valued communication with growers.
"Much better decisions are being made after consultation with members and the construction and rollout of the network strategy and structure and governance review are examples of this new consultative approach."
If re-elected Mr Madden said he would investigate creating more innovative methods for receiving segregations at CBH sites during harvest, as the speed of grain deliveries continued to increase.
"The cost to road transporters for delays caused by congestion at key sites will inevitably be pushed back to the growers if not addressed," he said.
"Although the expenditure of $750 million over the next five years will greatly improve services, more work needs to be done in this area."
Mr Madden said improvements were needed to maintenance.
"An external investigation into the function of major and minor maintenance has exposed high costs and low efficiency, and an alternative system is currently planned to be implemented.
"The failure of the ship loader at the Geraldton Port during the peak of harvest was unacceptable and avoidable."
Mr Madden said he had passion and motivation to deliver benefits to growers if he retained his position on the board.
"My vision for CBH is to drive efficiencies and improve services to a point where our co-operatively owned supply chain is the envy of grain growers throughout the world," he said.
"I believe we do not need to retain any more capital within the business than is required in order to grasp opportunities as they present or the need arises.
"The best opportunities for the CBH Group at the moment is to do what we currently do much better.
"My focus if re-elected will be to ensure the delivery of value to the growers of today, while ensuring the provision of an efficient network for the growers of tomorrow."