Muntadgin meeting

Organisers estimate that 80 to 90 people from across the Wheatbelt gathered at the Muntadgin Recreation Centre to listen and contribute to discussions.

Among those present were local business owners, farmers, bank representatives and politicians.

The meeting was organised by local farmers Scott Stirrat and Jeff Hooper to ensure that a proposed agenda could be submitted prior to the State election.

The idea for the meeting came about when the pair became increasingly concerned by successive poor seasons and wanted to hold a forum where they could garner perspectives from local farmers.

"We had talked about it and we wanted to find out where people were going," Mr Hooper said.

"I had never seen such widespread concern but also apathy surrounding the upcoming season, people weren't prepared for the risk of further loss.

"Some people still have equity and assets but if we get another bad season a lot of farmers will reach the point of no return."

An initial Muntadgin community meeting was held in December 2012.

"With another poor season there could be pain come budget time and we wanted to get together so we could try to help each other out," Mr Stirrat said.

The grassroots movement was initially small, but had gained momentum after the success of the initial December meeting.

Event organisers were overwhelmed by the response to the first meeting, with people from neighbouring towns beginning to contact the pair to share their stories and discuss their concerns.

Last Wednesday's meeting saw an introduction by Mr Stirrat and a discussion about the implications of risk mitigation insurance by Jeff Hooper.

Contributions were made by Kukerin farmer and Alarming Farming ambassador Mary Nenke as keynote speaker, as well as Bruce Rock Shire president, Liberal Candidate for the Central Wheatbelt and local farmer Stephen Strange.

Mr Strange discussed the implications of successive poor seasons on rural communities and considered the flow-on effect on local government, voluntary organisations, small businesses, schools and sporting clubs.

He discussed the importance of proactivity and emphasised the need for future planning to build confidence and allow communities to continue.

The final speaker, Ms Nenke addressed key industry concerns and proposed an agenda to attendees that could be passed onto politicians.

An open forum concluded the meeting and provided participants with the opportunity to make suggestions and alterations to the proposed agenda and vote on what they believed were the most important and relevant concepts.

The group established 10 major points to propose to government after an extensive discussion, with fair trade made the priority.

"We need immediate action because there are people who are waiting to find out whether they will get finance this year," Ms Nenke said.

Mr Hooper said the meeting was aimed at achieving actual results.

"We voted on outcomes that we think are very relevant to our businesses and would allow for the continuity of those businesses," he said.

Mr Hooper said it was important to maintain momentum after the success of last week's meeting.

From here he hoped to encourage smaller action groups, which he described as 'cells' across the Wheatbelt.

He said this would provide farmers with a platform to discuss issues they were facing and to gather real understanding about their concerns.

"Often people don't like to address a large group but speak in smaller groups with confidence and that is when we get good ideas," he said.

"The idea behind these 'cells' or micro groups is that we want farmers to be seen for what they are, smart businessmen surviving in a harsh environment."

Mr Hooper said rallies may prove inefficient in making change and hoped that delegates from these small groups could accurately represent farmer opinions.

"This would allow farmers to get together to discuss ideas and delegates could present concerns and opinions to decision makers in a relative way," he said.

"We are now motivated because enough of our peers who are very good farmers are extremely disillusioned with farming, we feel unrewarded, disrespected and alone."

He said he had been surprised by the openness of farmers in disclosing their concerns and was frustrated by the current situation that farmers found themselves in.

"Every industry involved in agriculture is posting record profits, yet farmers are under the most financial pressure we have ever experienced," he said.

"For instance since deregulation there has been a propagation of grain marketing business's popping up for one reason only - money.

"They have profitable businesses that are now funded by the grower.

"Everyone from consultants to marketers now have their nose in the trough."