YORK farmer and WAFarmers president Rhys Turton has been elected as GrainGrowers deputy chairman, replacing Coorow farmer Rod Birch.
After serving on the GrainGrowers board for six years and in the role of deputy chairman for two of those, Mr Birch, did not seek re-election last week.
GrainGrowers chairman Brett Hosking said Mr Birch was GrainGrowers' first Western Australian member and thanked him for his contribution to the national organisation.
"He did an amazing job getting around growers in Western Australia, meeting them onfarm, learning about the issues they face and thinking about how GrainGrowers could then help them to hopefully make their farming journey a bit easier," Mr Hosking said.
Mr Hosking said Mr Turton's experience in promoting "good governance and conduct" in farming and his advocacy experience as WAFarmers president would help ensure GrainGrowers' strategies continued in the right direction.
"We're really excited that Rhys decided to put his hand up and I think he will do a fantastic job in the role," Mr Hosking said.
"He has this great ability to be able to connect with growers and articulate the challenges they face to those in government and industry."
Having already spent three years as a director on the GrainGrowers board, Mr Turton said he thought the timing was right to stand for the position and he was pleased his appointment meant there would be more of a geographical spread for leaders of the organisation.
"I think I can impart a bit of my experience and knowledge on behalf of the industry to help the board as it tackles some of the big issues the grains industry is facing at the moment like our international trade relations, climate change, our social licence to operate and sustainability themes," Mr Turton said.
Mr Hosking agreed it was important for GrainGrowers to have representation right across Australia so growers could share their views and challenges that may be unique to their region.
"Sometimes the seed of a challenge starts in one region and then spreads across the industry, so if we can catch some issues before they spread that's a great way to serve our industry - by preventing what might happen rather than just dealing with the challenges that do," Mr Hosking said.
Given COVID-19 restrictions this year, GrainGrowers, like most national organisations, had to change the ways in which it engaged with its members.
"There is nothing better than standing in the paddock or at a field day and meeting a grower face-to-face and shaking their hand, but the reality of COVID has meant we haven't been able to do that as much as we would like this year," Mr Hosking said.
"But I still think we have been able to connect with growers, just in ways we probably haven't before.
"We would really like to thank the growers out there that have changed the way they communicate with us to ensure that their voices are still heard.
"As much as we try to create good policy and change for the grains industry it is through the voice of individual growers that we actually get that right."