WAFARMERS' vice president for the past two years, Steve McGuire, has said he will not seek to step up to replace retiring president Rhys Turton in March.
As reported in Farm Weekly, York grains, hay and sheep farmer Mr Turton - who was elected president in 2019 at the same time Mr McGuire was elected vice president - announced last month he intends to step down a year early at the organisation's annual general meeting in March.
Mr Turton said his reasons were more planned farm commitments this year and taking on the role of deputy chairman at GrainGrowers Ltd.
On Tuesday Mr McGuire, a Kojonup sheep and wool producer who previously headed WAFarmers' wool section before it was amalgamated with the cattle section to become its livestock section, confirmed he would not nominate as Mr Turton's successor.
"I would have the same problem Rhys has (with the president's role), I just don't have the time availability to take it on and run the farm at the same time," Mr McGuire said.
"I'm not prepared to do a half-arsed job (as president).
"I've told the (WAFarmers') board I'm happy to stay on as vice president to whoever gets the job - I think that's important for continuity and to help the new person settle into their role - but I'm not prepared to take it on myself," he said.
Mr McGuire, who is also a director of WoolProducers Australia, said he did not know who was likely to replace Mr Turton at the annual meeting.
"The problem is, we want younger farmers to step up and take on these roles in representative organisations but it is really only the older, semi-retired farmers who have the time available to devote to it.
"It's not just the time taken up with WAFarmers' business, it's the amount of time where, as president, you are representing WAFarmers at other functions and meetings.
"It's hard to find people who are running farm businesses who have that sort of time available."
Mr McGuire said he was disappointed Mr Turton intended to step down, but he said he understood the reasons why.
"The organisation's in a good place," he said.
"We've got a good board, a good chief executive officer and we turned a profit this year - we're in a good spot right now."
