Hassell gears up for WAFarmers role

Mr Hassell is a name that most in the industry would already know, having been on the board of CBH for nine years, holding executive positions and playing an active and vocal role in many agricultural institutions throughout his farming career.

With sheep and grain farms in Pingelly and Wialki, Mr Hassell spoke to Farm Weekly journalist BREE SWIFT about what he hopes to achieve in the new role and provided some comments on various issues facing the industry.

QUESTION: Having held a number of executive positions with WAFarmers, what prompted you to put your hand up for the position of WAFarmers president and what do you hope to achieve in the role?

ANSWER: Steve McGuire, who is the vice-president, flagged his intention not to stand for the role because his business was not quite ready, so that enabled me to think about the role.

I have been well enough organised with two kids on the farm ready to step up to enable me to take the time to give all that is necessary for the role and believe very strongly in industry standing up for itself.

Q: How do you plan on helping WAFarmers grow its membership?

A: By being relevant more than anything else.

We are in the process of going digital so we can canvass all the members, particularly including the younger members and have a response in a very short time frame rather than the old federated model.

Q: You have a mixed farming operation in Pingelly where you run sheep and crop wheat, oats, barley, canola, lupins and hay.

With the State's flock numbers steadily decreasing over the years, do you see the future of agriculture being concentrated into segments where you are either a grain grower, a sheep farmer, or a cattle producer or do you think WA farmers will diversify their operations as you have done?

A: Labour is a constant issue, gross margins and what people like doing also drives their decisions on their enterprises.

Risk is also a consideration.

If the economics of an enterprise changes drastically that will drive behaviour.

For instance some of my neighbours don't grow wheat any more.

Q: Having previously stood for the board of Australian Wool Innovation (AWI), you were a vocal opponent of maintaining the two per cent levy automatically deducted from woolgrowers' wool cheques and paid to (AWI) to fund its marketing of wool and help fund its research and development programs.

When WoolPoll preferences were counted in 2018 they determined that a majority of woolgrowers supported cutting the levy to 1.5pc from July, 2019.

Do you have any other issues with the organisation at present?

A: I was a member of the WoolPoll panel for AWI (not a board member even though I did stand for the board some time ago) and yes I was a critic of the 2pc levy because I felt AWI could be run more efficiently and needed a wake-up call.

Members should always be aware of what their fees are being used for in their research and development organisations and be comfortable their money is being spent wisely.

Fortunately we are seeing a kick in wool prices but I have no direct issues with AWI at present.

Q: You were beaten for the Federal seat of O'Connor by Liberal Rick Wilson in the 2017 election.

Do you see yourself having another crack at State or Federal politics in the future and if so, which party would you align yourself with?

A: I would have to be a fool to go back for another crack - twice was enough.

I enjoyed the campaigning, covered a huge mileage, saw some incredible countryside (O'Connor is nearly one third of the State), met some fantastic people and got shown some amazing hospitality, for which I will be forever grateful.

I think we even got some pressure for some projects which otherwise may not have happened, so it wasn't a total loss.

Q: You were a CBH director for nine years for Kwinana Zone 3 before standing down in 2018.

Having been a critic of the organisation, do you have unfinished business with CBH?

A: I'd hardly call myself a critic of the organisation.

CBH is a great organisation but it sometimes needs a bit of tweaking.

I think I achieved a few good things on the board.

Some were not happy but I questioned the drinking of wine at lunchtimes and got that canned, I argued the toss for an oats pool which I think has been beneficial for growers and a few other things which, as a board member we achieved, like the trains.

Oddly enough at no time did I ever see, as many have suggested, people not governing for the whole organisation or just trying to get benefits for their zones.

We need to make sure our directors and management are accountable to us as members and I have tried to make any criticisms positive with better outcomes intended.

Q: As an owner of farms in both Wialki and Pingelly what are the differences like in seasons and outcomes for each operation?

A: Quite different farming between the two.

We go in the whole hog at Pingelly because it is fairly reliable but would go broke fairly rapidly if we did the same at Wialki.

Last year was an arduous season for Pingelly but with a soft finish worked out well, but Wialki had less than 100mm growing season rainfall.

Q: Having been an agent at Ruralco for three years, supplied contract farm services for almost 30 years and run side projects in biodiesel and viticulture, what is something you haven't done yet that you would like to?

A: Taking it a bit easier sounds like a good option but I think this role (WAFarmers president) will keep me fairly well occupied for the next little while.

Getting (all) three kids established in farming is a challenge in itself.

Q: A member of the Muresk Old Collegians Association Incorporated board since 2003 and president of the organisation for almost a decade, how important is the Muresk Institute to the future of WA's agricultural industry?

A: There has been a major shift in percentages of country people to city people in the past 30 years - in fact it has been going on for far longer than that and we were even taught about it at Muresk in the early 1980s.

Many kids have no idea where their food comes from or even that there is a huge opportunity in agribusiness as a career.

I'm the chair of the Ag Academy which is about giving kids in year six exposure to agriculture and the possibilities the industry may hold for them in the future.

After all agriculture is the foundation of society and without ag there is nothing.

Muresk is a link in that chain and many current leaders in the industry came from Muresk.

Q: Do you think more money needs to be invested into training and education to help address the skills shortages the agricultural industry is facing?

A: The Ag Academy is about raising awareness of the opportunities in agriculture and agribusiness.

You can lead a horse to water but you can't make it drink.

I think we mostly need to make more people aware, as there are many exciting career opportunities in the industry aside from farming.

Q: Do you think growers should be carbon neutral?

A: There is a major misconception that farmers are the bad guys in the carbon cycle producing, supposedly 13pc of the world's greenhouse gasses.

When the world shut down with COVID the smog in many cities cleared, but it was transport that stopped - not agriculture.

Agriculture also produces 100pc of the world's food as well as fibre and there is carbon captured in all that.

We are tilling our soils a whole lot less than we used to, making less passes over our country, increasing yields on a per hectare basis - all of which is making us more efficient and less carbon dependent.

We can and should do more but we also need credit where credit is due.

I think the carbon agreements entered into by our government greatly disadvantaged farmers and we need to claw that back.

Q: You have been part of the Red Sky Ride which raises money for the Solaris Cancer Council for almost seven years now.

How did you first become involved with the fundraiser and why is this charity's work important?

A: I first went on the ride just because I needed a challenge and 1000 kilometres sounded like it might be fun.

It was type two fun where we all said we enjoyed it afterwards but it wasn't much of a pleasure while doing it (nothing compared with the journey many go through with cancer).

It is, however, a great cause, raising money for voluntary treatments for people going through the cancer journey.

I was a part of the board for a few years and raised sustainability as the biggest issue facing the charity, which is a problem for many.

Q: What are your passions outside of agriculture?

A: I love getting on my bike, which has been great for my mental health as well as my physical health.

I love playing my guitar and a bit of tennis.

Michelle and I also like to head off in the camper looking round the countryside.

Q: What is something our readers might not know about you?

A: I suffered a serious bout of depression over a number of years a few years ago and absolutely cherish being out the other side of that.

Life is good.

Our journalists work hard to provide local, up-to-date news to the community. This is how you can continue to access our trusted content: