GRAINGROWERS Limited (GGL) will be heading into the new year with a new leadership team after Western Australian farmer Rhys Turton was elected as the organisation's chairman last week.
Mr Turton, who served on the GrainGrowers board since 2017 and as deputy chairman the past two years, is the first WA grower to hold the position.
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As a result of the shake-up, outgoing chairman and Victorian farmer Brett Hosking, who was elected to the role in 2018, resigned from the board, while Queensland grower Nigel Cornish was elected deputy chairman and Julia Hausler will continue in her committee role.
The news is only a few months after former GGL chief executive Dave McKeon announced his shock resignation.
His replacement is expected to be appointed in the first quarter of 2023.
Acknowledging that GGL had experienced "a real reset", Mr Turton said under the new leadership team and with a new three-year strategic plan in place he anticipated "exciting times ahead" for the organisation.
"Our three-year strategic plan has three main drivers or ambitions; more profitable grain farmers, a more sustainable grains industry (environmentally, socially and economically) and to be a totally trusted grain grower centric organisation," Mr Turton said.
"We are absolutely focused on those three ambitions and doing something that is effective and tangible for growers, which is what growers have been calling for out of the national peak body for some time."
Already travelling to Sydney frequently in his role as a grower director, Mr Turton said he planned to spend more time engaging with growers than at head office and would take a different approach to the chairman role than that of his predecessors.
As part of GGL's new direction, the organisation has been investigating commercial opportunities and recently undertook a workshop with external consultants to help inform that process.
"We are thinking about spending some money on something that's commercial or buying something that's of benefit to the industry and, ideally, we would like to have a few ideas in place so that once our new CEO starts we can ask for a business case on A, B and C," Mr Turton said.
As a result of the change in leadership, Mr Turton planned to contact Grain Producers Australia (GPA) privately to see what the organisation's appetite was for further discussions.
GGL and GPA jointly administer the representative organisation function for oversight of the Grains Research and Development Corporation.
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Tensions between the two organisation's were highlighted recently when WA's State farming organisations called for just one peak national representative body for the grains sector.
In a GGL statement, the organisation recognised Mr Hosking's contribution, saying he offered tireless service during his time in the role and his achievements were numerous.
Reflecting on his time with GGL, Mr Hosking said when he first began the role as chairman, the industry was on the brink of one of the worst east coast droughts the country had ever seen.
"I also led the organisation through some of the most damaging floods," Mr Hosking said.
"The industry went through an era of importing wheat into Australia for the first time, to last year cracking over a 60 million tonne national crop, and we look like giving that a fair shake this year if the weather allows, so the turnaround of the industry is incredible.
"We also went through tariffs imposed by China on Australian barley and moved that into the World Trade Organisation, where it sits today, and hopefully a response to that is imminent."
While he had an ambition for a more united industry in the grain grower space than what there is currently, Mr Hosking said a lot of steps had been taken in the right direction.
"There's good people on all sides of our industry - State department groups, the various national grains groups and the national ag groups that are all focused on improving the profitability and sustainability of all Australian farmers, so I think the Australian industry is in good hands at the moment, for sure," he said.
Commenting on his decision to also step down as a director, Mr Hosking said it was simply a case of the time being right.
"We all have a season so it's good to provide fresh air for the next wave of leadership and at the same time take the opportunity to focus on my own business and family, but still make a contribution to Australian agriculture wherever I'm most valuable," he said.
The owner of a 2630 hectare cropping, sheep and beef farm in Quambatook, north west Victoria, the father of four is looking forward to working the harvest season alongside his daughter who recently finished her degree in agriculture.
"I also have a kelpie pup that is about 14 weeks old and needs some training," Mr Hosking said.
