Who is on the move in the Australian grain and cropping industry? Catch up with our latest update of industry appointments, rewards, retirements and achievements.

• GRDC announces new MD
• Four growers appointed to CBH advisory council
• CSD directors re-elected
• Organic CEO appointed to NFF, ACCC committees

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GRDC announces new MD

INTERNATIONAL food and agriculture executive Tony Williams will be the new managing director and chief executive officer of the Grains Research and Development Corporation (GRDC).

Mr Williams will return from an overseas role with Goodman Fielder and Bunge to assume the leadership of the GRDC on August 3.

GRDC chairman and Goondiwindi grain grower John Woods said the appointment of Mr Williams followed a comprehensive Australian and international search for a new managing director.

“We are delighted to have secured such a high calibre leader with over 25 years of accomplished commercial leadership in senior executive roles with Goodman Fielder and Bunge, across grains and oilseed value chains, in Australia, the Americas, Europe, Africa and Asia,” he said.

“Strategically, the GRDC is on the right track – and Tony’s global experience will add value to both the continued effective and efficient implementation of the current five-year RD&E Plan and development and refinement of the next phase of our strategic journey.

“Our people are our most important asset at GRDC. Tony has a proven track record building highly effective, cross-functional teams in a variety of business settings, so we look forward to his leadership further enhancing and developing our GRDC team.”

Mr Williams will take over from retiring managing director, Steve Jefferies, who has held the position for the past four years.

“Steve has led a major re-design of GRDC – creating a clear purpose, new strategy, bolstering our regional approach and leading the execution of the 2018-23 five-year RD&E plan. The organisation is now extremely well placed to build on this foundation and enhance GRDC’s ability to deliver on purpose for creating enduring profitability for growers through Tony’s leadership,” Mr Woods said.

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Four growers appointed to CBH advisory council

THE CBH Group has announced the appointment of four new growers to its Growers’ Advisory Council (GAC).

Made up of 16 Western Australian grain growers, the GAC provides a formal channel to facilitate feedback and communication between the co-operative’s grower members and the CBH Board and management team.

Due to the expiry of the terms of sitting councillors, there were up to four open positions on the council this year.

New appointments:

• District 1: Noel Heinrich, Carnamah, and Tony White, Miling
• District 2: Graham Ralph, Dowerin
• District 4: Bruce Trevaskis, Jerramungup

Councillor terms are a single period of four years, and newly appointed growers will commence their terms on 1 July 2020.

The first meeting of the new GAC will take place in August 2020.

CBH chair Simon Stead thanked outgoing councillors Bryan Kilpatrick, Kirrilee Warr, Gareth Rowe and Chris Antonio for their contributions.

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CSD directors re-elected

MEMBERS of Cotton Seed Distributors Ltd (CSD) have re-elected Tony Quigley and Juanita Hamparsum to the company’s Board of Directors.

Mr Quigley was first elected to the CSD Board in June 2017, and currently holds the position of vice chair. Within the CSD Board he is also the chair of the wholly owned subsidiary, Cotton Seed International, and chair of the Audit, Risk and Compliance Committee.

An irrigation and dryland farmer from the Nevertire and Trangie districts of Central NSW, Mr Quigley has been a member of CSD since he first began growing cotton in 1984.

He is also a founding committee member of both Macquarie River Food & Fibre (MRFF) and the Macquarie Cotton Growers’ Association; and has been a director of the Trangie Nevertire Co-Operative’s irrigation scheme for over 20 years, including as treasurer.

Ms Hamparsum was first appointed to the CSD Board in November 2012, and elected in 2014.

A cotton grower from the Breeza plains near Gunnedah in north west NSW, Ms Hamparsum also has extensive financial, accounting, audit and business development experience.

She is a chartered accountant CAANZ, graduate of the Australian Institute of Company Directors and a graduate of the Peter Cullen Trust. She has worked with Ernst & Young in Sydney and Goldman Sachs in London.

Ms Hamparsum is currently on the board of Namoi Cotton Ltd and is chair of the Great Artesian Basin Coordinating Committee.

Her previous roles include director of Cotton Research and Development Corporation, chair of the Cotton Innovation Network and deputy chair of Namoi Catchment Management Authority.

Chair of the CSD Board, James Kahl, said the election was carried out at CSD’s annual meeting which was streamed online in order to comply with COVID-19 health and safety regulations.

“For the first time in our 53-year history we were unable to hold an in-person AGM. Instead, we streamed the proceedings online and managed voting via proxy forms,” Mr Kahl said.

“The Board was pleased with the levels of interest in the AGM, particularly the contested election which saw three nominations for two available director positions. Voting was scrutinised by our auditors to confirm the validity of the election.”

Led by Mr Kahl, the CSD Board of Directors includes managing director, Peter Graham; vice chair, Tony Quigley; Nigel Corish, Joanne Grainger, Juanita Hamparsum, Matt Norrie, Doug Rathbone and Cleave Rogan.

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Organic CEO appointed to NFF, ACCC committees

AUSTRALIAN Organic has announced that its chief executive officer, Niki Ford, has been appointed to the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission’s (ACCC) Agriculture Consultative Committee (AgCC) and will also join the National Farmers’ Federation (NFF) Diversity in Agriculture Leadership Program 2020.

As part of the ACCC, the AgCC provides advice and information on issues affecting the agriculture sector.

Members are drawn from a range of backgrounds and industries within the agriculture sector including peak bodies, industry associations, and industry advisors. Members typically hold office for a period of two years.

As chief representative for Australian Organic, Ms Ford will join the AgCC’s current membership committee of 22 other key industry organisations including WoolProducers Australia, Grain Trade Australia, and the Australian Food and Grocery Council.

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