members inviting them to ‘throw their hats in the ring’ for a new Grains Section Management group to

drive its re-established Grains Section.

The Grains Management Group will commence operations in early March, with the current SAFF Grains Industry Committee and its ongoing projects remaining in place until the handover.

Announcing the nomination call, SAFF President Peter White said “this isn’t just another call for a

commodity committee. It’s something of a landmark event, because it represents the formal

beginning of a new deal for grains industry representation in this state, at both local and national

levels.”

“Our strategic alliance with the national organisation Grain Growers Limited (“GrainGrowers”) will

ensure the new Management Group has a strong, evidence – based voice feeding into the National

Farmers Federation (NFF) and federal decision makers,” he said “while local growers will benefit from

direct access to unprecedented levels of sophisticated technical support and vigorous advocacy “.

He said the new partnership would give local growers support from a national network of like-minded

people, independent, up-to-date scientific and technical advice; and a national forum to voice their

opinions, linked through a democratically elected, locally experienced, state based, grains group.

High on the agenda of the new Management Group will be to implement formal mechanisms to

ensure all grains levy payers are consulted whether SAFF members or not so they can feed into

our deliberations and network.

Mr White said he hoped to see a mixture of experience and “new blood” amongst the nominees, and

urged any grain grower who cares about the future of the industry and fellow growers to consider

nominating.

“This is Day One of a new, long-term structure. We need members who can offer stability, vision and

direction for the long haul. There is a lot of valuable grains experience out there in SAFF but also a lot

of untapped potential”.