THE WAFarmers Grains Council is set to embrace a new leadership group, after it was announced last week, that its president Derek Clauson and senior vice president Kevin Jones would not be seeking re-nomination for the roles, at this year's annual WAFarmers Grains Conference in March.
Mr Clauson has been president for the past three years and was a notable figure during the farm lobby group's fight to retain the single desk monopoly for bulk wheat exports.
He farms at Yelbeni and has also nominated for the CBH Board elections in District 2.
He will resign from the Grains Council position, regardless of the election result.
Mr Clauson said he had enjoyed "every minute" of his time as president, but believed it was time to move on and give someone else a go.
He also praised his fellow Council members, saying he had enjoyed working with them all during some high profile lobbying campaigns.
"We've had some good wins and some big losses over the past three years, on some very important issues for the grains industry," he sad.
In terms of future leadership, Mr Clauson said he would like to see younger growers nominate for the vacant leadership roles.
However, he said those already on the council under the age of 40 had young families and other commitments on the farm, and were therefore constrained by time.
Mr Clauson said the leadership issue was discussed during the Council's meeting last week, but there were "no volunteers" from the younger brigade.
It is understood the vacant roles could be filled by several candidates, including Des Seymour, Miling, Duncan Young, York, and Malcolm Gooding, Moulyinning.
Mick Fels, Esperance is also another candidate, who has strong views on the CBH structure.
Mr Clauson said the new president could also come from a WAFarmers member who wasn't currently on Grains Council.
Among the success stories, Mr Clauson said the WAFarmers wheat pool alliance with grain marketer Emerald, had provided "fantastic results" for the farm lobby group, and the grains industry in general.
He said the Emerald alliance had ensured the continuation of incentive payments to growers for the production of high quality grain, and avoided "cliff-face" pricing.
Mr Clauson said he fought hard to retain the single desk for WA growers.
He said national representation also needed immediate attention for the grains industry.
"There's a void there that needs to be filled," he said.
"Growers are not represented at a national level and while moves are afoot to put something in place, I don't see the GCA (Grains Council of Australia), under its current structure, as being able to fill that gap adequately.
"A lot of the States have seen that by not having a national representative body, it has worked against them, in terms of government representation."
Mr Jones has been a valued member of Grains Council for 15 years representing the Merredin Zone including time as vice president and the last two years as senior vice president.
He said he decided it was time, in view of his many years of service, to give the leadership opportunity to another member, so they could play a more active role on the Council.
Mr Jones will step down from the Council and be replaced by Richard Steel, who is the current delegate for the Merredin Zone and will continue in that role.
Mr Jones said Grains Council provided him with the opportunity to meet with members from other parts of WA and from around Australia, and develop a better appreciation of their problems and concerns and to work with them to achieve better outcomes "for all".
He said the biggest issue in his time on the Council was representing the interests of members who fought to keep AWB; at first in its original form and later against its conversion to a fully listed commercial entity and subsequently the loss of its single desk powers.
"The industry was sold out by government and the GCA, which can only be described as a classic case of Zimbarbwian democracy in Australia whereby a minority of 20pc was able to impose its view over the other 80pc," he said.
"The most reward for effort was achieved in getting AWB to introduce Golden Rewards to help remove cliff face pricing and pay for quality."
Mr Jones said the major challenge for the future was for Grains Council to be able to represent graingrowers and lobby for industry's benefit, from a diminishing resource base, both numerically and financially.
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