Wimmera branch Farmers Federation members say - 'show us the money'

Former Grains Council president Ross Johns, Warracknabeal, proposed a successful motion at a recent Wimmera VFF branch meeting, seeking board clarification on levies.

The branch pointed out Grains Council policy was levy payment was a condition of membership of the VFF.

In the motion to the board, members asked: "how does the new membership program fit with the current Grains Council policy?."

Mr Johns said he had always paid his levies to the VFF as he considered the money was used to promote the interests of the grains industry in Victoria.

But he said from what he understood, under the proposed new membership model, levies would no longer be requested.

"Grains advocacy is going to be a lot worse off, under a system that doesn't have adequate funding to promote it at all levels of government," Mr Johns said.

"Grains is only a small levy payer, in comparison to dairy, which would be in a substantially worse position."

He said grains advocacy needed to be enhanced, not diminished.

The call comes amidst ongoing turmoil in the VFF about a new constitution and membership structure.

It follows the board's rejection of a call for an extraordinary general meeting, for a second time.

The board has proposed a tiered membership structure, with farmers paying $1495 for platinum membership, dropping to $895 for gold membership and $695 for silver.

Mr Johns also proposed a second motion asking the board for clarification as to the amount of the VFF Grains Levy collected - and where it had gone - over the last three years.

"When I was president, that levy was producing $300-500,000 a year and I would like to see where that money has been going and what it's being used for," he said.

"The sad reality now is I think it's been used to fund lawyers and arguments - and that's absolutely not what it was intended to do.

"The board would have a very good handle on where its being going, and we would just like to know where it is."

Questions have previously been asked about why a $10 million share portfolio, set up in the 1990's, was sold and used to pay down debt, rather than for the benefit grains members.

Mr Johns said roads and rates were key issues, for grain growers, but had not been addressed recently.

"The roads are going to absolute hell in a handbasket while we are trying to create export revenue for Australia on third-world roads, that are just death traps," he said.

Grains Council member Ryan Milgate, Minyip, said growers had been asking the same questions "for months.

'We are not getting any answers - now we have members, asking the same questions," Mr Milgate said.

"They (the members) are pretty interested, they want to know and the questions they are asking are certainly not unreasonable."

United Dairyfarmers of Victoria president Mark Billing, Camperdown, said his members were also concerned about ongoing advocacy.

"Our levy, at the moment, is $800 per million litres of milk, collected by the milk processors and passed through to the VFF," he said.

"Dairy Farmers Association of Victoria is waiting patiently to have a discussion with the VFF about the future of advocacy in Victoria and they (the VFF) haven't come to the table, after repeated requests."

"It's a bit disappointing, as we have given them ample opportunity to do so."

He said it appeared advocacy for the commodity groups would remain "centralised," under the new constitution.

"Over 10-15 years, the levies have been passed directly to VFF and funnelled back to the commodities," he said.

"As we discovered over the past 18 months-two years, that money isn't coming back, in the way it was intended, to commodities."

"That's the biggest issue for dairy farmers, is the very small amount of money that has gone into the VFF and the very small amount, which has been used to advocate on behalf of dairy farmers."

Mr Billing said VFF had done modelling, which indicated most dairy farmers would take out the higher-priced memberships.

He said dairy farmers had received very little detail on the proposed structure before it was passed by the board - "we got a shallow briefing, as where farmers would fall in the membership structure, and we don't necessarily agree with their modelling."

Egg Council president Meg Parkinson, Fish Creek, said it was clear there would be two commodity groups under the new constitution, for plants and animals.

The current constitution made certain assumptions about the use of levies, but that was not contained in the proposal.

"The proposed constitutional structure allows for levies, but it doesn't say there will be levies," she said.

"All the benefits of a commodity paying levies might be there, but there is no guarantee they will."

President Emma Germano said the board would not respond to inquiries from individual members or branches through the media.

"The VFF board will respond directly to members in due course," she said.