TWYNAM Agricultural Group is still very committed to agricultural production in Australia, according to boss Christine Campbell, despite the massive sale of $303 million worth of water entitlements to the Federal Government last week.
Speaking to Rural Press following the shock sale announcement, Ms Campbell was cagey on the details of:
• The Argentinean group's plans for the hundreds of millions it received.
• Exactly how much water the company has left.,
• What the sale means for communities.
• Whether the sale money would indeed be reinvested in Australian agriculture.
Even though Ms Campbell would not speak of the company's new business focus or strategy for a future with permanently less water for Twynam, she has confirmed the group will still be a major player in agriculture.
She sees no impact on the rural communities dependant on Twynam's business from this sale either.
"In terms of where we've been with the current water profile, I see no impact on country towns from this move," Ms Campbell said.
"Potentially, where we could have been with water, there may have been some impact on productivity, but we have not been at that potential for some time."
She has promised that the company would keep communicating with those communities through the internet and with regular notices on its websites, but added there were no plans to hold meetings or information sessions on any changes made to business operations as a result of the sale.
She says there is a bigger debate to be had on the future of agriculture and the perceived impacts these (government) actions may have on communities, but it was not for her to comment on.
"There is a bigger debate to be had in future on the Government's regional support focus, but they are not things I will comment on," Ms Campbell said.
In the days since the announcement by the Prime Minister, Ms Campbell had been meeting with staff to run through issues related to the sale, but at the outset does not see any necessary reduction to staffing levels as a result of the sale.
"We're talking to them about the running of each farm and the opportunity now to refocus our operations," Ms Campbell said.
"We certainly have an ongoing interest in agriculture, but I think it is an emotional comment to suggest this will have a major impact on agriculture," Ms Campbell said.
"We needed to look at what resources we had. We still see a future in areas where we can still work large aggregations and create economies of scale.
"And we are still committed to agricultural production."
Ms Campbell said at this point she would not be walking onto farms to announce major adjustments to staffing levels, adding there had been little water available for company use anyway.
Ms Campbell would only say the sale was a "substantial proportion" of the company's river entitlements and will still not confirm exactly how much water entitlement the company has left in its ownership.
Twynam had still maintained some access to river water, she said, and was keeping its groundwater entitlements.
She said for the past few years Twynam had been an active player in the water market, and would continue operating on the spot market to secure future water needs.
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