A tempetuous era of Australia's wheat industry has ended with strident single desk supporter group, the Wheat Growers Association, last week making a decision to disband.
With the industry no longer featuring AWB Ltd A Class (grower) shareholders or a national wheat pool, members of the WGA agreed at its recent AGM to wind up operations.
It marks the end of a short, but incident-filled history for the WGA, which campaigned tirelessly for the retention of the single desk against increasingly overwhelming odds.
WGA chairman, Newdegate, WA, grower Bob Iffla said the landscape of the grains industry had changed markedly since the group began in 2002 and that the industry had moved past the WGA's single-agenda charter – maintaining the single desk and maximising returns for growers who delivered to the national pool.
However, he said there was still a strong role for grower advocacy groups, who must now focus on different issues in a deregulated environment.
"The agenda going forward needs to include addressing road, rail and port infrastructure issues, the future of grain storage systems, the need for multi-peril insurance and a host of other matters stemming from the Federal government decision to hand control of the industry to grain traders," he said.
Mr Iffla urged growers to form a united front to create a strong lobby presence, an advantage enjoyed by growers in Europe and the US.
He was satisfied that the WGA had achieved good outcomes for growers in its short existence, highlighting the battle to change the AWB remuneration model.
"Massive benefits flowed through to growers when the AWB Ltd remuneration model was changed in the 2006/07 season, following pressure from the WGA and others," he said.
He also said the group had worked well with the previous Coalition Government, but expressed dismay at the Rudd Government's decision to dismantle the single desk.
"We worked constructively with Coalition Government to maximise grower returns from national pools and did so at the highest level," Mr Iffla said.
"The decision of the Rudd Government to remove the National Pool export single desk against the wishes of the majority of grower opinion expressed to the Wheat Export Marketing Consultation Committee was a bitter disappointment."
He said deregulation had been a failure thus far.
"Wheat growers around Australia are now encountering many of the road, rail, grain storage and market based problems raised by the WGA at the time, but dismissed as being irrelevant by the Rudd Government and critics of single desk marketing," he said.
He suggested the fight for grower representation would go on, especially in Western Australia, where the State's bulk handler, CBH, is still run as a grower co-operative.
"Growers in WA have some chance of protecting their future by ensuring grower control of Co-operative Bulk Handling is maintained," he said.
"In other states growers will need to explore other avenues to avoid being pawns in the hands of bulk handlers and grain traders."
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