Grain growers in and around Moree are being urged to attend an upcoming grower meeting to discuss issues around grains research and development, levy rates and reviews, and the impact on local growers.
The Grains R&D: Your levies, your views consultation seeks grower views on levies and how people find working with Grains Research and Development Corporation (GRDC) and the information that they’re receiving.
GrainGrowers CEO Shona Gawel said the meetings are an ideal opportunity for growers to consider the current situation, to put forward their thoughts on the issues and raise questions that they would like considered and answered.
Ms Gawel said in recent months there had been many discussions about grain research and development, and it was important to engage as widely as possible with growers.
“As a grower member organisation, direct engagement is in our DNA, and these meetings are designed to allow us to listen and to reflect carefully on the next steps.”
The information gathered will be reviewed to see if there’s a policy position or approach that the organisation needs to be taking, as well as providing feedback directly to the GRDC.
“We’re seeing that the GRDC levy reserves is currently sitting at around $700 million and growers really want to know how their levy funds are being spent, and it’s Grain Growers’ job, as one of the joint representative organisations, to take on board their feedback and share that with GRDC or if there’s any further work to be done to pick that up and run with it.”
In total, meetings will be held in 18 regional centres across five states from 2 September through until 16 October.
The New England region meeting will be held in Moree on Tuesday, September 9, from 6:30 pm at the Moree Services Club. You can register here.
“The full schedule of consultations is available via our website. For anyone unable to attend, we will be holding a virtual session at a later date to encourage the widest possible consultation,” Ms Gawel said.
Don’t miss any of the important stories from around the region. Subscribe to our email list.