IN SPITE of the announcement a consortium headed by grower company Australian Grain Champions (AGC) will formally make a play for CBH in a bid to corporatise the business, the company’s elections showed grass roots support for the co-op structure remains strong.
All three incumbent directors, Derek Clauson, Kevin Fuchsbichler and Trevor Badger, strong supporters of the co-operative structure, were returned to office following board elections.
The election was held before Thursday’s announcement AGC, with the backing of GrainCorp and superannuation investment funds would formally make a play for CBH after months of speculation.
CBH chairman Wally Newman said the result highlighted the strength of the board.
WAFarmers grains section president Duncan Young said around 90pc of CBH members supported the retention of the co-op structure, so on that level, the results were not surprising.
However, he cautioned against reading the election results as a virtual plebiscite on the issue of corporatisation, given it came before the AGC bid was announced.
“There’s still a lot of pressing day to day matters we need address, such as the rail network and potential rationalisation of sites.
“The business structure of the company into the future is important, but by the same token, growers are also concerned about operational issues.
“Farmers want to see the rail network sorted out, they want to see a sustainable network of sites.
“At WAFarmers, we’re on the record as saying we support the rationalisation of sites to drive efficiency gains.
“Storage and handling costs are a big deal and anything we can do to reduce them can only be good.”
Mr Fuchsbichler retained his position against Bulyee grower Wes Baker and Stephen Strange, Bruce Rock.
He said he was happy to be re-elected and planned to continue with the projects he had worked on for the past nine years, including the network strategy and re-opening the Tier 3 rail lines.
usafter it was clear how much growers value grain on rail as a freight option.
"I want to see that through, I really do," he said.
Similarly, Mr Clauson highlighted rail as a key focus after six years on the board.
Mr Clauson had competition from Nungarin grower John Shadbolt.
Mr Badger, who is heavily focused on the future of CBH and its internal and external investments, said it was a pleasure to be re-elected.
He was running against Bill Bailey, Jerramungup and Roger House, Kojonup.
"Investments are where the future of storage and handling costs lay," Mr Badger said.
