New board member
Birchip Cropping Group has appointed a new director.
Horsham district farmer Tim Rethus will join the board of the Mallee-based farm research organisation.
Leo Delahunty and Brad Martin has stepped down from their roles on the board.
Mr Rethus runs a cropping operation together with his family in the Wimmera.
Blue Lake boss
KEVIN Boyle is the new chief executive of CBH subsidiary Blue Lake Milling.
Mr Boyle replaces Ben Abbot at the helm of the Bordertown, SA, based business, which deals primarily in oat processing, with interests in both SA and Victoria.
Pac Seeds appointment
Agricultural seed market leader Pacific Seeds has appointed Barry Croker as its new managing director, replacing Nick Gardner.
Mr Croker took over earlier in the year following a five-year stint as the global head of supply chain management with the international company.
Mr Croker brings to the role nearly 25 years of firsthand experience working for Pacific Seeds and parent company Advanta Seeds both domestically and internationally.
Mr Gardner will move into a global projects manager role, working across a range of projects until his official retirement in December.
CHS scandal
GIANT US agricultural co-operative CHS, which has a footprint in Australia through a grain accumulation business, has been embroiled in a scandal after an employee intentionally overstated profits.
Last month CHS filed a statement with the US Securities and Exchange Commission that the financial statements filed by the company over the past four years should not be relied on.
The CHS audit committee had found intentional misconduct by an employee, which led to the company overstating its income by approximately US$100 million (A$138 million).
Iraq looks to Russia
Iraq, a major wheat importer that has traditionally relied on Australian and North American supplies, is reported by Reuters to be looking at allowing Russia to compete in its state buying tenders.
The Iraqi government is reportedly investigating Russian wheat to assess its quality and its functionality for use within major Iraqi food applications.
Iraq consumes between 4.5 and 5 million tonnes of wheat a year, and there is generally the need to import around 2m tonnes of that.
It is one of the few Middle Eastern markets that does not use Russian wheat. Russia has a strong freight advantage over competitors into the Middle Eastern market.