Victorian Farmers Federation president Emma Germano said the organisation received about 1000 proxy votes prior to the annual general meeting, split evenly between those supporting constitutional changes and those opposed.
Ms Germano called for unity, adding constitutional change would again be put to members at a later date.
"The decision by no means suggests the board is of the opinion the constitution is fit for purpose, or it doesn't need changing," she said.
"But we want to ensure every single one of you who has said they didn't get the opportunity to engage, who felt there was misinformation, or your voices weren't heard, has the opportunity to absolutely engage independently with the organisation."
She said an independent party would be appointed to manage proxy collection.
Infighting had cost the organisation 400 financial members in the last 12 months, she said, after the figures had steadied in previous years.
Ms Germano told the meeting she believed half of the members wanted constitutional change, while the other half were saying "perhaps we want to change for the future, but perhaps we want to stay the same".
"We are at a pivotal point, we are at a crossroads," she said.
"And the only way through, whether we like it or not, is together.
"If we are going to shout at each other from our paddocks and via the media, the cost of that is reduced output of advocacy from the organisation."
Ms Germano said the people that opposed changes to the constitution had said they wanted to move forward "but they haven't said how".
She said the world had "totally shifted" from 10-20 years ago.
She said the biggest threat was from animal activists, who had "heaps of money" to fund court cases against farmers.
"They will pick us off and there will be nothing we can do about it," she said.
"When less than 2 per cent of the population are vegans or animal activists, it seems their voice is getting heard so much more than ours.
"They (governments) don't care, they have the votes."
VFF chief financial officer Ante Dragovic told the meeting last financial year revenue was down by $800,000, with member income dropping by $220,000 and levies declining by $241,000.
In 2022, the VFF had a deficit of $1.8 million, but that had been reduced to $204,000.
"That's a great result, but there is still a lot of work to do," he said.
During the meeting, Ms Germano did not allow motions from the floor and rejected a no-confidence motion.
VFF Grains Council president Craig Henderson, Berriwillock, said the vote should have gone ahead.
"There was talk of 1000-odd proxies, we know how many we had," Mr Henderson said.
"They were going to get cleaned up on this new constitution."
Andrew Miller
I'm a general reporter with Stock & Land, with a special interest in irrigation issues. I completed my cadetship, with the Age, in 1980. Over my career, I've worked for ABC radio news (Mt Isa, Qld) and at provincial and suburban newspapers.
I'm a general reporter with Stock & Land, with a special interest in irrigation issues. I completed my cadetship, with the Age, in 1980. Over my career, I've worked for ABC radio news (Mt Isa, Qld) and at provincial and suburban newspapers.
