A word from Rob Massina, President of RGA

In the first week of July we completed all our branch Annual General Meeting’s and industry forums via an online platform for the first time in the RGA’s history. I would like to thank all those who participated, we hope you found it worthwhile. All branch presidents decided some months ago that the uncertainty around COVID-19 meant an online platform was the safest way to go for our members. I thought I would give a high level overview of what was shared, for those who were unable to attend.

I’d also like to take this opportunity to thank those members who continue to support us by paying their membership subscriptions.  Your membership fees made up 16% of our income last year and without it we would not be able to do our core business, which is representing the interests of rice growers on the political stage.  

When there is limited water the team at the RGA are working harder than when our communities and our great industry are thriving. Just because you are not growing rice due to low water availability doesn’t mean you need to drop off the RGA membership, we are continuing to work for our communities.

The Research & Development levy review has been a substantial amount of work for the RGA. The new levy rate will provide an additional $1.6 million per year on average for Research & Development to help ensure growers keep producing the best quality rice in the world, while also being the most efficient. I’m proud of what we’ve achieved, but we have so much more to do. 

There is a real desire around the table for step change in Research & Development. With additional funds now available we need to ensure we work hard to create water efficiencies through rice growing practices, technology, breeding, varieties, yield and extension. There is currently an external review being undertaken of our Rice Extension program. This scheduled review aims to identify quality of design and delivery against best practice extension principles; fit for purpose of the current management and staffing structure; stakeholder understanding of the program compared with other services; current areas of strength and areas for improvement; and possible technology opportunities and solutions to improve delivery. Once completed, the report will be assessed by the RGA and other industry stakeholders, to adopt recommendations for a revised Rice Extension project.

I would like to thank all those members that took part in our rice pricing survey last month, the information gathered from the survey is summarised in this month’s Rice Matters. I can assure you that it has provided a great foundation in discussions with SunRice and has enabled us to gain a greater understanding of what is important to members.

I would just like to say thank you to SunRice for its collaborative approach to water advocacy over the past 4 months. We have been leveraging this at a political level, and to have the resources of Rachel Kelly and Claire Miller has held us in high regard. 

The RGA Water Policy book continues to be updated through consultation with the RGA Branches and Water Committee. The document summarises our key policy positions on Federal and State water issues.
The overarching water policy objective of the RGA is: 
“To maximise water availability (supply and access) and to mitigate the negative impacts of water reform for growers.”
The 2020 objectives identified by the RGA Water Committee are:
Objective 1: Free up water to increase General Security allocations, particularly in dry years.
Objective 2: NSW Murray and Murrumbidgee water sharing plans amended to include 75% of RGA recommendations.
Objective 3: Commonwealth to support structural adjustment that does NOT require water recovery.

At the last central executive meeting it was decided that running an annual conference this year with the uncertainty around COVID-19 would be risky. It was decided that we will hold an AGM followed by a dinner, incorporating the SunRice Grower of the year Awards, early next year. Please keep your eye out for information on this in coming months.

The other two important issues that we encourage members to have input in the coming weeks and months, is the review of the Vesting arrangements in NSW and SunRice’s proposal to reduce the number of directors on its board. The Vesting Review has not started as yet, but it is proposed for the back end of this year. We will be working to engage with growers and industry to ensure our views are well represented. 

SunRice’s proposal to reduce the number of directors was well supported at the branch AGM’s, and was discussed at Central Executive last week.

Robert Massina,

President,
Ricegrowers' Association of Australia