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Call for end point royalty transparency

wagrainsgroup1 —  September 17, 2017

FARM WEEKLY article by GREGOR HEARD

17 Sep, 2017 04:00 AM

A WA grower group is raising questions about the status of end point royalties (EPRs) in the Australian grain seed industry.

Ray Marshall, WA Grains Group, said while his organisation supported the concept of EPRs for plant breeders over alternative systems such as patent rights, there needed to be more scrutiny over how EPR prices were set and what varieties plant breeders released.

“There is no accountability on EPRs and how they are spent,” Mr Marshall said. Continue Reading…

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Call for CBH entitlement review

wagrainsgroup1 —  June 30, 2016

FARM WEEKLY article by JENNE BRAMMER

Thursday, 30 June 2016 1:40PM

The WA Grains Group has called for the issue of transferring entitlements to be addressed as part of the review of CBH, noting some of its members were being disadvantaged by dated co-operative rules.

According to the WA Grains Group, the current rules of CBH, under the Active Membership Requirements were written before such entitlements as rebates and loyalty payments existed, so at a value of $2 per share, transferring entitlements was not a huge issue.

But after Australian Grains Champion’s corporatisation proposal, the share that growers hold in CBH is now considered far more valuable than the $2 received when exiting farming or retiring, because of accrued entitlements based on grain deliveries.

WA Grains Group chairman Doug Clarke said after AGC highlighted the market value of CBH to growers, it is now recognised the value of these entitlements is considerable and issues could arise where divorces occurred or partnerships and sharefarming agreements are dissolved. Continue Reading…

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New approach to WA grains research

wagrainsgroup1 —  June 30, 2016

FARM WEEKLY article by MEGAN CECHNER

30 Jun, 2016 02:00 AM

Grains Industry Group (GIG) chairman David Falconer has welcomed the news that the previous GrainsWest concept has been abandoned.

The State Government’s GrainsWest network proposal is dead in the water, with the government set to go back to the drawing board on developing a new strategy to keep grains research alive in WA.

During the 2016-17 budget estimate hearing on June 15, DAFWA executive director Mark Sweetingham said the original GrainsWest proposal launch in 2014 was being “totally rebuilt and revised from the ground up”.  Continue Reading…

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