Three South Australians are among the next crop of participants in the Grains100 program.
Subscribe now for unlimited access to all our agricultural news
across the nation
or signup to continue reading
Held by GrainGrowers, there will be eight people included in the next round of the social licence leadership initiative.
Brad Griffiths, Mallala, Ethan Vogelsang, Padthaway, and Mick Hancock, Pearlah, will undertake an eight-week program of online and face-to-face learning to build leadership, communication and stakeholder engagement skills.
GrainGrowers chief executive officer Shona Gawel said Grains100 was a vital program for ensuring the sector had strong advocates on issues that mattered to growers.
"The issue of social licence - the ongoing acceptance of our industry's standard business practices and operating procedures - is an increasing focus of attention by industry participants and the general public alike," she said.
"As an industry, we need to be aware of this and be prepared to talk about how we operate and explain why we operate in the way we do."
Ms Gawel said the nominated focus of attention for incoming participants was grain freight and supply chains.
"This issue was identified in our 2023 Policy Survey as one of the top industry priorities," she said.
"Having Grains100 support discussion in this area will allow grower participants to explain why issues impacting grain freight and supply chains are critical to their farming operations.
"To have an impact and make a difference, we want Grains100 participants to consider the issues holistically, taking into account what the general public needs to know to come on board in support and also how to address some of the current roadblocks that may prevent this from happening."
Ms Gawel said Grains100 was about deepening the skills of the passionate people in the industry who were involved in a broad array of conversations on critical industry issues.
"To equip participants, we intend to provide them with training and practical examples of how other industries have worked to gain social licence for their business operations," she said.
Grains100 is directed at establishing a group of 100 growers - both emerging and established leaders and influencers - who are prepared to get involved in discussions on issues relevant to the future development of the grains industry.
The latest cohort join another seven South Australians in the now 60-strong Grains100.
These include Chris Moloney, Arthurton, John Gladigau, Alawoona, Karen Baines, Ungarra, Lachlan Seears, Lucindale, Michael Hunt, Cannawigara, Tom Michael, Barunga Gap, and Tristan Baldock, Kimba.
Ms Gawel said Grains100 was building an influential group of growers and industry leaders who were appropriately equipped to share a vision of a modern, sustainable industry with the grains sector and the wider community.
"As the group grows, the connections develop, and so does the ability for participants to get messages out there about some of the great things that individual growers and the wider industry are actively involved with," she said.
