GRFL - Board of Directors

D. Scanlan
(Chairman)

Grower Director
Damien is a grain and fat lamb producer from the Goondiwindi area. He is actively involved in agribusiness as a consulting agronomist. Damien has played a prominent role in industry organizations including representing the south-west region on the Queensland Grain Growers Association and Agforce Grains.

W. Newton

Grower Director
Wayne is a grain and cotton producer in the Dalby area and has been an active grain industry representative for many years for growers of this region. He is currently the Northern Region grower representative on the National Grains RD&E Framework Steering Committee.  Wayne has been a strong advocate for sustainability and has been at the forefront of conservation farming with a focus on a systems approach. Wayne has recently been involved in study tours examining the United States' ethanol industry, and Brazilian grain production systems.

K. Basford

Independent Director
Prof Kaye Basford initially worked as a biometrician with research expertise in the analysis and interpretation of data from large-scale plant breeding experiments. She is now Head of the School of Land, Crop and Food Sciences at The University of Queensland. Her staff are concerned with the development of sustainable systems of land management and food production, particularly in the tropics and subtropics, and provide multidisciplinary training across the core areas of soil and water, plant, and food sciences.

J. Obst

Independent Director

John has been associated with the northern grain industry since the late 1960s. Initially he spent time managing nutritional research trials in summer and winter crops in Queensland and northern NSW. Following this, John was employed with the Queensland Graingowers Association focusing on membership, grain accumulation and policy development. During this time he also provided seconded support to the Queensland Wheat and Barley Research Committees and later the Northern Panel GRDC. John then spent several years as state manager for AWB. Most recently John assisted with the incorporation of GRFL while coordinating the 10 RACs in Queensland and New South Wales. John is a strong supporter of grain growers actively participating in the shaping of their RDE program.

R. Thompson

 Independent Director
 

Ronald has been part of the grain industry since the early 1980's. He started in a family partnership near Roma and moved to Chinchilla in 1987 where he has run a mixed irrigation cropping and cattle property with his wife. He was one of the early adopters of intensive water melon cropping and also a leader in irrigated peanuts in the region. The property was one of the first to grow over 8 t to the ha of peanuts commercially. He has been involved in Landcare, water conservation and business promotion in the region. In 2007 Ronald was awarded a Nuffield Scholarship where he investigated the "Diminishing Workforce and How We Manage the Future" and saw the importance of profitability by vertical integration, integrated R & D, continuing education and biofuels production. He has written a paper for the Australian Farm Institute on The implications of Brazil's beef industry. He is currently working for Origin Energy as the property overseer for 10000 ha of land while studying Agribusiness externally at CSU and running the family farm.   

Independent Director

John brings a wealth of knowledge to agribusiness having worked across all facets of the supply chain. He understands the needs of the people involved in agricultural production, processing and the service industries. John is passionate about rural Australia and what it has to offer the broader economy. He understands the need to nurture and develop the human asset.