Badgingarra farmer, consultant Anne Wilkins appointed to Grains Australia Pulse Council

Badgingarra farmer and agribusiness professional Anne Wilkins has been named the sole WA representative on Grains Australia’s inaugural Pulse Council, with hopes to bolster sustainable production. Ms Wilkins was one of 11 national representatives from across the nation’s pulse industry value chain appointed to the council for a two-year term last month, after an extensive expressions of interest process. The Pulse Council is one of several commodity councils established by Grains Australia to provide strategic advice to its board on priorities and activities, strategic classification requirements, trade and market access and market information. “I put my hand up because I enjoy being involved with the grains industry, and to use my experience to give back,” Ms Wilkins said. Grains Australia chair Terry Enright, who is also based in WA, said there had been a “strong response from industry” and a lot of expertise put forward to join the group. He said the Pulse Council’s immediate focus would be continuing and guiding the work under way on new pulse classification systems, bringing together the requirements of key customers and markets. “We look forward to working closely with the members in coming months,” Mr Enright said. As well as running a 300ha mixed farm with her husband Chris Wilkins, Ms Wilkins’ other full-time role is as a consultant at Vision Agribusiness — working with agribusinesses on corporate governance, strategy and research and development. Mr Wilkins founded the consulting business in 1998 and it consumes most of the husband-and-wife team’s time, but they also run about 260 Merino ewes which currently have ewes at foot. The pair have planted about 150ha of lupins each year since they moved to Badgingarra — where Mr Wilkins grew up — in 2008. “They have been one of our most profitable crops, aside from canola,” Ms Wilkins said. “Industry want to increase tonnes and profitability of them, and get them in the farming system in a long term and sustainable way. Ms Wilkins brings a wealth of experience to the role, as chair of the Grains, Hay and Seed Industry Funding Committee and with five years of experience as the chief executive officer at West Midlands Group between 2012 and 2017. She also spent 10 years working for the former Department of Agriculture — from 2001 to 2011 — in the grains trade and development division, investigating alternative uses of lupins for livestock and food production. Her time at DPIRD also included a stint in the department’s grain export licensing authority. To add to her industry contribution, Ms Wilkins was also this month appointed to the nominations committee for the national Grains Research Development Commission, a role she is also looking forward to taking on. The other members on the Pulse Council are William Alexander, Julia Hausler, Kathi Hertel, Sam Holmes, Julie O’Dea, Kathy La Macchia, Joseph Panuccio, Mark Schilling, Janine Sounness and Peter Wilson. Other Grains Australia commodity councils include barley, oat, wheat and the Grain Market Access Council.