Meet CBH Group District 2 candidate Mick Caughey, of Merredin

I hope by now you have received your voting packs and an email or text from me.

Rather than elaborating on my personal information, I would like to share some of my thoughts on CBH and possibly answer some of the questions you may have about me.

A CBH director needs to keep the best interests of the grower members at the forefront of their mind when making decisions.

This is my intention if I am elected as your director.

A co-operative by definition is “a legally incorporated entity designed to serve the interests of its members”.

The core purpose of CBH is “to sustainably create and return value to WA’s grain growers, current and future”.

The co-op, do I support it?

Absolutely. I believe it is the best business structure to create value for all growers. We need the co-op to remain strong now and well into the future for the next generations of farmers. To preserve and build on this strength requires considered and confident decision makers. The CAP assessed me as “demonstrates the strong behavioural attributes of a director, which included good judgment, curiosity and a natural style of reflecting on issues before reaching a conclusion”.

Operations and the 30M tonne by 2033

CBH operations have received the record 2022 harvest very well. The challenge now is getting it to port in a timely manner. I fully support CBH Group’s target of being able to export 3Mt a month by 2033, as part of the co-operative’s Path to 2033 Strategy and as it prepares for peak tonnages to reach 30 million tonnes in the next 10 years. But I believe in the short term CBH needs to look at every avenue possible to increase our current capacity to port, particularly in the Kwinana zones. The carryover is costing growers considerably, with zone discounts on top of the world parity discount. In discussions I have had with growers, many have had a delivery issue, bin closure, distance to site, not enough segregations or storage, to name a few. CBH operations needs to be agile, flexible and innovative for growers in receiving and moving the grain. Operations is our core, it needs solid focus and support to fine-tune it to be the most efficient and effective grain handling business it can be.

Marketing and Trading

Another resounding issue is that the majority of growers across the State have been frustrated by the inability to secure contracts with CBH. Although partially alleviated during the season with contract limits, further efforts are required to ensure this is not an ongoing or recurring problem next year and make it a more fair and equitable process for all growers.

Marketing and trading is a vital part of CBH and needed by growers, at the very least, to set fair market prices for all commodities. This was obvious this season with some competitors continually offering very low prices. I agree with marketing and trading profits being invested back into the parent business, this will create more future value for all.

Overseas Investment

At the time CBH chose to invest in the grain processing facilities of Interflour and Intermalt, I’m sure the decision would have been robustly discussed and agreed to for all the right reasons. Now could be the time to reassess this investment and consider whether divesting these assets to get that money back into the core business of operations would be more beneficial to the growers.

Something not ‘core’ related.

“Co-operation among Co-operatives”. This is one of CBH’s values. I would like to see a lot more of this in the future. Grower members could realise more value out of their membership status of CBH with collaboration with other co-ops or mutuals with products such as insurance, medical, travel or hospitality. Tangible benefits to growers with very little cost to CBH.

I have done, and still do, many roles within the community, many of these in a leadership role. If elected, this experience will help in my endeavour to do the best job I can for all growers.

Mick Caughey is a Merredin farmer campaigning for a seat as a District 2 director on the CBH board, against incumbent director John O’Neil. Results will be announced on February 13.