Victorian Farmers Federation president Emma Germano has hit back at criticism of her questioning levy payments to Australia's peak dairy body.
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In October last year, Ms Germano wrote to Australian Dairy Farmers saying the VFF would no longer pay what she said were "exorbitant" annual fees.
"We wish to open immediate discussions in relation to the above and request that the ADF provide the VFF with a sustainable funding model that must include solutions and reforms that are under, or may be required, for consideration," she said in the email.
Currently, the VFF pays $360,000 in affiliation fees to the ADF.
It also pays membership fees to other affiliated farming groups like Sheep Producers Australia, Cattle Australia and Grain Producers Australia.
Victorian dairy farmers have urged both groups to sort out the disagreement.
Ms Germano said the email was intended to start a conversation about the effectiveness of advocacy and what was an "archaic" levy structure.
She said the VFF never intended to withhold levies from the ADF.
"We have not withheld any money yet," she said.
"We received the last bill and were dismayed at the fact that despite requesting a nice conversation that hasn't happened.
"Let's just have a conversation about it - now its quite clear some people are not willing to have a conversation about some changes that might need to happen."
She said she wasn't claiming the VFF had it right.
"It's precisely because I think the VFF has it wrong and we are madly trying to change that - change does take time and consideration," she said.
"We are just asking farmers for more and more money all the time but we have not become more efficient - not us, or any other organisation."
READ MORE: VFF president does not like dairy advocacy
Ms Germano said there had to be a better way and she wasn't afraid to raise the issue.
"What really strikes me is how much fear enters into the conversation when all someone says 'we should talk about whether or not this is the best way to do it'," she said.
It had been accepted that commodities represented by the VFF did not have "separate pots" [of money].
"That's not efficient, you can't divide the pie into that many pieces and still be efficient," she said.
There was no such thing as everyone having their own "turf".
She said the primary purpose of the VFF was to advocate for all Victorian farmers on issues they had - such as roads, rates, workforce issues, biosecurity and climate issues.
"That is our number one remit and we have been told that by our members - I am not going to apologise for asking questions as to do we need to look at how things are funded, in order to put resources where farmers have asked us to," she said.
She said less than a quarter of Victoria's dairy farmers were members of the United Dairyfarmers of Victoria/VFF.
"Number one, meaningful conversation happens around the table, not through the media," she said.
"Number two the UDV/VFF doesn't think its reasonable that while we go out collecting levies from dairy farmers that we pay them based on 100 per cent of the dairy farmers in Victoria, many of whom are not members of ours."
She said the VFF had all the risk of collecting the fees and staffing.
"We have simply said there has got to be a better way and I was very clear it was not just about ADF, but we have to have a conversation about this pyramid scheme that's set up for farmers in Australia in order for advocacy to happen, which is unnecessary," she said.
"I have questioned the value of the VFF membership fee, because we should be having the conversations as to how do we do the most effective job, without asking farmers to continually put their hands in their pockets.
"We are looking at a model that has been presented to all the commodity councils, that shows a change in our fee structure - it is a reason why large farmers are not members of the advocacy chain.
"Because for them to be a member of the UDV/VFF in some cases would cost them $20,000-$30,000 a year - of course they are not going to pay that."
On average, dairy farmers paid $1100 a year, but for some it was as little at $300 and for others it was up to $16,000.
"This is a conversation the dairy industry has been having for the last 10 years, I did this at the behest of the UDV - I didn't make it up myself," she said.
"How surprising? Everyone ducked for cover and I am left holding the baby of 'we don't want to pay the bill any more.
"You know what, I am not going to make any apologies for saying we need to be more efficient with farmers' money and we need to be more accountable and transparent."
She said she was happy to respond to any farmer, who emailed her, about transparency and accountability.
"We don't think its right that dairy farmers pay more into the VFF than other growers, because everybody deserves to have commodity representation and national advocacy - there is no logical reason why some commodity groups pay a fraction of what we pay for the ADF.
"It's not just the ADF we are talking about, it's the efficiency of all of them - if we really want to start carrying on there are two peak grain bodies in Australia. Why?"
Dairy farmers call for action on standoff
But Victorian dairy producers are calling on the VFF to resolve the funding standoff with ADF.
They said the VFF must continue to pass on levies collected from dairy producers to ADF.
ADF president Rick Gladigau said in the best interests of Australian dairy farmers, especially those from Victoria, his organisation resolved the matter.
"Under the ADF constitution the VFF is a member of ADF through its state member the UDV, and as a member is required to pay subscription fees to ADF," he said.
He said the VFF collected more membership levies from dairy farmers than any of its other commodity groups.
It kept approximately two-thirds of dairy farmer levies.
"The amount of levy funding contributed by each ADF state member, including the VFF, is dependent on the size of the dairy industry in each state," he said.
"As a result, VFF collects approximately $1 million a year in dairy levies, of which it keeps approximately $650,000 and passed through approximately $350,000 to ADF".
Victorian dairy farmers have questioned the move to reduce levy payments to the ADF, urging the two groups to talk out a solution.
They said it was important to continue paying levies to the ADF, having resolved to increase the amount from six cents to eight cents a litre, at the United Dairyfarmers of Victoria 2011 conference.
Moe dairy farmer and former ADF president Chris Griffin said there was a bigger issue at play.
The ADF was the group that "did the fighting for us" at a national level.
"The VFF seems to have dumbed down the effectiveness of even the UDV - they have cut the staffing and are using one policy officer across a number of commodities," Mr Griffin said.
"Individual commodities have specific issues, at times, that need a strong voice for that specific commodity."
He questioned what he said was the level of transparency, from the VFF, over contributions made by commodity councils like the UDV,
He said he believed the VFF was under "some sort of financial pressures themselves - but that doesn't mean you drag everyone else down with you".
Mr Griffin said he "suspected" the UDV was paying its way.
"Without transparency, nobody knows - why are they [VFF] hiding those figures from us in the annual accounts?" he said.
"I can't seem to find them anyway".
Mr Griffin said the late Max Jelbart, the farmer who brought put the proposal to increase the levy to the 2011 conference, would be "turning in his grave, I think".
John Keely, Cohuna, a Victorian representative on the ADF's national council, seconded the 2011 proposal to increase the levy.
"We have a national peak dairy body and we chose to support that organisation by increasing our levy back then," Mr Keely said.
"Dairy organisations do require a lot of work, they are not the same as other commodities
"I think that's reflected in not only UDV fees - what we pay - but also what we need to contribute.
"That's not to say there areas the ADF could trim back on too".
He said he wasn't surprised by the position taken by Ms Germano.
"I still think we need our national body - this action means potential compromise in being able to support it," he said.
Crossley, Vic, farmer Karrinjeet Singh Mahil said there was always more to the story than met the eye.
"It's hard for anyone outside to know what's going on - as the UDV I think we have been doing more than our share for a long time," she said.
"Are we getting value for money from ADF, as a dairy farmer? That doesn't mean we are not, it means I don't know."
At the same time, Ms Singh-Mahil said she didn't know if farmers were getting value from the VFF.
"But it's not their money, its our money - it was set up so that money was paid," she said.
"For them not to pay it now is wrong.
"You might have issues but you sort them out by sitting down and working through them - you certainly do not suddenly withhold dairy farmers' money."
Mr Gladigau said the subscription fee paid by the VFF to the ADF had not changed since 2018 and Mr Gladigau said it represented better value today than more than a decade ago.
"Victoria accounts for the majority of Australian dairy production, at approximately 64 per cent - therefore, Victorian dairy farmers through their levies naturally contribute more to ADF than other states," he said.
He said the ADF had a strong track record in representing, and advocating for, the industry.
The ADF was the first port of call in the industry, for the federal government, in the event of a disease outbreak.
It had also established DataGene to improve productivity and profitability of the dairy herd and represented farmers on trade negotiations, such as the European Union Free Trade Agreement and Indonesia-Australia Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement, Mr Gladigau said
ADF had led the development of a Mandatory Dairy Code of Conduct and brought an end to $1 milk, in 2019, he said.
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