VFF facing a Monday deadline, over motion to remove president, board

Former VFF Grains Group president Brett Hosking, Quambatook, said the group had gathered the 100 member signatures, necessary for an extraordinary general meeting to be called.

The EGM would consider one resolution - to remove the board: that includes president Emma Germano and the heads of the commodity groups.

Mr Hosking said the call for an EGM and resolution was passed at a meeting in St Arnaud, last week, and would be presented to the VFF on Monday.

"It's the wishes of the meeting and there were plenty at the meeting who would have preferred we just did it straight away," Mr Hosking said.

"Members are feeling they can't have their voice heard - they can't ask questions, or interact with the leadership of the VFF.

"I am certain this resolution is not what anyone wanted - but it's got to the point they [members] are feeling like this is all they have left."

He said it had been decided to give the VFF board and executive time to respond.

"But once those signatures are lodged, we are on a pathway that can't be avoided.

"The VFF was first made aware of this on Friday, last week, so they did have that period of time to engage - so far they haven't."

An appropriate response "probably requires them to set up some member meetings where we talk about the organisation and the direction its taking, and allow members to have their voice, as much as anything," he said.

Mr Hosking said there were similar concerns among primary producers other than grain growers, particularly among dairy farmers over the ongoing "tension" between the VFF and Australian Dairy Famers.

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Members were also concerned about the financial security and management of the VFF.

"We have seen, revealed in the end-of-year report, the massive decline in membership numbers," he said.

Mr Hosking said there had been a long lead time to the St Arnaud meeting and the decision to call for an EGN.

"There was a meeting in Mildura, by a number of grains members, from which a letter was sent to the VFF board asking for some clarification about how members could be part of the organisation and what some of the strategic priorities were," Mr Hosking said.

"That letter is still unanswered.

"I know, subsequently, the Grains Council sent a letter to the VFF board and that letter is also unanswered."

The other concern was that VFF leadership did not seem to have any meaningful engagement with the state government over planned electricity transmission lines, particularly the VNI West.

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"Famers themselves are having to take that mantle up and set up meetings with government and ministers - it's actually been led by locals to stand up against the transmission lines," he said.

If the resolution was successful, the plan was to put in a new board of commodity group representatives, "to take the VFF to its next general election in February next year," Mr Hosking said.

Former Grains Group president Ash Fraser, Rutherglen, said he hoped common sense would prevail and the board would sit down and negotiate.

He said he wasn't hopeful.

Ms Germano said the board was "finally focused on governance and delivering for our members.

"While any member of the VFF that meets the constitutional requirements can rightly call for an EGM, the VFF board completely rejects the premise of the resolution," Ms Germano said.

"The VFF is now in its strongest trajectory in years, having paid down debt, reduced unnecessary expenditure, moved away from debt to fund operations and has turned a much-needed operating surplus.

"We have been completely transparent on that."

She said while the "vocal minority" was entitled to have its say, it didn't reflect the thousands of VFF members who "loud and clear" voted for change and transformation over the past four years.

"Our members resoundingly told us we needed to change," she said

"We're doing that and the VFF board will continue to be focussed on delivering a united voice representing Victorian farmers to government, just as our members expect us to do."