EXPERIENCED grains industry professional Jonathan Wilson has been appointed as the inaugural chief executive officer of Grains Australia Limited.
Mr Wilson, who worked for grain handler Viterra for 15 years before turning to independent consultancy in February 2019, has served on many industry boards including the Wheat Classification Council and the Boards of the Australian Grain Exporters Association and the National Grower Register.
In 2019-20, he led the development of the South Australian Grain Industry Blueprint on behalf of Grain Producers SA and the SA Government.
Grains Australia was formed through an initiative of GRDC, Grain Growers, Grain Producers Australia and Grain Trade Australia and its role is to guide the industry on issues including trade and market access, commodity variety classification, market information, and domestic and export education.
GAL chair Terry Enright said the board had every confidence that Mr Wilson's experience would enable him to deliver on GAL's mission to provide specific industry-good functions that enhanced the sector's competitiveness and profitability.
"Jonathan has a proven track record of negotiating change in his various roles across the industry," Mr Enright said.
"It is this experience which convinced us that he understood the mission of GAL and what we are seeking to achieve, which is to consolidate the delivery of important services and functions on behalf of the entire grains supply chain.
"He has strong links right across the value chain and is vocal advocate for a sustainable and profitable industry in Australia."
Most recently, Mr Wilson has been working as a consultant to the agriculture sector, primarily on commercial and strategy matters.
Mr Wilson said he was looking forward to hitting the ground running in his new role.
"There is a considerable amount of work to do to ensure we keep the business as usual functionality of the existing industry-good organisations, but we also want to look forward and identify what the big opportunities will be for the Australian grain industry over the next few decades," he said.
"We will be looking across the entire value chain to find ways we can maintain and enhance the value of Australian grain.
"There are some passionate individuals in the industry, so I will be looking to build on the collaborative and cooperative relationships that already exist across the value chain, including growers, traders, end users, breeders and researchers."
Mr Wilson said one of his first jobs will be to develop a strategic plan for GAL, with input from industry representatives.
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