Greensills under fire for ‘crushing’ small family farms

Bundaberg’s embattled Greensill clan are under fire in their hometown, with one farmer accusing them of crushing small family farms.

Bundaberg’s embattled Greensill clan are under fire in their hometown, with one farmer accusing them of crushing small family farms.

The accusations were aired on a Four Corners’ expose Monday night into the Greensills, whose global financial empire collapsed earlier this year owing billions of dollars to creditors.

Bundaberg sweet potato farmer Russell Mortimer told the ABC’s flagship current affairs program that the sheer volume of output from the Greensill’s substantial farming operation was forcing down prices, cutting incomes and crushing small family farms.

“They’ve flooded the market and continue to do so,” Mr Mortimer told the ABC. “The volumes that are being grown and hitting the marketplace and for the price that they are being sold ... yeah, it’s put a lot of us to the wall.”

The Greensills have snapped up more than $40m of land in the Bundaberg region over the last five years as they expanded their agricultural operations into one of the biggest in the state. The acquisitions have allowed the Greensills to expand their broadacre production of sweet potatoes, peanuts and cane to gain lucrative supply contracts with Coles, Bega and Edgell.

“The stuff they did is the thing of dreams for the rest of us mere mortal farmers,” said Mr Mortimer. “They’ve spent a lifetime worth of money in a number of years.”

Lex Greenshill. Annabel Moeller

Greensill Capital founder Lex Greensill, who expanded the company to the global money markets of London and New York, has said the impetus for starting the business was watching his farming parents Lloyd and Judy waiting years to receive payment for their crops.

But Mr Mortimer said while the Greensills “were spruiking to help farmers like myself and others in the industry” nothing has come of it and “they’ve profited themselves.”

A Greensill Farming spokesperson said it was a third-generation family business that was “dedicated to preserving the land for future generations, creating sustainable agricultural jobs and supporting local suppliers through the most responsible means.”

“Recent issues at Greensill Capital have had no impact on Greensill Farming’s day-to-day operations and its ability to provide quality produce to customers,” the spokesperson said.

Despite Mr Mortimer’s criticism, others in Bundaberg remain supporters of the family. When Bundaberg Regional Council set up a mentoring program for local unemployed families, Lex and Peter’s parents, Lloyd and Judy, were among the first to volunteer.

Ben Artup, the council’s executive director of economic development, said generational unemployment remained a major problem in the city of almost 100,000. “We have 36 per cent of 15-year-olds in Bundaberg who don’t have a parent who is working,’ he said.

“The Greensills attend every meeting of our mentoring program and tell the story of raising their boys with very little money and sending them to the local Kalkie State School (on the rural outskirts of Bundaberg).

Peter Greensill in Bundaberg.

“They worked hard to send the boys to university and now want to use their sons as an example of what the young generation can achieve.”

Bundaberg Brewed Drinks managing director John McLean said the suffering of the business was a “tragedy for a family that is so well respected.”

Mr McLean, whose family-owned company produces the world famous Bundaberg Ginger Beer, said the family were “role models for young entrepreneurs.”