Assessments start for End Point Royalties

Audits to assess End Point Royalties for crops have begun at one of the busiest times of the year, prompting calls for alternative collection methods.

Members of the grains industry are concerned that compliance audits are being conducted during the busiest time of the year.

Activity has recently begun investigating the accuracy of End Point Royalty (EPR) declarations through Australian Crop Breeders, as growers are in the midst of harvest.

Grain Producers Australia southern region director, Andrew Weidemann, said now was a busy time of the year, and the audits were an impost.

“I’m sure any response to these audits would be blunt, given how busy we all are,” he said.

The aim of the audits is to investigate the accuracy of EPRs for various varieties. Information required includes tonnes of grain retained for seed and retained on farm and tonnes of grain warehoused off farm.

Mr Weidemann said it would likely be more acceptable if the information were collected at the point of sale.

“The issue is the amount of time it could take growers,” he said.

Farmer Andrew Weidemann. Picture: Supplied

Mr Weidemann said growers were fair-minded and understood the process and its importance; however, they were hoping harvest could be considered.

“It’s a full-on process, and I’m not sure what powers and scrutiny can be applied,” he said.

Australian Crop Breeders board member Neil Comben said anyone who was approached during the current harvest period could choose to defer the audit until the end of January.

He said growers would need to communicate back to auditors in writing, but there was the option to wait until January rather than interrupt harvest.

He confirmed that farmers throughout the eastern states had been contacted to do audits.

Mr Comben said because the audit process was new, it was difficult to gauge how long each individual assessment would take.

“As an industry, we are committed to starting the audits now, and they will continue (into the future) on an ongoing basis,” he said.

Mr Comben said there would be some flexibility around the busy periods of the year, including sowing and harvest for grains and cropping farmers.

GPA chief executive Colin Bettles said he would be interested to hear from any growers who had been through the audit process.

“We want to hear from anyone who has been audited to find out how gruelling this process is,” he said.

He said the system of collecting EPRs needed improvement to ensure it was cost-effective and user-friendly for farmers.

NSW Farmers grains committee chairman Justin Everitt. Picture: Simon Dallinger

NSW Farmers grains committee chairman Justin Everitt of southern NSW said he understood the concept of collecting the information.

However, he thought collection at receival sites, rather than audits of individual growers, would be a better approach.

“I have heard of people being contacted … and the timing is very ordinary given everyone is pretty time-poor and stressed as we try and harvest,” he said.

Australian Crop Breeders board member Neil Comben.