Victorian Farmers Federation chief executive Jane Lovell resigns

The chief executive of Victoria’s peak farming body has resigned after just a year in the job.

Victorian Farmers Federation chief executive Jane Lovell has resigned after little more than 12 months in the job.

VFF president Emma Germano issued a statement today stating Ms Lovell had resigned to “pursue her broad range of interests”.

“On behalf of the VFF I would like to thank Jane for her contribution, including supporting our members through the challenges presented by the pandemic,” Ms Germano said, in the statement.

The VFF’s general manager of governance, Robert Taylor, will act as chief executive while the VFF finds a new CEO.

Ms Lovell’s resignation follows a major restructure of the VFF, which led 70 per cent of its chicken-meat growers to leave the organisation.

The VFF has also struggled financially over recent years, recording an operating loss of $305,450 in the 12 months to September 30 last year, a slight improvement on the $445,162 loss of 2020.

However a $1.6 million gain on the revaluation of its assets, including the VFF’s Collins St headquarters, allowed the federation to claim an overall surplus of $1.35m for last year.

The VFF’s books show the value of Farrer House rose by $598,414 over the year to reach $30.88m despite a major slump in demand for rental space in Melbourne’s CBD.