Victorian farmers top list for National Farmers Federation fees
Membership to farming lobbies is going down, but fees to the National Farmers’ Federation are keeping steady. Which states and commodities are keeping the NFF in business?
VICTORIAN farmers were the single biggest contributors to the National Farmers’ Federation’s membership coffers last year – despite boasting fewer members than NSW.
Figures from the NFF’s financial report for 2019-20 show the Victorian Farmers Federation was the only state farming organisation to pay top-tier membership fees for the year at $330,000 – up from $300,000 the previous year – for its 6000-odd members to be represented at the national level.
Meanwhile, NSW Farmers’ contribution plummeted by $55,000 to $275,000; the organisation currently has about 8000 members on its books.
AgForce Queensland paid $220,000 and WA Farmers, $44,000.
State farming organisation fees to the NFF are calculated based on each group’s membership income, not member numbers; meaning NSW, which reduced its state fees to a $399 flat rate, now pays less.
The discrepancy has prompted a “rebalancing” of membership fees to the peak farming lobby. NFF vice-president and former VFF president David Jochinke said a new flat-fee system would be introduced that would mean the VFF pays less this year.
However, Mr Jochinke said the situation could give rise to a broader re-examination of the NFF’s fee structure.
“It does raise discussion of how we can ensure we have a stable system that ensures we can financially operate and ensure everyone has a voice … I would say that’s a piece of work that needs to be done in 2021,” he said.
It comes after the NFF board last year agreed to significantly increase its fees last year for the first time in a decade; membership fees now account for about $2.1 million of the NFF’s $5.5 million income.
Of commodity groups, Grain Growers Ltd and Cattle Council of Australia are the biggest contributors, at $220,000 each, while Australian Dairyfarmers Federation’s fees have jumped more than $12,000 since 2018 to $147,853 despite declining numbers of dairy farmers.
NSW Farmers chief executive Pete Arkle said while the group had increased its membership in the past four years, the flat fee had reduced overall membership revenue, leading to the decline in NFF fees.
“NSW Farmers remains a strong supporter of NFF and in addition to our membership contributions we also support the NFF’s Diversity in Agriculture program, National Ag Day and other worthy industry initiatives,” Mr Arkle said.
New VFF president Emma Germano said the lobby got good value from money passed to the NFF, while also seeing the NFF had the resources to achieve its aims on behalf of all farmers.
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