THE long-running and divisive constitutional reform process will again be the dominant issue at the NSW Farmers annual state conference.
NSW Farmers chief executive Matt Brand and president Fiona Simson argued the reforms were a necessary step to streamline and strengthen the lobby group.
Members will vote on removing the middle layer of the organisation's representative network, regulating the Special Commodity Sections and decide whether to extend the minimum terms of office holders and executive councillors to two years.
The NSW Farmers board of directors backed the reforms and urged members to vote in favour of the changes at the 2015 annual general meeting.
However, a section of members opposed to the reforms said a ruling clique was trying to manipulate the system to gain more control and enable them to more easily silence dissenting voices.
It will be the third straight year constitutional reform has dominated discussion leading up to the state conference, which is being held at Sydney's Luna Park from July 14 to 16.
Mr Brand contends the "appetite for change" was clear after last year, when measures to streamline the structure of local representation narrowly missed the majority of votes, gaining 73.5 per cent of the 75 per cent needed.
Following last year's conference, Mrs Simson said: "We haven't got the numbers to engage in the current processes (structure) so we need to make sure grassroots members can bring policy through swiftly and have it dealt with quickly by the executive."
Others slammed opponents of reforms as "dinosaurs" who were afraid of doing things differently.
An explanatory memorandum issued by Mr Brand to members last month indicated the changes would again be tabled and voted on as a single broad-scale motion.
But should that motion fail, it would be broken down and voted on as a series of smaller motions.
Dissenting members who spoke to The Land said they were concerned the changes would strip the Special Commodity Sections of their autonomy and place control in the hands of the board.
Others, while seeing sense in reducing bureaucratic layers, feared changes to branch and regional structures would not boost grassroots representation, but instead dilute the voting power of some regions.
And while the executive structure will be streamlined (including a single vice president role and reduced number of executive councilors) opponents say the proposed minimum two-year term for representative roles is an attempt by those in power to hold on to it.
Mr Brand's explainer to members stressed extending the minimum terms of the president, the vice-president, treasurer, directors, and executive council was to enable continuity, better succession planning, and ongoing training opportunities, with little sense in someone investing in training someone who may not be there the next year.
Division over the changes has also been reflected in the NSW Farmers presidential election, as incumbent Mrs Simson's two-year term expires.
Vice president and cattle committee chairman Derek Schoen is set to fight Region 7 chair Fred Haskins, a staunch opponent to the changes.
Mr Haskins said his decision to stand was solely in opposition to the proposed changes, while Mr Schoen indicated he was keen to build on a difficult transition period of modernisation.
