DEREK Schoen has been elected president of NSW Farmers at the Annual Conference at Luna Park, Sydney.
A stark choice presented itself to NSW Farmers members today at the annual conference at Luna Park, North Sydney.
Incumbent president Fiona Simson will step down at this conference, as her four year term draws to a close.
Fred Haskins and Derek Schoen threw their hat in the ring – and the two long-standing members offered diametrically opposed pitches for leadership.
Mr Schoen, an Association vice president and cattle committee chairman said he “didn’t have an axe to grind” but saw an opportunity “to give back to the agricultural sector”.
Mr Schoen runs a 1620-hectare property at Corowa and also farms in Guyra. His operations consist of dry land winter cropping including wheat, barley, oats, canola and lupins as well as fat lambs, wool and beef cattle.
This has given him a broad understanding of the needs of NSW’s farmers, Mr Schoen said.
“For the past eight years I’ve travelled from one end of state to the other every six weeks, so I’ve got a pretty good idea of what’s going on,” he said.
Mr Schoen said introducing new technology and methods to help grassroots members engage with the organisation would be priority under his leadership.
“A traditional meeting venue should no longer be the norm and I propose different means of conducting meetings to encourage councils to engage better,” he said.
Fred Haskins, chairman of the Hunter and Sydney Basin region representative group, stood to oppose the current “dictatorial and preferential leadership”.
Mr Haskins said he had worked relentlessly in recent years to boost membership, which he said had dwindled due to "inconsistent service" from the Association's head office.
For too long, the Association had been divided according to "faction, industry and geographical location", he said.
Mr Haskins was concerned about the proposed consolidation of state and national farming groups, which would see NSW Farmers join forces with the National Farmers Federation.
Mr Haskins said he would forego the president's salary and redistribute it among senior volunteers. He did not expect to serve a full four-year term but instead would focus on a succession plan.
